In Europe’s most revered Alpine slopes, spectators from around the world form a colourful ribbon down the mountainside. They are there to witness the world’s most skilful athletes fly down the slopes. Before them, their ski-heroes glide over the pistes, like dolphins skimming over a white ocean of snow, they sweep towards a cauldron of excitement at the finish. This is the thrilling spectacle of the Audi FIS Women’s World Club in the jet-set havens of St Moritz in Switzerland and Courchevel in France.

Glitzy St Moritz is the setting for two Super-G races while equally exclusive Courchevel will stage two giant slaloms in December. A World Cup race is skiing’s equivalent of an F1 Grand Prix, with speed as its focus. Amidst the fast pace of adventure, these annual visits to both resorts have become classics in the women’s racing calendar, offering thrills at every turn.  Prestige presides over these pistes as some of worlds’ finest skiers perform on the most stunning landscapes. Beyond the event, St Moritz provides a fine array of legacy hotels for first-class guests and elegant eateries for epicureans. And for fine food, Courchevel is in a culinary class of its own with eight Michelin-starred restaurants holding 14 stars between them among them within palatial palaces, five-star hotels and chic-chalets.

St Moritz has a long association with winter sports going back to ice skating on the frozen lakes in the 1900s and then the Winter Olympics that made this elegant resort world famous. St. Moritz has hosted the Games twice, in 1928 and 1948. The 1928 staging was the second official Winter Olympics, while the 1948 Games were the first after the Second World War. Other Olympic sites include the Olympia Bobrun St. Moritz-Celerina and the Olympic Stone to commemorate the holding of both the 1928 and 1948 Games in the St Moritz Spa Park.

The women’s world cup race has taken place in St Moritz every year since 1998 and has become one of the highlights of the calendar. It is one competition every skier wants to win. Some of the sport’s biggest names, including Mikaela Shiffrin, Lindsey Vonn, Maria Hofl Reisch and Tina Maze have their names on the St Moritz roll of honour.

Over the border in France, Courchevel is a refined resort nestled in the three valleys, established in 1946. Today, it represents Europe’s largest linked ski area, Émile-Allais stadium. Gracing the slopes again will be Italian stars Soffia Goggia and Federica Brigone – previous St Moritz and Courchevel winners. Ski heritage is on display at the childhood home of French alpine racing superstar three-time Olympic medallist Alexis Pinturault’s family hotel Annapurna, which presides over the Pralong slope.

St Moritz and Courchevel are two of the glamourous events on the world cup calendar where elite sport mixes with high society in two of Europe’s most fabled and exclusive ski resorts. Adrenaline and high-octane action are showcased within a wintry wonderland full of palatial palaces, five-star hotels and gourmet dining options that keep athletes and spectators in elegant comfort following the action.