Olympic History:          Alpine ski racing is the newer form of ski racing, as Nordic, or cross-country, competitions were held in the Scandanavian countries for many years before alpine racing was developed.  The first known race was in 1911 at Montana, Switzerland, when the British organized a race for a challenge cup given by Lord Roberts of Kandahar.  The first slalom style race was held in 1922 at Mürren, Switzerland.

Alpine skiing was first placed on the Olympic program in 1936 at Garmisch-Partenkirchen.  The only event that year was a combined competition of both downhill and slalom.  In 1948, this was held along with separate downhill and slalom races.  Alpine combined was not contested at the Olympic Winter Games again until 1988 when it returned to the Olympic program.  In 1952, the giant slalom was added as an event, and in 1988, the super giant slalom (Super-G) became a fourth separate event, with combined the fifth event when it returned to the program. In 2010 (and 2014), the traditional combined of downhill and two slalom runs was replaced by the super combined, consisting of a shortened downhill (or Super-G) and a single slalom run.

Men and women contest alpine skiing separately.  Events for both sexes were held in 1936, and have been held at all Olympics since.  Interestingly, the program for men and women has been identical at all Olympics.

As of November 2013, there are 120 member nations affiliated to the FIS.  This makes it the largest International Sporting Federation for any winter sport.  The FIS governs what it terms six disciplines of skiing – alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined, freestyle skiing, and snowboarding.  Cross-country, ski jumping, and Nordic combined are often termed one sport of nordic skiing.

The 120 member nations of FIS are as follows: Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, DPR Korea (North), Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malta, Marocco, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United States of America, Uruguay, US Virgin Islands, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.

• Alpine Skiing Factsheets