The ski racer who scores the most World Cup points in the two classic races on the Saslong on the last weekend before Christmas can look forward to a special inaugural prize this year. The winner of the DOLOMITES Val Gardena Südtirol Ski Trophy will receive a true-to-original 3D wooden bust, as well as extra prize money of 5,000 Euros and a short vacation in Val Gardena/Gröden.

The Saslong Classic Club has been successfully organizing World Cup races in Alpine skiing since 1969 and also shone as an excellent World Cup host in 1970. So the speed races in Val Gardena/Gröden have long been classics in the ski circuit and are one of the highlights of the whole winter for most athletes. In a constant effort to make the races at the foot of the Sassolungo/Langkofel mountain ever more professional and attractive, the dedicated organizing committee, together with DOLOMITES Val Gardena Marketing, has come up with something new. The DOLOMITES Val Gardena Südtirol Ski Trophy will be awarded for the first time in Val Gardena/Gröden to the racer who scores the most World Cup points in the super-G on Friday, 18 December and the day after in the classic downhill. If two racers are equal on points, the athlete with the better ranking in one of the races will win. If there is also a tie, the better result in the downhill will decide the winner.

"With this initiative, we would like to create a further incentive for the best downhill racers in the world within the framework of our two speed events and award them for top athletic performance in both disciplines. At DOLOMITES Val Gardena Marketing, we immediately received positive feedback with this project. We are happy and grateful to have such a strong and above all sports-enthusiastic partner at our side, who has always supported us with advice and action", emphasizes Rainer Senoner, President of the Saslong Classic Club.

DOLOMITES Val Gardena Marketing is also delighted with the DOLOMITES Val Gardena Südtirol Ski Trophy. "We can always be won over for projects of this kind, because the commitment of the Saslong Classic Club has a positive effect on the DOLOMITES Val Gardena brand. This strengthens it and inevitably brings it closer to our target group - the international ski public. Not only through media reports, but above all through the winning athlete himself. He shares his joy of winning the DOLOMITES Val Gardena Südtirol Ski Trophy with his followers both immediately after the races on social media and in the summer, when he is again a guest in our beautiful valley as part of a short vacation", say Ezio Prinoth, Ambros Hofer and Christoph Vinatzer of DOLOMITES Val Gardena Marketing.

It’s worth noting that the true-to-original 3D wooden bust of the successful racer will be on public display. It can be viewed by all ski enthusiasts in the "Hall of Fame" at the Saslonch Hut. There are also the busts of Kjetil Jansrud, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Rasmus Windingstad, who won the Südtirol Ski Trophy in the past years. From 2016 to 2019, this prize was awarded to the athlete who collected the most points at the four South Tyrolean World Cup races in Val Gardena/Gröden and Alta Badia.