Roc de Fer
Place: France Méribel
Opened: 10 February 1990
Downhill
Start: 2,150 m (7,054 ft) (AA)
Finish: 1,465 m (4,806 ft)
Vertical drop:    685 m (2,247 ft)
Length: 2.413 km (1.50 mi)
Max. incline: 28.8 degrees (55%)
Min. incline:   5.1 degrees (9%)

Roc de Fer (French: "iron rock") is a downhill Alpine skiing course in Méribel, France, which is part of the large interlinked ski area known as Les Trois Vallées in the Savoie department of France, near Mont Blanc. The course was originally created for the 1992 Winter Olympics and has since played host to the World Cup season finals in 2015 and 2022 and the 2023 FIS World Ski Championships, the latter two in conjunction with the L’Éclipse course in the neighboring town of Courchevel.

Roc de Fer is considered venue for 2030 Winter Olympics Alpine skiing events.[1]

History

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Although Méribel has hosted an Alpine skiing slope with a chair lift since 1938, when the resort was developed and opened by a former Scottish military officer and avid skier named Peter Lindsay,[2] and then expanded dramatically as a ski resort after World War II,[3] it still needed a course upgrade when it was designated to host some of the skiing events for the 1992 Winter Olympics, which were centered in nearby Albertville.[4]

According to the official record of the 1992 Games, the Roc de Fer course was developed after studying the sporting aspect and the environmental impact of the new course.[5] For those Olympics, for which some of the course development was handled by former Olympic gold medalist Bernhard Russi, all five of the women's alpine events (downhill, Super-G, giant slalom, slalom, and combined) were planned for (and took place at) Roc de Fer.[5]

In advance preparation for the Olympics, on 10–11 February 1990, the new Roc de Fer course was opened with two World Cup Super-Gs, both won by Carol Merle.[6][7][8] Less than a year later in 1991, Petra Kronberger won consecutive World Cup events in downhill and Super-G.[9]

During the Olympics, some of the female skiers were displeased with being "isolated" in Méribel instead of being housed in a communal Olympic village, as had been the case in the prior Olympics in Calgary.[10]

After the Olympics, outside of a slalom in 1994, the Roc de Fer course remained dormant on the World Cup circuit for twenty years.[11] But then, a women's World Cup downhill and combined were held on the course on 23-24 February 2013, and the course once again returned to the World Cup circuit.[11] More significantly, the course hosted the World Cup season finals in 2015 and later co-hosted both the season finals in 2022 (hosting all of the men's and women's technical events (giant slalom, slalom, and mixed team parallel)) and the 2023 FIS World Ski Championships (hosting all of the traditional women's events, similar to the 1992 Winter Olympics, as well as both men's and women's individual parallel giant slalom and the mixed team parallel event) in combination with the L’Éclipse course in Courchevel.[11]

Also, during the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Méribel held a celebration in honor of the 30th anniversary of the 1992 Olympic skiing at Roc de Fer and the hockey in the town.[12]

Events

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Winter Olympics

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Year Date Event Winner Second place Third place
↓ Women ↓
1992 12–13 February   KB   Petra Kronberger   Anita Wachter   Florence Masnada
15 February   DH   Kerrin Lee-Gartner   Hilary Lindh   Veronika Wallinger
18 February   SG   Deborah Compagnoni   Carole Merle   Katja Seizinger
19 February   GS   Pernilla Wiberg   Anita Wachter
  Diann Roffe
20 February   SL   Petra Kronberger   Annelise Coberger   B. Fernández Ochoa

World Championships

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Year Date Event Winner Second place Third place
↓ Women ↓
2023 6 February   AC   Federica Brignone     Wendy Holdener   Ricarda Haaser
8 February   SG   Marta Bassino   Mikaela Shiffrin   Cornelia Hütter
  Kajsa Vickhoff Lie
11 February   DH     Jasmine Flury   Nina Ortlieb     Corinne Suter
15 February   PG  Maria Therese Tviberg     Wendy Holdener  Thea L. Stjernesund
16 February   GS   Mikaela Shiffrin   Federica Brignone  Ragnhild Mowinckel
18 February   SL   Laurence St-Germain   Mikaela Shiffrin   Lena Dürr
↓ Men ↓
2023 15 February   PG   Alexander Schmid   Dominik Raschner  Timon Haugan
↓ Alpine team event ↓
2023 14 February   PG
(Team)
  United States
Tommy Ford
Katie Hensien
Paula Moltzan
Nina O'Brien
River Radamus
Luke Winters
  Norway
Timon Haugan
Kristin Lysdahl
L. K. Nestvold-Haugen
Alexander Steen Olsen
Thea Louise Stjernesund
Maria Therese Tviberg
  Canada
Valerie Grenier
Jeffrey Read
Erik Read
Britt Richardson


World Cup

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Season Date Event Winner Second place Third place
↓ Women ↓
1989/90 10 February   SG   Carole Merle     Maria Walliser   Michaela Gerg
11 February   SG   Carole Merle   Katja Seizinger     Maria Walliser
1990/91 19 January   DH   Petra Kronberger   Carole Merle   Veronika Wallinger
20 January   SG   Petra Kronberger   Michaela Gerg   Carole Merle
1994/95 30 December   SL   Urška Hrovat     Vreni Schneider   Leila Piccard
2012/13 23 February   DH   Carolina Ruiz Castillo   Maria Höfl-Riesch   Marie Marchand-Arvier
24 February   KB   Tina Maze   Nicole Hosp   Michaela Kirchgasser
2014/15 18 March   DH   Lindsey Vonn   Elisabeth Görgl   Nicole Hosp
19 March   SG   Lindsey Vonn   Anna Fenninger   Tina Maze
21 March   SL   Mikaela Shiffrin   Frida Hansdotter   Veronika Velez-Zuzulová
22 March   GS   Anna Fenninger   Eva-Maria Brem  Tina Maze
2021/22 19 March   SL   Andreja Slokar   Lena Dürr   Petra Vlhová
20 March   GS   Federica Brignone   Marta Bassino   Petra Vlhová
↓ Men ↓
2014/15 18 March   DH  Kjetil Jansrud     Didier Défago   Georg Streitberger
19 March   SG   Dustin Cook  Kjetil Jansrud   Brice Roger
21 March   GS  Henrik Kristoffersen   Fritz Dopfer   Thomas Fanara
22 March   SL   Marcel Hirscher   Giuliano Razzoli   Alexander Khoroshilov
2021/22 19 March   GS     Marco Odermatt  Lucas Braathen     Loïc Meillard
20 March   SL  Atle Lie McGrath  Henrik Kristoffersen   Manuel Feller
↓ Alpine team events ↓
2014/15 20 March   PG
(Team)
   Switzerland
Charlotte Chable
Michelle Gisin
Wendy Holdener
Gino Caviezel
Justin Murisier
Reto Schmidiger
  Sweden
Sara Hector
Anna Swenn-Larsson
Emelie Wikström
Mattias Hargin
Anton Lahdenperä
André Myhrer
  Austria
Eva-Maria Brem
Carmen Thalmann
Christoph Nösig
Philipp Schörghofer


2021/22 18 March   PG
(Team)
   Switzerland
Delphine Darbellay
Andrea Ellenberger
Fadri Janutin
Livio Simonet


  Austria
Stefan Brennsteiner
Patrick Feurstein
Fabio Gstrein*
Ricarda Haaser
Katharina Huber*
Katharina Truppe
  Germany
Lena Dürr
Fabian Gratz
Antonia Kermer
Julian Rauchfuß


Course sections

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  • Departs des Militaires – Bosse De Anglais – Tunnel – Beage's Wall – La Traverse – Pracua – Le Goulet – Le Stade

One source described the Roc de Fer downhill course as "having a steep start", permitting skiers to accelerate to over 100 km/hour in less than eight seconds, but then requiring more technical skills due to both turns and "many rolls and bumps".[13]

References

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  1. ^ https://olympics.com/en/news/olympic-winter-games-french-alps-2030-top-facts-you-need-to-know-about-the-host
  2. ^ "Meribel: The Mad Military Men Behind The Ski Resort". Forces.net. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  3. ^ "The history of Meribel". Ski Basics. 8 February 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  4. ^ "Albertville 1992: 30 years of Olympic legacy in France's leading ski resorts". IOC. 30 January 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Albertville 1992 Official Report" (PDF). Le Comité d'Organisation des Jeux Olympiques Albertville. LA84 Foundation. 1992. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 February 2008. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  6. ^ Associated Press (12 February 1990). "Winter Sports -- Healthy Merle Wins Again". Seattle Times. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  7. ^ "Carole Merle tekmicam ni pustila blizu". Delo (in Slovenian). 12 February 1990. p. 9.
  8. ^ "Carole Merle wins super-G (Meribel 1990)". YouTube. 12 February 1990.
  9. ^ "Petra Velika se še ni naveličala zmag". Delo (in Slovenian). 21 January 1991. p. 9.
  10. ^ Associated Press (20 February 1992). "Olympic Notebook". AP News. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  11. ^ a b c Revuelta, Raúl (5 February 2023). "Roc de Fer. Courchevel-Méribel 2023 Racecourse". Ski Paradise. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  12. ^ "Méribel celebrates the 30th anniversary of the 1992 Olympic Games". Meribel.net. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  13. ^ Associated Press (11 February 2023). "Swiss skier Jasmine Flury wins downhill gold as favorites falter". ESPN.com. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
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45°23′48″N 6°33′59″E / 45.396731°N 6.566269°E / 45.396731; 6.566269