40th World Cup season gets underway

Opening round in Winterberg World Champions are the defending World Cup holders

Winterberg (RWH) Things will come full circle in Winterberg this weekend. The artificial ice track in the Hochsauerland region staged the 2015/2016 season finale back in February, when the Joska World Cup trophies were presented. The serpentine track on the Kappe mountain is now gearing up to host the first event of the pre-Olympic winter season this coming weekend (26/27 November 2016). The world’s elite lugers will do battle for the men’s, women’s and doubles titles for the 40th time since the World Cup made its debut back in 1977/1978. In that time, more than half of the events have borne the title of Viessmann Luge World Cup. The current World Champions Natalie Geisenberger, Felix Loch, and the doubles pairing of Tobias Wendl/Tobias Arlt (all from Germany), go into the new season as defending World Cup holders.

Ten events on three continents and in six countries will make up the bare bones of the 2016/2017 luge winter season. Taking a more in-depth look, the coming season actually involves nine Viessmann Luge World Cups spread over three continents, with an additional six Viessmann Team Relay World Cups presented by BMW, and a further three BMW Sprint World Cups. The highlight will be the seven events staged at the 47th International Luge Federation (FIL) World Championships on the historic Olympic track in Innsbruck in January 2017.