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.

History

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,[1] and then expanded dramatically as a ski resort after World War II,[2] 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.[3]

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.[4] 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.[4]

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.[5][6][7] Less than a year later in 1991, Petra Kronberger won consecutive World Cup events in downhill and Super-G.[8]

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.[9]

After the Olympics, outside of a slalom in 1994, the Roc de Fer course remained dormant on the World Cup circuit for twenty years.[10] 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.[10] 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.[10]

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.[11]

Events

Winter Olympics

Year Date Event Winner Second place Third place
↓ Women ↓
199212–13 February  KBAustria Petra KronbergerAustria Anita WachterFrance Florence Masnada
15 February  DHCanada Kerrin Lee-GartnerUnited States Hilary LindhAustria Veronika Wallinger
18 February  SGItaly Deborah CompagnoniFrance Carole MerleGermany Katja Seizinger
19 February  GSSweden Pernilla WibergAustria Anita Wachter
United States Diann Roffe
20 February  SLAustria Petra KronbergerNew Zealand Annelise CobergerSpain B. Fernández Ochoa

World Championships

Year Date Event Winner Second place Third place
↓ Women ↓
20236 February  ACItaly Federica Brignone Switzerland  Wendy HoldenerAustria Ricarda Haaser
8 February  SGItaly Marta BassinoUnited States Mikaela ShiffrinAustria Cornelia Hütter
Norway Kajsa Vickhoff Lie
11 February  DH Switzerland  Jasmine FluryAustria Nina Ortlieb Switzerland  Corinne Suter
15 February  PGNorway  Maria Therese Tviberg Switzerland  Wendy HoldenerNorway  Thea L. Stjernesund
16 February  GSUnited States Mikaela ShiffrinItaly Federica BrignoneNorway  Ragnhild Mowinckel
18 February  SLCanada Laurence St-GermainUnited States Mikaela ShiffrinGermany Lena Dürr
↓ Men ↓
202315 February  PGGermany Alexander SchmidAustria Dominik RaschnerNorway  Timon Haugan
↓ Alpine team event ↓
202314 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

Season Date Event Winner Second place Third place
↓ Women ↓
1989/9010 February  SGFrance Carole Merle Switzerland  Maria WalliserWest Germany Michaela Gerg
11 February  SGFrance Carole MerleWest Germany Katja Seizinger Switzerland  Maria Walliser
1990/9119 January  DHAustria Petra KronbergerFrance Carole MerleAustria Veronika Wallinger
20 January  SGAustria Petra KronbergerGermany Michaela GergFrance Carole Merle
1994/9530 December  SLSlovenia Urška Hrovat Switzerland  Vreni SchneiderFrance Leila Piccard
2012/1323 February  DHSpain Carolina Ruiz CastilloGermany Maria Höfl-RieschFrance Marie Marchand-Arvier
24 February  KBSlovenia Tina MazeAustria Nicole HospAustria Michaela Kirchgasser
2014/1518 March  DHUnited States Lindsey VonnAustria Elisabeth GörglAustria Nicole Hosp
19 March  SGUnited States Lindsey VonnAustria Anna FenningerSlovenia Tina Maze
21 March  SLUnited States Mikaela ShiffrinSweden Frida HansdotterSlovakia Veronika Velez-Zuzulová
22 March  GSAustria Anna FenningerAustria Eva-Maria BremSloveniaTina Maze
2021/2219 March  SLSlovenia Andreja SlokarGermany Lena DürrSlovakia Petra Vlhová
20 March  GSItaly Federica BrignoneItaly Marta BassinoSlovakia Petra Vlhová
↓ Men ↓
2014/1518 March  DHNorway  Kjetil Jansrud Switzerland  Didier DéfagoAustria Georg Streitberger
19 March  SGCanada Dustin CookNorway  Kjetil JansrudFrance Brice Roger
21 March  GSNorway  Henrik KristoffersenGermany Fritz DopferFrance Thomas Fanara
22 March  SLAustria Marcel HirscherItaly Giuliano RazzoliRussia Alexander Khoroshilov
2021/2219 March  GS Switzerland  Marco OdermattNorway  Lucas Braathen Switzerland  Loïc Meillard
20 March  SLNorway  Atle Lie McGrathNorway  Henrik KristoffersenAustria Manuel Feller
↓ Alpine team events ↓
2014/1520 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


2021/2218 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

  • 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".[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Meribel: The Mad Military Men Behind The Ski Resort". Forces.net. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  2. ↑ "The history of Meribel". Ski Basics. 8 February 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  3. ↑ "Albertville 1992: 30 years of Olympic legacy in France's leading ski resorts". IOC. 30 January 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  4. 1 2 "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.
  5. ↑ Associated Press (12 February 1990). "Winter Sports -- Healthy Merle Wins Again". Seattle Times. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  6. ↑ "Carole Merle tekmicam ni pustila blizu". Delo (in Slovenian). 12 February 1990. p. 9.
  7. ↑ "Carole Merle wins super-G (Meribel 1990)". YouTube. 12 February 1990.
  8. ↑ "Petra Velika se še ni naveličala zmag". Delo (in Slovenian). 21 January 1991. p. 9.
  9. ↑ Associated Press (20 February 1992). "Olympic Notebook". AP News. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 Revuelta, Raúl (5 February 2023). "Roc de Fer. Courchevel-Méribel 2023 Racecourse". Ski Paradise. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  11. ↑ "Méribel celebrates the 30th anniversary of the 1992 Olympic Games". Meribel.net. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  12. ↑ Associated Press (11 February 2023). "Swiss skier Jasmine Flury wins downhill gold as favorites falter". ESPN.com. Retrieved 22 February 2023.

45°23′48″N 6°33′59″E / 45.396731°N 6.566269°E / 45.396731; 6.566269

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