Adelboden preview:

Adelboden preview:{mosimage}ADELBODEN, Switzerland – Adelboden has been hosting races since well before the World Cup was founded. In the old days, the mountain hosted the International Adelboden Ski Days, slaloms and giant slaloms held in the remote valley each year.

American athletes were in the field those years, and names such as Tom Corcoran and Buddy Werner managed to land on the podium. Billy Kidd won the giant slalom in 1966.
           
Adelboden has been a mainstay of the World Cup calendar since the inaugural season in 1967, when Jean-Claude Killy won. Since then, the mountain has hosted annual giant slaloms, with the addition of slalom in 2000, 2002 and 2004.

The town is at the head of a long and winding valley in the Bernese Oberland (click here for panoramic map). The town is only a few valleys away from Wengen, and is closer as the crow flies than it is by car.

The organizing committee’s firm embrace of the race’s cow-town heritage is evident in the giant cowbells handed out as trophies here.

A list of the former winners of the prestigious race can be found here.

Last year, American Daron Rahlves took one of the most spectacular falls of his life on the lower pitch of the giant slalom hill. Along with other unique World Cup footage, the crash is featured on a Web site set up by his primary sponsor, Red Bull energy drink. (Click on ‘the skier’ then ‘the price you pay’ to see it.)