Alpine Skiing at the 1936 Winter Olympics

This was the inaugural appearance of Alpine skiing on the Olympic program. There was one event for men and women, the combined, which consisted of combining the times from the open downhill and slalom races. The downhill was contested on the Kreuzeck, while the slalom competition took place on the Gudiberg, both mountains surrounding Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Alpine ski racing is the newer form of ski racing, as Nordic, or cross-country, competitions were held in the Scandanavian countries for many years before alpine racing was developed. The first known race was in 1911 at Montana, Switzerland, when the British organized a race for a challenge cup given by Lord Roberts of Kandahar. The first slalom style race was held in 1922 at Mürren, Switzerland. World Championships were first contested in 1931 in Mürren, Switzerland, with events in downhill and slalom. A combined event was added at the 1932 World Championships in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.