Narvik withdraws from hosting 2026/27 FIS World Cup races

Narvik’s local organizing committee has pulled out of hosting the women’s Audi FIS Alpine World Cup speed races planned for March 2027. The reason is the risk of not finishing the venue in time. FIS and the Norwegian Ski Federation are already working to confirm a substitute venue, which will be announced shortly.

A test event that no longer fits

The races were meant to be a rehearsal. The 12-13 March 2027 downhill and super-G were billed as the first major test of the new downhill course, finish area and event organization, and they were due to take place one week before the women’s finals in Sun Valley. The women’s World Cup was to be followed by a larger event. The World Cup Finals for women and men are set for 2028, and the Alpine World Ski Championships for 13-25 February 2029.

According to the organizers, finishing the job in time was technically possible but would have meant taking on considerable risk. The work would have had to be completed, tested, commissioned and approved before race week.

FIS Chief Race Director Peter Gerdol said the governing body could not take that chance. He praised Narvik’s progress on major structural work but said a World Cup event leaves no room for gambles. FIS and the organizers agreed that Narvik should put all its effort into a state-of-the-art venue for 2029.

Not a retreat from 2029

Knut-Eirik Dybdal, CEO of organizer Narvik VM 2029 AS, said the decision does not change the ambition for the World Championships. He framed it as a way to use resources where they matter most, and said the organizers still have great confidence in the project, the venue and Narvik as host.

The scale of the build

The project is large. A €53 million (about NOK 720 million) investment covers a full modernization of lifts, slopes, race infrastructure and snowmaking. It includes a new 10-seat gondola, a new six-seat chairlift, three T-bars, and the 3 km Panorama Downhill Course designed for World Cup-level racing in 2029. The snowmaking upgrade adds a new reservoir, pump station, booster station, a renewed pipeline network, 100 new snow guns and 12 groomers.

In July, coverage described construction as broadly on schedule, with all major components expected to be finished by March 2027. That left almost no margin before the World Cup. The resort’s own timeline had always been staggered. Most development was planned between May 2025 and September 2027, mainly in summer, with the resort fully complete by the March 2028 World Cup Finals. A separate presentation of the 2029 plans says the competition facilities are scheduled for completion in autumn 2027, which is after the 2027 races.

A rocky run-up

The decision follows a difficult stretch of testing on the mountain. In February, six FIS races at Narvikfjellet were cancelled because the resort lacked enough water for artificial snow, which stopped athletes from trying the planned World Championship courses. The 2026 World Junior Championships, held in Narvik in March, saw both downhills cancelled, though the sources I found do not give the reasons. Nothing I found links these events to the withdrawal, and the organizers have not said they are connected.

What it means

Narvik won the 2029 bid in 2024, beating Val Gardena 11 to 8, and it will be the first Alpine World Championships in Norway as a standalone event. The city also expects the development to leave a lasting legacy for northern Norway.

For now, the immediate questions are where the women’s speed races will land and whether the calendar can absorb them so close to the finals. Those answers are expected shortly. The longer-term test is whether Narvik can deliver the venue in time for 2029. Giving up a World Cup weekend now is a bet that it can.