A special exhibition at the Kitzbühel Museum honouring 50 years of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup officially opened on 4th December 2015. The opening ceremony included several big names in skiing and Austrian personalities such as: Olga Pall-Scartezzini, Hias Leitner, Ernst Hinterseer, Fritz Huber and many more.
The museum has chosen the “Founding of the Ski World Cup” as its theme for the entire 2015/16 season.
After the term ‘World Cup’ was used in 1966 for the first time on the Hahnenkamm downhill by sports journalist, Serge Lang, it became a fixture the very same year. During the World Championships in the summer of 1966 in Portillo (CHI) FIS President, Marc Hodler, announced the ‘World Cup’ series for the following winter of 1967, which marked the birth of an incredible success story.
Mayor Klaus Winkler was proud to open the exhibition and Kitzbühel Ski Club President Michael Huber’s eyes lit up: “It is incredible how interesting the history of the World Cup is. Just how many perspectives there are.”
Museum Director, Wido Sieberer, has made every effort to comprehensively explore the founding of the World Cup.
The famous crystal globes, which are presented to the overall World Cup winners in the individual disciplines, are particularly noticeable in their display cabinet. These are the original trophies for 2017, which are on loan to Kitzbühel from FIS until they are awarded in St. Moritz this March at the season finals. The names of all overall winners are shown on the wall behind the trophies. Jean-Claude Killy and Nancy Green won the first trophies in 1967.
One of the most historic exhibits of the exhibition is the original protocol from the meeting where the decision was made to establish the World Cup. Written in French, it lists the venues for the men’s and ladies’ races in the downhill, slalom and giant slalom disciplines, as well as the principles of the World Cup and points allocation system.
Source: fis-ski.com
