The 2025/26 alpine ski season is officially over, with the FIS confirming that national championships across Europe and North America have brought the curtain down on a campaign that produced a record-tying sixth overall Crystal Globe for Mikaela Shiffrin, an emotional return-and-injury arc for Lindsey Vonn, and a maiden World Cup downhill win for Italy's Laura Pirovano on the season's final international race day.
Federation announcements published at the end of April closed out competitive racing for the year. The Italian, Austrian, French, Swiss, German and US national championships all wrapped between April 24 and April 27, with athletes free now for an off-season that will include rehab work, conditioning blocks and equipment testing before pre-season camps begin in late summer.
The season's headline numbers have already been written. Shiffrin took her ninth slalom Crystal Globe — winning nine of her ten races to set a record for slalom efficiency in a single season — alongside her sixth overall title. The American beat Germany's Emma Aicher to the overall in a final-day giant slalom at Lillehammer, where she finished 11th but did enough to secure points and the globe.
"It's quite emotional. This thing sums up a whole season of work and fighting with the whole team," Shiffrin said after the title was confirmed. "I had many moments where I thought, 'Emma can win this race and I might not make points.' I'm very grateful right now because I think this could go differently."
Aicher's runner-up overall finish capped a breakthrough season for the German, while Switzerland's Camille Rast, Wendy Holdener and Austria's Katharina Truppe rounded out the slalom standings behind Shiffrin. Pirovano's late-season surge dragged Italy higher in the team standings.
The men's overall picture saw Switzerland's Marco Odermatt continue to dominate at the front, with Loic Meillard pushing him through the giant slalom and slalom races, and Italy's Giovanni Franzoni breaking through with a Hahnenkamm downhill win in January.
Attention now turns to the 2026/27 calendar. The Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup will return to Sölden, Austria, for its traditional opening giant slaloms in late October before the speed circuit moves through North America to its early-winter European stops. The full schedule is expected to be confirmed by FIS during summer training blocks, with the technical and speed circuits each retaining their familiar geographic shape.
For the athletes, the off-season's biggest uncertainties sit in the medical room. Vonn faces at least one more surgery and 18 months of rehab before any racing comeback would be possible. Lauren Macuga is still working back from her pre-Olympic ACL tear. Several Italian and Austrian women are managing season-end niggles.
For the federations, the priority is roster locking. US Ski & Snowboard nominated its 2026-27 squad on May 7. Italian, Swiss and Austrian rosters will follow before mid-summer, alongside the FIS calendar release.
The 2025/26 chapter is closed. The 2026/27 build begins.