Solden World Cup 2026: Start Times, TV Guide, Tickets and the Sunday Clock Change Trap

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The Alpine Ski World Cup season does not ease you in. It starts at 3,038 metres on the Rettenbach Glacier, where October can mean bluebird hardpack or a wet snowstorm, and this year's opener at Solden has a bit of both in the forecast. The women's giant slalom runs on Saturday 24 October and the men's giant slalom on Sunday 25 October, and if you are watching from outside Austria, the tricky part is not the racing. It is the clocks. Europe falls back to winter time in the early hours of Sunday morning, so Sunday's race reaches American TV an hour later than Saturday's. This page puts everything in one place: start times by country, the full TV picture, real ticket prices, how the bib draw works, the storylines worth caring about, and the weekend weather.

When does racing start at Solden, and what time is it where I am?

Both race days follow the same local pattern. Run 1 starts at 10:00 local Solden time and Run 2 at 13:00 local. What changes is the timezone. On Saturday Solden is on Central European Summer Time (UTC+2). Overnight between Saturday and Sunday, European clocks go back one hour to Central European Time (UTC+1). That single change ripples through every conversion, so a start time that feels fixed at 10:00 on the glacier is not fixed anywhere else.

Saturday 24 October (Solden on CEST, UTC+2):

Sunday 25 October (Solden on CET, UTC+1):

Look closely and the trap reveals itself. Sunday's men's Run 1 starts at 10:00 Solden time on both the local schedule and the Saturday schedule, so you might assume the same alarm works twice. It does not. London's airtime is 09:00 both mornings because Britain falls back at the same moment as continental Europe, but New York stays on daylight time until 1 November, so Sunday's race arrives at 05:00 ET instead of 04:00. Pakistan gains an hour too: 14:00 on Sunday instead of 13:00 on Saturday. The Sunday clock change trap is the classic Solden mistake for overseas fans, and the US viewers are the ones who feel it most, because they are the only major audience whose own clocks do not move this weekend.

How can I watch the Solden World Cup on TV and streaming?

In the United States, coverage is on Peacock and NBCSN, per an NBC Sports press release issued on 22 October 2026. The release also announced an expanded partnership between NBC, U.S. Ski and Snowboard, and FIS covering every alpine World Cup and World Championship race, extended through 2030, so this is not a one-off broadcast; it is the start of a long term home for alpine racing on American TV. The commentary team is Steve Schlanger with analyst Steve Porino.

The full US airtime schedule, all times Eastern:

For American fans who race on the US team, keep an eye on Mikaela Shiffrin, Paula Moltzan, River Radamus, and Nina O'Brien across the weekend.

In the United Kingdom, coverage is on TNT Sports on HBO Max, per the TNT Sports season preview published today, 23 October. The same preview includes a Dave Ryding season preview, which is worth a read for British fans wondering about the veteran slalom specialist's winter.

For viewers in continental Europe, broadcasters for Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands have not been verified for this run, so check the FIS broadcast pages and your national listings on race day rather than trusting social media posts from last season.

How does the bib draw work, and why does it matter on the Rettenbach?

The bib draw happens the night before each race at Solden. The women's draw is tonight, Friday 23 October at 18:30 local Solden time (21:30 PKT), at the Giggijoch Base Station. The men's draw is Saturday 24 October at 19:00 local (22:00 PKT). The FIS Season Opening Press Conference took place today, 23 October, and can be watched back on watch.fis-ski.com.

Why care about a draw that lasts a few minutes? Because on a glacier in late October, bib numbers decide how much of the race you get to race. The top 15 ranked skiers in giant slalom draw their start numbers from the pool of bibs 1 to 15, and bib 1 goes first on a course that gets rutted and beaten up with every skier who passes. On the Rettenbach, which pitches up to a 65 percent gradient on its steepest sections, the surface deterioration through the field is a genuine factor. An early bib on a crisp morning course is the cleanest snow of the day; a bib in the twenties can mean skiing through ruts that the course crew simply cannot fix between runs.

The draw mechanics also create the season's first little dramas. A title contender drawing bib 2 gets the best possible platform to attack, while drawing bib 14 or 15 means waiting through fourteen pairs of skis before your turn. For the rest of the field, the draw is everything: bibs below 30 separate the skiers who might crack the second run flip from those whose season effectively starts next week. Watch the draw tonight not as ceremony, but as the first tactical event of the 2026/27 season.

Who are the storylines to follow this weekend?

Start with the defending champions of this very hill. Julia Scheib won last year's women's race at Solden and Marco Odermatt won the men's race, and both return to defend. Scheib's win was no fluke, either: she took last season's women's giant slalom crystal globe as well, so she arrives as the discipline's reigning queen on the exact slope where she announced herself.

The men's crystal globe story is the spiciest thread of the season's opening weekend. Lucas Pinheiro Braathen took last season's men's GS globe from Odermatt, beating the dominant Swiss racer at his own game. Odermatt, meanwhile, is chasing a sixth straight overall World Cup title, a streak that only Marcel Hirscher has bettered with his eight. Every giant slalom this season is therefore two contests at once: the race on the day, and the Braathen versus Odermatt arms race for the discipline.

Then there is Mikaela Shiffrin, at 110 World Cup wins, entering what she has called an exploration season. She is focusing on giant slalom and Super-G this winter, skipping the Levi and Gurgl slaloms and opening her slalom campaign at Killington on 29 November. That makes Solden's women's GS her statement race: the first chance to see what the most successful alpine skier in history looks like in a winter built around speed and giant slalom rather than the slalom dominance that made her famous.

Around 30,000 spectators are expected at the glacier over the weekend, per reports, which makes Solden one of the great atmospheres in the sport, a wall of noise on the steep pitch where you can almost reach out and touch the racers.

How much do Solden World Cup tickets cost?

Ticket prices come from soelden.com, the official source, in euros. All prices below include the shuttle bus from Solden up to the glacier, which matters because the Rettenbach is not walkable from town. The price table below is the money truth of the weekend:

Premium options step up sharply. The special guest area is 106 EUR, the Gletscherspalte restaurant package is 235 EUR, the Gletschertisch lounge is 347 EUR, and the VIP grandstand tops the board at 362 EUR. The honest read: buying online saves 5 EUR per adult day ticket, the weekend ticket at 51 EUR is 9 EUR cheaper than two separate online day tickets, and valid ski pass holders get free standing access, so if you are already skiing the glacier that week, the race is effectively free. Children born in 2021 or later get in free, which makes this one of the more family friendly stops on the World Cup calendar.

Will the weather ruin the race, and is the course actually ready?

The course is ready, and that is a bigger deal than it sounds. The race is possible thanks to 60,000 cubic metres of stockpiled farmed snow, and FIS snow control passed on 15 October, per snow-forecast.com quoting race course director Isi Grüner. The Rettenbach runs from a start at 3,038 metres to a finish at 2,668 metres, a vertical drop of 370 metres on glacier snow that, by late October, is as close to midwinter as the World Cup gets this early. In a warming climate, Solden's farmed snow system is what keeps the traditional opener alive, and passing snow control more than a week out was never in doubt this year.

The weekend forecast, per weather.com as of today, is a different story for the two days, and it is worth presenting as a forecast, not a fact, because glacier weather changes fast. Saturday looks like a proper alpine race day: mostly cloudy, a high of minus 6C that feels like minus 15C with wind chill, a northwest wind at 19 km/h, and only a 20 percent chance of snow. Hard, cold, fast snow, exactly what a giant slalom course setter wants.

Sunday is the worry. The forecast calls for a rain and snow mix, a high of 2C, about 3.5 centimetres of snow, and an 80 percent chance of wintry precipitation. If that materialises, the men's race could run in soft, wet snow, which changes everything: ruts form faster, late bibs suffer more, and the course crew faces a long night between the women's race and the men's race. Soft snow also tends to reward skiers who can stay patient and keep the skis running rather than muscling turns. Check the forecast again on Saturday night before setting Sunday expectations.

Why does Solden always open the season?

Solden has opened the Alpine World Cup season for years because it can do something almost no other venue can in October: guarantee snow. The Rettenbach Glacier sits above 2,600 metres, and the resort's snow farming operation stockpiles snow through the summer specifically for the race. While other glaciers have struggled with retreating ice and unreliable autumns, Solden's combination of altitude, aspect, and the farmed snow reserve has kept the opener on the calendar.

There is also the spectacle factor. A giant slalom on a glacier in October is visually unique in world sport: summer tan lines in the crowd, racers in speed suits on snow that was harvested months ago, and a pitch that drops at up to 65 percent gradient. The venue turns the season's first weekend into an event rather than just a race, which is why around 30,000 people are expected to make the trip up the mountain. For the athletes, it is the first real exam of the winter: fitness, equipment, and nerve, all tested on one of the most demanding giant slalom hills on the circuit.

What should I actually do this weekend as a fan?

If you are watching from the US, the honest advice is to plan around the clock change. Saturday's women's race is 4:00am and 7:00am ET live, with encore replays at 5:30pm and 7:00pm ET that let you watch like a civilised person. Sunday's men's race shifts to 5:00am and 8:00am ET, with the Run 2 encore at 8:30pm ET. The NBC press release confirms Peacock and NBCSN carry it all, and with the partnership extended through 2030, this is the broadcast home settling in for the long haul.

If you are in the UK, TNT Sports on HBO Max is the destination, and the Dave Ryding season preview in their coverage today is a good warm up read. If you are in Pakistan, the races land at civilised hours: 13:00 and 16:00 PKT on Saturday, 14:00 and 17:00 on Sunday.

If you are going in person, buy online to save the 5 EUR per day, take the included shuttle, dress for minus 15C wind chill on Saturday, and prepare for a slushier Sunday. Watch the women's bib draw tonight at 18:30 local if you want the first tactical read of the season, and remember that on the Rettenbach, the draw is not pageantry. It is the first race of the winter.

Sources: NBC Sports press release (22 Oct 2026), FIS, soelden.com, snow-forecast.com (quoting race course director Isi Grüner), TNT Sports, Reuters.