Sun Valley Just Scheduled the Downhill Race That Weather Erased in 2025
Sun Valley's 2027 World Cup Finals run March 18 to 25, with a March 20 downhill on the Challenger course. Weather canceled the 2025 downhill before it ran.
Sun Valley has released the schedule for the 2027 FIS Alpine World Cup Finals on Bald Mountain, and the date to circle is Saturday, March 20. That is when men and women are set to race the first-ever downhill on the Challenger course, after inclement weather wiped out the downhill when Sun Valley hosted the Finals in March 2025.
The Finals return to the Idaho resort March 18 to 25, 2027, its second time hosting the season-ending event. The 2025 edition brought World Cup racing back to Sun Valley for the first time since 1977, and organizers from U.S. Ski and Snowboard and FIS both pointed to that debut as the reason for the return. "Sun Valley hosted a world class event in 2025 with the inaugural Stifel Sun Valley Finals and we couldn't be more excited to return," U.S. Ski and Snowboard president and CEO Sophie Goldschmidt said in the announcement.
The 2027 race schedule
- March 18: Men's and women's downhill training
- March 19: Downhill training, athlete bib draw, live music, and fireworks at the outdoor ice rink
- March 20: Men's and women's downhill on the Challenger course
- March 21: Men's and women's super-G
- March 22: Rest day, with the Wild West Skijoring Invitational at Champions Meadow
- March 23: Women's giant slalom
- March 24: Men's giant slalom
- March 25: Men's and women's slalom, then a closing concert at Warm Springs base
The Finals are invitation only. Fields are limited to the top 25 athletes in each discipline, plus the junior world champion and racers with more than 500 FIS points on the season. That usually means Crystal Globes get decided on Baldy.
How to watch it in person
General admission grandstand seating sits at the Greyhawk finish area, where spectators can follow the race on a large screen. Free standing-room viewing will be available at the finish and along accessible sections of the course for spectators on skis or snowboards. Sun Valley is also selling three VIP packages: an all-access package for every race day, a speed package for the downhill and super-G weekend, and a tech package for the giant slalom and slalom days. Tickets and volunteer sign-ups run through SVWorldCup.com, with more ticket releases expected later.
For recreational skiers, the timing is worth planning around. Late March on Baldy brings long spring days, and race week brings the kind of crowd an Idaho resort rarely sees. Book lodging early if you want to ski the open terrain in the morning and catch a run of racers in the afternoon.
For terrain, lodging, and flights into Hailey, start with the Sun Valley resort page. The full event schedule is on Sun Valley's World Cup page.