La Face De Bellevarde
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.
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. 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 |
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1992 | DH | 9 February 1992 | ![]() |
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KB | 10–11 February 1992 | ![]() |
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SG | 16 February 1992 | ![]() |
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GS | 18 February 1992 | ![]() |
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- The slalom was held at Les Menuires on 22 February.
World Championships
Men's events
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/Bernhard_Russi_1972.jpg/180px-Bernhard_Russi_1972.jpg)
the course constructor
Event | Type | Date | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
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2009 | SG | 4 February 2009 | ![]() |
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DH | 7 February 2009 | ![]() |
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SC | 9 February 2009 | ![]() |
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GS | 13 February 2009 | ![]() |
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SL | 15 February 2009 | ![]() |
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Women's events
Event | Type | Date | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | GS | 12 February 2009 | ![]() |
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SL | 15 February 2009 | ![]() |
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Team event
Poor weather conditions.
Event | Type | Date | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | PG | 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
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/Hirscher-001.jpg/180px-Hirscher-001.jpg)
record 4 giant slaloms in total
and record 3 slaloms in total
No. | Type | Season | Date | Winner | Second | Third |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DH | 1991/92 | 7 December 1991 | course was not yet ready for scheduled premiere; replaced on nearby Oreiller-Killy course | |||
SG | 8 December 1991 | |||||
DH | 1992/93 | 4 December 1992 | downhill cancelled due to poor weather conditions | |||
762 | SG | 5 December 1992 | ![]() |
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763 | SL | 6 December 1992 | ![]() |
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DH | 2007/08 | 2 February 2008 | replaced in Kvitfjell on 29 February 2008 | |||
1325 | SC | 3 February 2008 | ![]() |
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1345 | SC | 2008/09 | 12 December 2008 | ![]() |
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1346 | GS | 13 December 2008 | ![]() |
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SL | 14 December 2008 | strong winds; replaced in Alta Badia on 22 December 2008 | ||||
1381 | SC | 2009/10 | 11 December 2009 | ![]() |
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1382 | SG | 12 December 2009 | ![]() |
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1383 | GS | 13 December 2009 | ![]() |
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1413 | GS | 2010/11 | 11 December 2010 | ![]() |
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1414 | SL | 12 December 2010 | ![]() |
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GS | 2011/12 | 10 December 2011 | lack of snow; replaced in Beaver Creek on 6 December 2011 | |||
SL | 11 December 2011 | lack of snow; replaced in Beaver Creek on 8 December 2011 | ||||
1495 | GS | 2012/13 | 8 December 2012 | ![]() |
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1496 | SL | 9 December 2012 | ![]() |
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1529 | GS | 2013/14 | 14 December 2013 | ![]() |
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1530 | SL | 15 December 2013 | ![]() |
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GS | 2014/15 | 13 December 2014 | lack of snow; replaced in Åre on 12 December 2014 | |||
SL | 14 December 2014 | lack of snow; replaced in Åre on 14 December 2014 | ||||
1599 | GS | 2015/16 | 12 December 2015 | ![]() |
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1600 | SL | 13 December 2015 | ![]() |
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1642 | GS | 2016/17 | 10 December 2016 | ![]() |
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1643 | SL | 11 December 2016 | ![]() |
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1679 | GS | 2017/18 | 9 December 2017 | ![]() |
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1680 | SL | 10 December 2017 | ![]() |
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1715 | GS | 2018/19 | 8 December 2018 | ![]() |
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SL | 9 December 2018 | heavy snowfall and wind; replaced in Saalbach-Hinterglemm on 20 December 2018 | ||||
GS | 2019/20 | 14 December 2019 | moved on 15th due to weather, then finally cancelled; replaced in Hinterstoder on 1 March 2020 | |||
1754 | SL | 15 December 2019 | ![]() |
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1824 | GS | 2021/22 | 11 December 2021 | ![]() |
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1825 | SL | 12 December 2021 | ![]() |
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1860 | GS | 2022/23 | 10 December 2022 | ![]() |
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1861 | SL | 11 December 2022 | ![]() |
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Not in original World Cup calendar. It replaced super combined from Beaver Creek.