Courses

Correction: Super-G women should have length 2325 m

The name derives from the light peak about 600 m northwest of the starting point. This peak contains quartzite, which gives it its rather conspicious white colour. Elevation 1044m.

This is the starting point of the course (DHM). The elevation of the start-house is 1020 m. The mountain in front of the starting-point has the form of a knife edge.

The distance from the starting point down to the first right turn is called the Lynx Path. The name indicates the passage of wild animals across the course.

During the work on the course black grouses were observed on several occasions in the slope near the start of the women's downhill.

More than anybody else the former Mayor of Ringebu, Mr. Erik S. Winther, has become identified with Kvitfjell. In the autumn of 1990 the Royal Ministry of Culture imposed a halt on the Kvitfjell development project. Mr. Winther and the Municipal Council of Ringebu defied this decision and continued deforestation. This became front-page news in the national media, who called the Mayor the "Chopper from Ringebu". Winther's Cut was a reality.

This part of the course is also very difficult and demanding, with a decline of 64%.

This is the only part of the course where the racers have a few seconds of rest. This stretch lies between the very demanding Wintherhogget (Winther's Cut) and the no less exiting Russi Jump. Popularly this area is called "The Final Rest". The name of the area also derives from the person who first suggested that Kvitfjell should be used for men's downhill, Mr. Arild Sletten.

The Russi Jump is the steep below the second measurement point for intermediate time and first speed, where jumps of 70-80 meters are not unusual. Based on the natural terrain Mr. Bernhard Russi has designed a world-class course and consented to lend his name to it.

The jump after the plain between the Russi Jump and the demanding last part of the course has been named the Jansrud Jump. The Olympic Champion and World Champion Kjetil Jansrud is in this way honoured by us in Kvitfjell after his last World Cup downhill in March 2022, when he retired from his active career as a professional skier.

This area is abounding in elk (moose) and other fauna. An elk-track (moose track) is passing here.

From old times a footpath of this shape has run through this area, and therefore we have chosen to keep the original name.

The Buckride is an uneven traversing that gives the racer the feeling of riding a wild buck, as described by Ibsen in "Peer Gynt":
"Either side, if you look downwards, over glacier, scar, and hillside, you can see, across the ash-grey scree, deep into brooding waters dark as if asleep - and more than thirteen hundred yards below! All the ridge's length, we two cut our way against the wind. Such a colt I never rode! There in mid-air straight before us seemed to hang the blazing sun. Halfway down towards the waters tawny backs of eagles hovered through the wild and dizzy void, till they swung like specks behind us."
(Excerpt from the "Buckride" of Ibsen's "Peer Gynt", translated by Peter Watts.)

After Peer Gynt has escaped the Mountain King and the Young Trolls he meets the Boyg (Snag):

"Peer Gynt": "Backwards or forwards it's just as far, out or in, it's just as narrow. He's here, he's there, he's all about me! When I'm sure that I'm out, then I'm back in the middle! What's your name? Let me see you! What sort of thing are you! The Voice: The Boyg."

(Excerpt from Ibsen's "Peer Gynt", translated by Peter Watts.)

Before the Olympic Games in 1994 it was decided that a section of the downhill course (between Bøygen and Løftet) was to be named after the racer winning the downhill men. In the tight battle for the gold medal Tommy Moe from USA won with 4/100 seconds ahead of Kjetil André Aamodt from Norway. Tommy Moe channel became therefore the name of this section of the course. The skiing through Tommy Moe has after the Olympic Games been conclusive for the result of many races.

Describes the edge above the steep in the final part of the course. Løftet - The Lift - is a name used by local people for generations. Often horse carts with hayloads etc. got stuck here.

This is a local name based on the form of the landscape. For the racers this is a very narrow passage with strong compression.

Jump after transition from the public road.

"Geile" is the local word indicating a road with fences on both sides. Mæhlum is the name of the nearest farm, owned by Mr. Gunnar Fretheim.

Describes the crossing over the railway line and the final steep before the finish.