The village of Ã…re and its surroundings have a long alpine tradition and the tourist industry has been an important source of income for the village since the mid-1800s.
Interest in winters in Åre increased in the 1900s and the construction of the funicular, Bergbanan, in 1910 was Åre’s start as a winter resort. The Second World War temporarily stopped development, but during the 1950s and 60s Åre, just like much of the rest of Europe, started to recover. Åre’s true golden years began at the end of the 1970s and, thanks to Ingemar Stenmark and the "Åre Project", which facilitated huge investment in Åre, interest boomed in the ski resort.
Nowadays, Åre, a small and rural town located in the Jämtland region, in the midst of the Swedish mountains, and with 1400 inhabitants, welcomes around 800 000 visitors yearly. Around 11,000 of Jämtland’s 126,000 inhabitants live in Åre Municipality. The county is about the same size as Switzerland (which has eight million inhabitants).
Ã…re has hosted the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships three times, the last one in 2019.
Ã…re first hosted the Alpine World Ski Championships in 1954.
In 2007, once again, Åre hosted the Alpine World Ski Championships. The 2007 Championships made a permanent impression on Åre’s ski system and the village, as a new Ladies’ Downhill was built, commercial space doubled and a 130-meter-long tunnel replaced the bridge that once led the world championship slopes across the E14. The 39th Alpine World Ski Championships was a success for both the host and the Swedish team.
Åre also has great experience organizing Alpine World Cup races. Åre Slalomklubb and Världscupbolaget have organized more than 100 World Cup races over the years, with great success. Thanks to the now legendary Åre son Bibbo Nordenskiöld’s initiative, an Alpine World Cup was first held in Åre in 1969.
Giant Slalom. Friday, March 11th, 1st run 15:00, 2nd run 18:00 (CET)
Slalom. Saturday, March 12th, 1st run 10:30, 2nd run 13:45 (CET)
Last season Petra Vlhova won the first of the two slaloms held in Ã…re. Katharina Liensberger finished in second place (+0.20), with Mikaela Shiffrin in third place (+0.64).
One day after, Katharina Liensberger, claimed her first career World Cup victory. And she earned the victory in convincing fashion, with a 0.72 second lead over American Mikaela Shiffrin. Third place went to Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener, who was a hefty 1.65 seconds off the winning pace.
Sara Hector, winner of Olympic Giant Slalom gold in Beijing, tops this season's Giant Slalom standings on 522 points, ahead of Tessa Worley (467) and Mikaela Shiffrin (411). She could become the second Swedish winner of the women's Giant Slalom crystal globe, after Anja Pärson (2002-2003, 2003-2004, and 2005-2006).
Hector finished on the podium in each of the last six Giant Slalom events in the World Cup, claiming the win in Courchevel, Kranjska Gora, and Kronplatz.
By winning the Giant Slalom in Lenzerheide last weekend, Tessa Worley joined Annemarie Moser-Pröll (both 16) in second place on the women's list for most World Cup wins in the discipline. Vreni Schneider (20) tops this list.
Worley is ranked second in the Giant Slalom standings and could win this crystal globe for a second time, after winning it in 2016-2017. The only French woman to win the Giant Slalom globe more than once is Carole Merle (2).
She finished on the podium in each of the last four World Cup Giant Slalom races, winning in Lienz and Lenzerheide.
Petra Vlhová has already secured this season's Slalom Crystal Globe. The Slovakian also picked up Olympic gold in the slalom at the Beijing Games.
Vlhová finished in the top two in all seven World Cup Slalom events this season. She claimed five wins and finished runner-up to Mikaela Shiffrin in the other two.
Vlhová can become the second woman in the last 10 World Cup seasons to win at least six World Cup slaloms in a single season. Shiffrin achieved this in 2016-2017 (6), 2017-2018 (7), and 2018-2019 (8).
Vlhová's first career World Cup victory came in the slalom in Åre on 13 December 2015.
By winning the most recent World Cup slalom event in Schladming on 11 January, Mikaela Shiffrin (47 in Slalom) broke the record for most World Cup victories in a single discipline, set by Ingemar Stenmark (46 in Giant Slalom).
Shiffrin, 66 in Slalom, is level with Lindsey Vonn, 66 in Downhill, for most women's World Cup podiums in a single discipline.
She recorded four World Cup slalom victories in Ã…re. The woman to record more World Cup slalom wins at a single venue is Vreni Schneider with 6 wins in Maribor.
Mikaela Shiffrin also won the Slalom at the 2019 World Championships held in Åre, finishing ahead of Anna Swenn-Larsson, and Petra Vlhová.
The top three in this season's Overall World Cup standings are Mikaela Shiffrin (1,156), Petra Vlhová (1,039), and Federica Brignone (931). The last five Overall titles were won by these three women: Shiffrin (2016-2017, 2017-2018, and 2018-2019), Brignone (2019-2020), and Vlhová (2020-2021).
Mikaela Shiffrin (3) could become the third woman to win the overall crystal globe more than three times, after Annemarie Moser-Pröll (6) and Lindsey Vonn (4).
