La face de Bellevarde

La face de Bellevarde is a World Cup downhill ski course in France, on Rocher de Bellevarde mountain in Val d'Isere, Savoie; it debuted at the 1992 Winter Olympics with the men's downhill.[1][2][3]

La face de Bellevarde
Place:France Val d'Isere, France
Mountain:Rocher de Bellevarde
Architect:Bernhard Russi (SUI)
Opened:1992
Level: Expert
Competition:Critérium of the First Snow
(Critérium de la première neige)
Downhill
Start:2,807 m (9,209 ft) (AA)
Finish:1,848 m (6,063 ft)
Vertical drop:   959 m (3,146 ft)
Length:2.998 km (1.863 mi)
Max. incline:   35.4° degrees (71%)
Avr. incline:   17.8° degrees (32.1%)
Avr. incline:     2.8° degrees (5%)
Giant slalom
Start:2,300 m (7,546 ft) (AA)
Finish:1,850 m (6,070 ft)
Vertical drop:   450 m (1,476 ft)
Most wins:Austria Marcel Hirscher (4x)
Slalom
Start:2,065 m (6,775 ft) (AA)
Finish:1,845 m (6,053 ft)
Vertical drop:   220 m (722 ft)
Most wins:Austria Marcel Hirscher (3x)

It is only about two kilometres (1.2 mi) kilometres up the road from "Piste Oreiller-Killy" in La Daille, another legendary course with a lengthier World Cup tradition.

With 17.8 degrees (32.1%) incline it is the world's steepest giant slalom course in average gradient, with no flat sections, only steepness the whole time.

History

The course was developed for the 1992 Winter Olympics, designed by Swiss Olympic downhill champion Bernhard Russi, a respected constructor of downhill slopes around the world. The official opening was planned for late 1991 with two World Cup events, but the course was not yet finished. Both were moved to the nearby Oreiller-Killy course, and held on 7–8 December.[4]

The Bellevarde course was officially opened two months later at the Olympics with the men's downhill competition; later events on the slope included combined, super-G, and giant slalom.

Near the end of 1992, the World Cup circuit premiered on this course with Super-G and slalom events on 6–7 December; the downhill was cancelled due to poor weather conditions.[5][6] In February 2008, World Cup races returned after an absence of more than fifteen years; it became a regular host on the men's calendar, rarely exchanged with Oreiller-Killy.

A year later in February 2009, Val d'Isere hosted its first World Championships. All of the men's events and the women's technical events (GS, SL) were held on the Bellevarde slope; the team event was cancelled.

Course sections from GS start
  • Passage de la Rute, Le Rocher, Slalom Start, Le Stade Olympique, La Flamme

Olympics

Men's events
Event Type Date Gold Silver Bronze
1992DH 9 February 1992   Austria Patrick Ortlieb France Franck Piccard Austria Günther Mader
KB 10–11 February 1992   Italy Josef Polig Italy Gianfranco Martin  Switzerland  Steve Locher
SG 16 February 1992   Norway  Kjetil André Aamodt Luxembourg Marc Girardelli Norway  Jan Einar Thorsen
GS 18 February 1992   Italy Alberto Tomba Luxembourg Marc Girardelli Norway  Kjetil André Aamodt
The slalom was held at Les Menuires on 22 February.

World Championships

Men's events
Bernhard Russi (SUi);
the course constructor
Event Type Date Gold Silver Bronze
2009SG 4 February 2009    Switzerland  Didier Cuche Italy Peter Fill Norway Aksel Lund Svindal
DH 7 February 2009   Canada John Kucera  Switzerland  Didier Cuche  Switzerland  Carlo Janka
SC 9 February 2009   Norway Aksel Lund Svindal France Julien Lizeroux Croatia Natko Zrnčić-Dim
GS 13 February 2009    Switzerland  Carlo Janka Austria Benjamin Raich United States Ted Ligety
SL 15 February 2009   Austria Manfred Pranger France Julien Lizeroux Canada Michael Janyk

Women's events
Event Type Date Gold Silver Bronze
2009GS 12 February 2009   Germany Kathrin Hölzl Slovenia Tina Maze Finland Tanja Poutiainen
SL 15 February 2009   Germany Maria Riesch Czech Republic Šárka Záhrobská Finland Tanja Poutiainen
The downhill, super-G, and combined events were held at Piste Rhône-Alpes.

Team event

Poor weather conditions.

Event Type Date Gold Silver Bronze
2009PG 11 February 2009   cancelled due to heavy snowfall over the night

World Cup

It is part of traditional annual "Critérium of the First Snow" (Critérium de la première neige) competition.

Men
La face de Bellevarde is located in France
La face de Bellevarde
Location in France
La face de Bellevarde is located in Europe
La face de Bellevarde
Location in Europe
Marcel Hirscher (AUT) won
record 4 giant slaloms in total
and record 3 slaloms in total
No. Type Season Date Winner Second Third
DH1991/927 December 1991   course was not yet ready for scheduled premiere; replaced on nearby Oreiller-Killy course
SG8 December 1991  
DH 1992/934 December 1992   downhill cancelled due to poor weather conditions
762SG5 December 1992  Norway Jan Einar ThorsenSwitzerland Franz HeinzerItaly Luigi Colturi
763SL6 December 1992  Sweden Thomas FogdöAustria Thomas SykoraAustria Hubert Strolz
DH 2007/082 February 2008   replaced in Kvitfjell on 29 February 2008
1325SC3 February 2008  United States Bode MillerCroatia Ivica KostelićCroatia Natko Zrnčić-Dim
1345SC 2008/0912 December 2008   Austria Benjamin RaichFrance Jean-Baptiste GrangeAustria Marcel Hirscher
1346GS13 December 2008   Switzerland  Carlo JankaItaly Massimiliano BlardoneFrance Gauthier de Tessières
SL 14 December 2008   strong winds; replaced in Alta Badia on 22 December 2008
1381SC 2009/1011 December 2009   Austria Benjamin RaichAustria Marcel HirscherItaly Manfred Mölgg
Austria Romed Baumann
1382SG12 December 2009  Austria Michael WalchhoferUnited States Ted LigetyItaly Werner Heel
1383GS 13 December 2009  Austria Marcel HirscherItaly Massimiliano BlardoneAustria Benjamin Raich
1413GS 2010/1111 December 2010   United States Ted LigetyNorway Aksel Lund SvindalItaly Massimiliano Blardone
1414SL12 December 2010  Austria Marcel HirscherAustria Benjamin RaichFrance Steve Missillier
GS 2011/1210 December 2011   lack of snow; replaced in Beaver Creek on 6 December 2011
SL11 December 2011  lack of snow; replaced in Beaver Creek on 8 December 2011
1495GS 2012/138 December 2012   France Alexis PinturaultGermany Felix NeureutherAustria Marcel Hirscher
1496SL9 December 2012  Austria Marcel HirscherGermany Stefan LuitzUnited States Ted Ligety
1529GS 2013/1414 December 2013   Austria Marcel HirscherFrance Thomas FanaraGermany Stefan Luitz
1530SL15 December 2013  Austria Mario MattSweden Mattias HarginItaly Patrick Thaler
GS 2014/1513 December 2014   lack of snow; replaced in Åre on 12 December 2014
SL14 December 2014  lack of snow; replaced in Åre on 14 December 2014
1599GS 2015/1612 December 2015   Austria Marcel HirscherGermany Felix NeureutherFrance Victor Muffat-Jeandet
1600SL13 December 2015  Norway Henrik KristoffersenAustria Marcel HirscherGermany Felix Neureuther
1642GS 2016/1710 December 2016   France Alexis PinturaultAustria Marcel HirscherNorway Henrik Kristoffersen
1643SL11 December 2016   Norway Henrik KristoffersenAustria Marcel HirscherRussia Aleksandr Khoroshilov
1679GS 2017/189 December 2017   France Alexis PinturaultGermany Stefan LuitzAustria Marcel Hirscher
1680SL10 December 2017   Austria Marcel HirscherNorway Henrik KristoffersenSweden André Myhrer
1715GS 2018/198 December 2018   Austria Marcel HirscherNorway Henrik KristoffersenSweden Matts Olsson
SL9 December 2018   heavy snowfall and wind; replaced in Saalbach-Hinterglemm on 20 December 2018
GS 2019/2014 December 2019   moved on 15th due to weather, then finally cancelled; replaced in Hinterstoder on 1 March 2020
1754SL15 December 2019  France Alexis PinturaultSweden André MyhrerItaly Stefano Gross
1824GS 2021/2211 December 2021    Switzerland  Marco OdermattFrance Alexis PinturaultAustria Manuel Feller
1825SL12 December 2021  France Clément NoëlSweden Kristoffer JakobsenCroatia Filip Zubčić
1860GS 2022/2310 December 2022    Switzerland  Marco OdermattAustria Manuel FellerSlovenia Žan Kranjec
1861SL11 December 2022  Norway Lucas BraathenAustria Manuel Feller Switzerland  Loïc Meillard

 Not in original World Cup calendar. It replaced super combined from Beaver Creek. 

References
  1. "SKI ALPINFace de Bellevarde, la montagne sacrée" (in French). .ledauphine.com. 30 January 2008.
  2. "La face de Bellevarde à Val d'Isère, championne des championnats" (in French). ledauphine.com. 16 February 2016.
  3. "List of all events on La face de Bellevarde". fis-ski.com. 2 November 2021.
  4. "Bellevarde was not yet ready for competition (page 40)" (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad. 7 December 1991.
  5. "Trojni spored v Val d'Iseru je ogrožen (page 7)" (in Slovenian). Delo. 5 December 1992.
  6. "Val d'Isere 1992: Thomas Fogdoe" (in Slovenian). YouTube. 8 December 2010.

45°26′47″N 6°58′21″E

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