Top 10 Best Alpine Skiers of All Time
You don't need to be chasing World Cup points to appreciate what it takes to be one of the best alpine skiers of all time. The skill, the focus, the sheer nerve it takes to throw yourself down a mountain at 80-plus miles per hour while staying balanced on a strip of metal no wider than a baguette, that's not something just anyone can pull off. These athletes aren't just fast. They've spent years fine-tuning their technique, pushing through injuries, and grinding it out through brutal training sessions in all kinds of weather. You see the glory on race day, but there's a whole lot of blood, sweat, and ski wax behind it.This list is a celebration of the greats who have dominated the slopes across slalom, giant slalom, super-G, and downhill. Some won everything there was to win. Others were consistent podium threats for over a decade. And then there are the ones who brought something totally new to the sport. They changed how it was raced and how people watched it.
You might agree with the front-runners, or maybe you've got a favorite who doesn't always get enough love from the mainstream. Either way, your vote helps shape the list into something that reflects what ski fans really think.
When I grew up and went to school in the 70s, the only time we were allowed to watch TV during school hours was when Ingemar Stenmark was racing. I think most of Sweden was at a standstill. He could beat the opposition by seconds sometimes instead of hundredths of a second.
FIS had to rewrite the rules because Ingemar was just unbeatable. Of course, it is impossible to really compare skiers from different time periods, but Ingemar dominated like no one has done since.
I saw him win in Kitzbühel, and the commentators all said he was like music coming down the slalom. On the downhill course, it gave me my greatest fear of all going down right after the downhill racers the last day.
He would find a line that no one else dared to take and hold it through the finish. One of the strongest skiers ever.
Maier won a World Cup in his 30s after an accident in which his leg was almost amputated. There is "The Herminator," then the rest!
To make a comeback after such a horrible accident is fantastic. He is the greatest.
Without question, the best skier of his time. He was the first skier to put real fire on the slopes, a bit like Bode Miller does today. But overall, Klammer deserves the top spot for all-time greats in this dangerous and compelling sport. Bode can quite happily accept 2nd place!
Always threw caution to the wind and went for it. After seeing him on a program training by jumping in a circle of varying bars, I was hooked. Full of charisma and someone you always believed could pull it off.
His record speaks for itself, but the run at Innsbruck in 1976 to win Olympic gold took literally death-defying courage. One of the pinnacles of sporting achievement in any field.
When he was competing, alpine skiing in Italy (and not only there) was almost more important than football! The Sanremo Festival 1988 (the most important music festival) stopped to allow people to follow his race in slalom at the Calgary Olympics! And he won, of course! A real phenomenon with fantastic talent, simply exciting!
Had he had the same character as Stenmark, he could have become the greatest of all time. Unfortunately, he liked skiing as much as parties.
Alberto brought a technical revolution in skiing. As ski expert Mario Cotelli used to say, Alberto was the first 4x4 skier!
In 1967, he won 72% of all the World Cup races and placed in many others. No one will ever match that. He had a great combination of excellent upper body, waist action, and flexibility, along with obviously great legs and feet. If he trained like they do now, he'd be up there with anyone.
Mikaela Shiffrin has a real chance to be great in all disciplines, like Killy, since she also has or is acquiring the above attributes he had. The hardest part of being great in all disciplines, like Killy, is probably the slalom. Shiffrin has that dialed in.
She is so cool, and she is an Olympic gold medalist.
Should be higher on the list. One of the all-time World Cup and Olympic greats. Just won a bronze in the downhill at PyeongChang. The oldest skier to medal in Olympic downhill. Only Ingemar Stenmark was better.
She is an amazing skier, takes risks, and has made so many comebacks after injuries. She is an inspiration to all skiers and athletes.
Um, excuse me! This gal should be number one! The most decorated skier of all time, breaking so many records. She is legendary.
He's just an amazing skier. He loves the mountain, and he adores skiing. Bode is incredible, and he is always ready to do something strange and dangerous - for example, one-foot skiing in Lake Louise.
He should not be in the top 5, but I just love his skiing style. Bode introduced a new way of World Cup skiing, and although he could have won more, he remains one of the most influential skiers of all time.
He's highly skilled, unconventional, and very daring, plus independently minded. That makes Bode Miller the champion in my eyes!
Definitely the greatest that has ever been riding down the slopes of the world, year after year, for six consecutive years. In today's perfected world of skiing, this is a feat so amazing it simply cannot be measured against any other achievements of past skiers.
Nobody has been so dominant for six consecutive years as Marcel Hirscher. I believe it was easier to win in the "old" days - say 20-30 years ago. Today, skiers are more athletic, and the sport is faster and more dangerous in general.
Definitely the best ski racer of all time. While it is always difficult to compare different decades of skiing, no one is more technically dominant than Hirscher.
Most perfect skier ever - never looked stressed, like he was taking a walk in the park, despite the fact that he beat his competitors by seconds! Strong, stable, aggressive yet always elegant.
The best technique ever! He skis like poetry!
Fantastic technique, best present skier!
The Newcomers
Excellent skiing technique. He is the best skier today, and presumably, it will soon be recorded that he is one of the best of all time.
A man who had countless injuries and surgical operations and never gave up. Remarkable skier and fighter.
The most complete skier today.
She's had more success at a younger age than any woman in World Cup history besides Annemarie Moser-Proell. Annemarie is the only competition for the greatest overall woman's skier. Why are they not both top 10 if not top 5?
Shiffrin, at age 25, already has more career slalom wins than anyone ever, man or woman, along with 2 Olympic golds and 5 World Championship golds.
She clearly is the best in slalom. Poetry on skis. She may eventually be the best in the remaining alpine disciplines. Time will tell. But it is clear that even at such a young age, the number of her globes don't lie. She is the one to beat.
He has the most medals. That says it all! He has also been top ten in 231 World Cup races, more than anyone else! Stenmark has more number 1s, but this guy has been good in every discipline. With his 231 top ten placements, he is the best overall in every single race!
When you count medals, he is the supreme leader. He also has the most top ten results - 231, something that shows he is not only the best skier when it counts most but also in every other single race.
Aamodt became the first male alpine skier to win four gold medals in the Olympics and is one of only five male alpine skiers to have won a World Cup race in all five disciplines.
The most talented by far! Had it not been for his injuries, he would have stayed great in giant slalom and combined too.
His record speaks for itself. I mean, if Hirscher is here, then I can't understand why Aksel, who's won a lot more, isn't!
Two amazing comebacks after serious injuries. Great sportsmanship.
The Olympics' most medaled female skier with four Olympic gold and two silver medals (across the 2002 Salt Lake City and 2006 Turin Games), plus five World Championship gold medals, three Overall World Cup titles, and three Slalom titles. Kostelić burst onto the World Cup tour in Park City at just 16 years old.
She was 25 years old when she ended her career in 2007.
30 World Cup wins, 3 overall World Cup titles, 6 Olympic medals, and 5 World Championship medals. Retired at age 25.
She is the best world skier of all time.
He is an all-round skier. His best discipline was downhill and super-G, but he was also good in slalom and giant slalom.
I think Pirmin, together with Mark, Ingemar, Toni, Gustav, and maybe Alberto, represented the top 5 skiers in history.
So smooth, like a hot knife through butter.
She should be higher since she is probably the most versatile ever. Remember, in 2013, she could have won the World Cup for that season in all six disciplines. Had the last downhill not been canceled and Shiffrin not had an incredible second half of her second slalom run of the World Cup finale, Maze would have won all six that season.
Great skier! Great in all the events, which is rare. Even some of the ones who have won in every discipline aren't truly great in each, but she is.
So much talent in that pint-sized little body. Amazing competitor!
Best skier because he didn't have a big association backing him up throughout his career. The ÖSV deemed him not good enough to be a pro skier, so he decided to race for Luxembourg. His training staff consisted of his dad. Pure talent who did it all himself.
One of the two or three best skiers in World Cup history. He left the Austrian team and trained with his dad. Remember the epic battles against Alberto and Pirmin? Amazing years for World Cup skiing.
Would place him second to Stenmark on his record, but above as the overall racer of all time.
Best downhill skier. Really appreciated by all other skiers.
Stayed on top for such a long time. The best.
He is a really great skier and a perfect technician. He is fantastic in slalom, giant slalom, and combination. He is very good in super-G and not bad in downhill.
Fantastic memories. His battles against Ingemar represent the history of skiing!
One of the most complete skiers ever lived.
The most technical skier ever lived.
He won medals (2 gold and 3 silver) in every event in the World Championship in Vail in 1999.