Sölden is a municipality located in the Ötztal valley of Tyrol, Austria. With tourist bed nights running at over two million per year, the municipality is second only to Vienna as an Austrian tourist destination.
The main village of Sölden is located at 1,368 meters above sea level. The highest peak is the Wildspitze which is at 3,768 meters the second highest mountain in Austria after the Grossglockner. Sölden is a very popular ski resort.
The first FIS Alpine Ski World Cup race of the year traditionally takes place on the slope located on the Rettenbach glacier, a high-quality icy track with the starting gate situated over 3,000 meters in altitude.
The green light was given on October 30th, 1993 and the French speed specialist Franck Piccard took the first honor on the Austrian snow, by winning the men's giant slalom. A day later home racer Anita Wachter claimed the win in the ladies' event. After a two year stint Sölden re-launched the World Cup circuit in 1996. Swiss Steve Locher and German star Katja Seizinger sealed the victory in the GS.
After a one-year absence the Austrian venue was chosen to kick-off the 1998 season. On October 25th the Wunderteam dominated the event, with a 1-2-3-4 sweep. Hermann Maier took the first of his three triumphs in Sölden, defeating fellow teammates Eberharter, Schilchegger and Christian Mayer. Norwegian rising star Andrine Flemmen won the female race.
After another one-year absence, the Tyrolian resort re-hosted the season-opening race in the 2000 year. Hermann Maier was a back-to-back winner and Martina Ertl of Germany edged out Flemmen in the women's race
Since 2000 Solden has been a regular World Cup host, except for the 2006 season, when the races were cancelled due to poor weather and snow conditions.
'Herminator' Maier claimed the hat-trick on October 23rd, 2005, defeating Bode Miller by only 0.07 seconds. Fellow countryman Stefan Eberharter snatched a sole win in 2002, while Miller was also a back-to-back winner in 2003 and 2004. Both times the US skier won the race with big margins (1.12 seconds off defending champion Frederic Covili of France in 2003 and 1.17 seconds off Max Blardone the year after).
Two-time World Cup champion Aksel Lund Svindal won the 2007 competition in Sölden. The female roll of honor has included several big names such as Austria's Michaela Dorfmeister (2001), Swedish Anja Paerson (2004) and Italy's Denise Karbon, who made her first step towards a fantastic season on October 27th, 2007, taking the first of five wins, all in GS. In 2008, Daniel Albrecht (SUI) and Kathrin Zettel (AUT) were best in Sölden.
History was also made on October 26th, 2002. The first women's World Cup giant slalom of the season produced the first three-way tie in the competition's history. After the start of the race had been delayed for nearly two hours due to strong winds, Norway's Andrine Flemmen, Slovenian Tina Maze and Austria's Nicole Hosp recorded identical two-leg time of 1 minute, 49'91 seconds, sharing the first place.
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Sölden GS 2011.eps
 Sölden GS 2011.jpg
 Sölden GS 2011.pdf
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