The Alpine skiing World Cup season is underway, with the women’s giant slalom on the Rettenbach glacier marking the official start of the 2026-27 campaign. American star Mikaela Shiffrin, the winningest racer in history, has framed the new season as her “Exploration Season” as she adjusts her schedule and emphasis after a dominant previous year.
Shiffrin, who captured Olympic slalom gold at Milano Cortina 2026 and a sixth overall World Cup title last season, is reducing her early-season slalom starts to devote more time and focus to giant slalom and super-G. She is competing in the Sölden opener but plans to skip the first two World Cup slaloms in Levi, Finland, and Gurgl, Austria, before returning to the discipline at Killington, Vermont, on November 29.
“I am really excited at the opportunity to have space to focus a bit more with giant slalom and super-G,” Shiffrin said in the lead-up to the race. She has described the shift as a response to 16 years on the circuit and a desire to train and recover with greater intention while remaining motivated for the long term.
The Sölden giant slalom is available live on Peacock. Run 1 begins at 4 a.m. ET, with Run 2 scheduled for 7 a.m. ET. Peacock is carrying the full World Cup schedule this season.
Shiffrin has set modest expectations for the opener, saying she is treating it more like a high-intensity training run and that fans should not necessarily pick her to win. “I think my skiing’s been pretty strong, and I would hope to be competitive,” she said.
With 110 career World Cup victories, including a record 73 in slalom, Shiffrin remains the sport’s benchmark even as she experiments with her program. The new approach is one of the early storylines of the season as rivals look to capitalize on any opening created by her reduced slalom schedule.
