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: 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: 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: 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 dowhnill 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   Patrick Ortlieb Franck Piccard Günther Mader
KB 10–11 February 1992   Josef Polig Gianfranco Martin    Steve Locher
SG 16 February 1992     Kjetil André Aamodt Marc Girardelli   Jan Einar Thorsen
GS 18 February 1992   Alberto Tomba Marc Girardelli   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      Didier Cuche Peter Fill Aksel Lund Svindal
DH 7 February 2009   John Kucera    Didier Cuche    Carlo Janka
SC 9 February 2009   Aksel Lund Svindal Julien Lizeroux Natko Zrnčić-Dim
GS 13 February 2009      Carlo Janka Benjamin Raich Ted Ligety
SL 15 February 2009   Manfred Pranger Julien Lizeroux Michael Janyk

Women's events
Event Type Date Gold Silver Bronze
2009GS 12 February 2009   Kathrin Hölzl Tina Maze Tanja Poutiainen
SL 15 February 2009   Maria Riesch Šárka Záhrobská 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
Location in France
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   Jan Einar Thorsen Franz Heinzer Luigi Colturi
763SL6 December 1992   Thomas Fogdö Thomas Sykora Hubert Strolz
DH 2007/082 February 2008   replaced in Kvitfjell on 29 February 2008
1325SC3 February 2008   Bode Miller Ivica Kostelić Natko Zrnčić-Dim
1345SC 2008/0912 December 2008   Benjamin Raich Jean-Baptiste Grange Marcel Hirscher
1346GS13 December 2008     Carlo Janka Massimiliano Blardone Gauthier de Tessières
SL 14 December 2008   strong winds; replaced in Alta Badia on 22 December 2008
1381SC 2009/1011 December 2009   Benjamin Raich Marcel Hirscher Manfred Mölgg
Romed Baumann
1382SG12 December 2009   Michael Walchhofer Ted Ligety Werner Heel
1383GS 13 December 2009   Marcel Hirscher Massimiliano Blardone Benjamin Raich
1413GS 2010/1111 December 2010   Ted Ligety Aksel Lund Svindal Massimiliano Blardone
1414SL12 December 2010   Marcel Hirscher Benjamin Raich 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   Alexis Pinturault Felix Neureuther Marcel Hirscher
1496SL9 December 2012   Marcel Hirscher Stefan Luitz Ted Ligety
1529GS 2013/1414 December 2013   Marcel Hirscher Thomas Fanara Stefan Luitz
1530SL15 December 2013   Mario Matt Mattias Hargin 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   Marcel Hirscher Felix Neureuther Victor Muffat-Jeandet
1600SL13 December 2015   Henrik Kristoffersen Marcel Hirscher Felix Neureuther
1642GS 2016/1710 December 2016   Alexis Pinturault Marcel Hirscher Henrik Kristoffersen
1643SL11 December 2016   Henrik Kristoffersen Marcel Hirscher Aleksandr Khoroshilov
1679GS 2017/189 December 2017   Alexis Pinturault Stefan Luitz Marcel Hirscher
1680SL10 December 2017   Marcel Hirscher Henrik Kristoffersen André Myhrer
1715GS 2018/198 December 2018   Marcel Hirscher Henrik Kristoffersen 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   Alexis Pinturault André Myhrer Stefano Gross
1824GS 2021/2211 December 2021      Marco Odermatt Alexis Pinturault Manuel Feller
1825SL12 December 2021   Clément Noël Kristoffer Jakobsen Filip Zubčić

 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.

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