The 14th World Cup season began in December 1979 in France and concluded in March 1980 in Austria.
Andreas Wenzel of Liechtenstein edged out Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden for the men's overall title. Wenzel's older sister, Hanni Wenzel, won the women's overall title for the second time, making them the first sibling combination to both win the overall World Cup title (as of 2017, joined only by Janica and Ivica Kostelić from Croatia) and the only one to win in the same year.
The World Cup race scoring system was revised again, the third different system used in less than a year. The new system was a "Top 15" points system (ranging from 25 points for first, 20 for second, 15 for third, 12 for fourth, and 1 point less for each subsequent position down to 1 point for 15th). This system remained in effect through 1991. The season championship for the "Combined" discipline also returned this year, for the first time since 1976.
A break in the schedule in February was for the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, U.S.A. This was the final time that the Winter Olympics also served as the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships; the World Championships would become a separate competition held in odd-numbered years beginning in 1985.
Calendar
Men + Event key: DH – Downhill, SL – Slalom, GS – Giant slalom, KB – Combined, PS – Parallel slalom (Nations Cup ranking only)DatePlaceWinnerSecondThird318 1 7 December 1979 Val d'Isère DH 096 Peter Wirnsberger Herbert Plank Erik Håker319 2 8 December 1979 GS 102 Ingemar Stenmark Bojan Križaj Hans Enn320 3 8 December 1979 KB 014 Phil Mahre Steve Mahre Michel Vion321 4 11 December 1979 Madonna di Campiglio SL 108 Ingemar Stenmark Bojan Križaj Paul Frommelt322 5 12 December 1979 GS 103 Ingemar Stenmark Jacques Lüthy Bojan Križaj323 6 16 December 1979 Val Gardena DH 097 Peter Müller Erik Håker Werner Grissmann324 7 11 December 1979 16 December 1979 Madonna di Campiglio (SL) Val Gardena (DH) KB 015 Peter Lüscher Andreas Wenzel Anton Steiner325 8 6 January 1980 Pra-Loup DH 098 Peter Müller Herbert Plank Erik Håker326 9 8 January 1980 Lenggries SL 109 Petar Popangelov Aleksandr Zhirov Ingemar Stenmark327 10 12 January 1980 Kitzbühel DH 099 Ken Read Harti Weirather Herbert Plank328 11 8 January 1980 12 January 1980 Lenggries (SL) Kitzbühel (DH) KB 016 Andreas Wenzel Anton Steiner Phil Mahre329 12 13 January 1980 Kitzbühel SL 110 Andreas Wenzel Christian Neureuther Jacques Lüthy330 13 18 January 1980 Wengen DH 100 Ken Read Josef Walcher Peter Wirnsberger331 14 19 January 1980 DH 101 Peter Müller Ken Read Steve Podborski332 15 20 January 1980 SL 111 Bojan Križaj Ingemar Stenmark Paul Frommelt333 16 21 January 1980 Adelboden GS 104 Ingemar Stenmark Jacques Lüthy Joël Gaspoz334 17 27 January 1980 Chamonix SL 122 Ingemar Stenmark Bojan Križaj Christian Orlainsky1980 Winter Olympics (14–23 February)335 18 26 February 1980 Waterville Valley GS 105 Hans Enn Andreas Wenzel Jarle Halsnes336 19 27 February 1980 SL 113 Ingemar Stenmark Christian Neureuther Klaus Heidegger337 20 1 March 1980 Mt. St. Anne GS 106 Ingemar Stenmark Phil Mahre Bohumir Zeman338 21 4 March 1980 Lake Louise DH 102 Herbert Plank Harti Weirather Werner Grissmann339 22 27 January 1980 4 March 1980 Chamonix (SL) Lake Louise (DH) KB 017 Anton Steiner Andreas Wenzel Phil Mahre340 23 8 March 1980 Oberstaufen GS 107 Andreas Wenzel Jacques Lüthy Ingemar Stenmark341 24 10 March 1980 Cortina d'Ampezzo SL 114 Ingemar Stenmark Aleksandr Zhirov Christian Orlainsky342 25 11 March 1980 GS 108 Ingemar Stenmark Hans Enn Joël Gaspoz343 26 13 March 1980 Saalbach GS 109 Ingemar Stenmark Joël Gaspoz Hans Enn344 27 15 March 1980 SL 115 Ingemar Stenmark Steve Mahre Petar PopangelovNations Cup 16 March 1980 Saalbach PS ncr Anton Steiner Ingemar Stenmark Jarle Halsnes
Women + Event key: DH – Downhill, SL – Slalom, GS – Giant slalom, KB – Combined, PS – Parallel slalom (Nations Cup ranking only)DatePlaceWinnerSecondThird299 1 5 December 1979 Val d'Isère DH 083 Marie-Theres Nadig Cindy Nelson Laurie Graham300 2 6 December 1979 GS 097 Marie-Theres Nadig Perrine Pelen Erika Hess301 3 6 December 1979 KB 014 Marie-Theres Nadig Hanni Wenzel Annemarie Moser-Pröll302 4 8 December 1979 Limone Piemonte GS 098 Hanni Wenzel Erika Hess Fabienne Serrat303 5 14 December 1979 Piancavallo DH 084 Marie-Theres Nadig Annemarie Moser-Pröll Jana Šoltýsová304 6 8 December 1979 14 December 1979 Limone Piemonte (GS) Piancavallo (DH) KB 015 Hanni Wenzel Annemarie Moser-Pröll Fabienne Serrat305 7 15 December 1979 Piancavallo SL 107 Annemarie Moser-Pröll Perrine Pelen Claudia Giordani306 8 19 December 1979 Zell am See DH 085 Marie-Theres Nadig Jana Šoltýsová Annemarie Moser-Pröll307 9 6 January 1980 Pfronten DH 086 Annemarie Moser-Pröll Marie-Theres Nadig Hanni Wenzel308 10 7 January 1980 DH 087 Marie-Theres Nadig Cornelia Pröll Doris de Agostini309 11 9 January 1980 Berchtesgaden SL 108 Perrine Pelen Claudia Giordani Daniela Zini310 12 10 January 1980 GS 099 Hanni Wenzel Perrine Pelen Claudia Giordani311 13 15 January 1980 Arosa DH 088 Marie-Theres Nadig Annemarie Moser-Pröll Hanni Wenzel312 14 9 January 1980 15 January 1980 Berchtesgaden (SL) Arosa (DH) KB 016 Annemarie Moser-Pröll Hanni Wenzel Ingrid Eberle313 15 16 January 1980 Arosa GS 100 Hanni Wenzel Marie-Theres Nadig Perrine Pelen314 16 20 January 1980 Bad Gastein DH 089 Marie-Theres Nadig Annemarie Moser-Pröll Hanni Wenzel315 17 21 January 1980 SL 109 Hanni Wenzel Perrine Pelen Erika Hess316 18 21 January 1980 KB 017 Hanni Wenzel Annemarie Moser-Pröll Cindy Nelson317 19 23 January 1980 Maribor SL 110 Hanni Wenzel Perrine Pelen Annemarie Moser-Pröll318 20 25 January 1980 St. Gervais SL 111 Perrine Pelen Annemarie Moser-Pröll Daniela Zini319 21 26 January 1980 GS 101 Hanni Wenzel Perrine Pelen Marie-Theres Nadig1980 Winter Olympics (14–23 February)320 22 28 February 1980 Waterville Valley GS 102 Hanni Wenzel Maria Epple Irene Epple321 23 29 February 1980 SL 112 Perrine Pelen Nadezhda Patrikeyeva Hanni Wenzel322 24 2 March 1980 Mt. St. Anne GS 103 Marie-Theres Nadig Irene Epple Hanni Wenzel323 25 8 March 1980 Vysoké Tatry SL 113 Perrine Pelen Fabienne Serrat Tamara McKinney 324 26 9 March 1980 SL 114 Daniela Zini Hanni Wenzel Erika Hess325 27 11 March 1980 Saalbach SL 115 Claudia Giordani Christa Kinshofer Hanni Wenzel326 28 12 March 1980 GS 104 Irene Epple Perrine Pelen Fabienne Serrat Nations Cup 16 March 1980 Saalbach PS ncp Annemarie Moser-Pröll Claudia Giordani Maria Epple
Men
Overall
see complete table
In men's overall World Cup 1979/80 the best four downhills, best four giant slaloms, best four slaloms and best three combined count. 27 racers had a point deduction. Ingemar Stenmark had 128 points deduction and won 11 races. Andreas Wenzel was able to collect points in all disciplines by winning three events and had only 8 points deduction.
PlaceNameCountryTotal DH GS SL KB 1 Andreas Wenzel 204 23 65 51 65 2 Ingemar Stenmark 200 0 100 100 0 3 Phil Mahre 132 0 41 36 55 4 Bojan Križaj 131 0 54 77 0 5 Anton Steiner 130 14 15 41 60 6 Jacques Lüthy 116 0 71 45 0 7 Hans Enn 100 0 75 25 0 8 Herbert Plank 91 80 0 0 11 9 Peter Müller 87 87 0 0 0 Peter Lüscher 87 0 39 11 37 11 Ken Read 79 79 0 0 0 12 Steve Mahre 72 0 8 44 20 13 Petar Popangelov 70 0 6 64 0 14 Aleksandr Zhirov 68 0 14 54 0 15 Harti Weirather 64 64 0 0 0
Downhill
see complete table
In men's downhill World Cup 1979/80 the best 5 results count. Seven racers had a point deduction, which are given in brackets.
PlaceNameCountryTotal 1 6 8 10 13 14 21 1 Peter Müller 96 - 25 25 9 12 25 (2) 2 Ken Read 87 - 9 (2) 25 25 20 8 3 Herbert Plank 81 20 - 20 15 1 - 25 4 Harti Weirather 75 11 (1) 12 20 (9) 12 20 5 Erik Håker 64 15 20 15 7 7 (4) - 6 Peter Wirnsberger 63 25 - 5 (3) 15 9 9 7 Josef Walcher 60 10 10 9 - 20 11 (5) Werner Grissmann 60 12 15 11 - (5) 7 15 9 Steve Podborski 35 - - - - 8 15 12 10 Michael Veith 28 4 - 6 - 6 5 7
Giant slalom
see complete table
In men's giant slalom World Cup 1979/80 the best 5 results count. Eight racers had a point deduction, which are given in brackets. Ingemar Stenmark won the cup with maximum points. He won his fifth Giant slalom World Cup (third in a row).
PlaceNameCountryTotal 2 5 16 18 20 23 25 26 1 Ingemar Stenmark 125 25 25 25 - 25 (15) 25 (25) 2 Hans Enn 87 15 12 - 25 - (9) 20 15 3 Jacques Lüthy 82 11 20 20 (8) 11 20 (9) (11) 4 Andreas Wenzel 71 8 - 6 20 - 25 12 (2) 5 Joël Gaspoz 68 (3) - 15 (2) 8 10 15 20 6 Bojan Križaj 56 20 15 - - - 2 10 9 7 Jarle Halsnes 51 9 7 (1) 15 9 11 - - 8 Boris Strel 50 12 9 7 12 (5) - - 10 9 Phil Mahre 43 2 - - 7 20 6 8 - 10 Bohumír Zeman 42 - - 9 - 15 8 2 8
Slalom
see complete table
In men's slalom World Cup 1979/80 the best 5 results count. Six racers had a point deduction, which are given in brackets. Ingemar Stenmark won the cup with maximum points. He won his sixth Slalom World Cup in a row!
PlaceNameCountryTotal 4 9 12 15 17 19 24 27 1 Ingemar Stenmark 125 25 (15) (3) (20) 25 25 25 25 2 Bojan Križaj 88 20 (8) 12 25 20 11 - (11) 3 Christian Neureuther 69 (6) (1) 20 7 - 20 10 12 4 Petar Popangelov 64 - 25 - - 12 12 - 15 5 Aleksandr Zhirov 57 - 20 - 5 3 9 20 - 6 Christian Orlainsky 55 - 7 - 9 15 - 15 9 7 Jacques Lüthy 53 10 - 15 10 8 - (2) 10 8 Andreas Wenzel 51 11 9 25 - 6 - - - 9 Anton Steiner 49 8 (3) - 12 11 10 - 8 10 Paul Frommelt 45 15 4 - 15 - - 9 2
Combined
see complete table
After the season 1975/76 this was the second time, that a Combined World Cup was awarded. All four results count.
PlaceNameCountryTotal 3 7 11 22 1 Phil Mahre 67 25 12 15 15 2 Andreas Wenzel 65 - 20 25 20 3 Anton Steiner 60 - 15 20 25 4 Peter Lüscher 37 - 25 12 - 5 Francisco Fernández Ochoa 27 9 10 8 - 6 Michel Vion 24 15 9 - - 7 Valeri Tsyganov 22 11 11 - - 8 Steve Mahre 20 20 - - - 9 Andy Mill 19 6 6 7 - 10 Bill Taylor 17 7 - - 10
Women
Overall
see complete table
In women's overall World Cup 1979/80 the best four downhills, best four giant slaloms, best four slaloms and best three combined count. 23 racers had a point deduction. Hanni Wenzel had a total deduction of 158 points. She won nine competitions and was unable to score points only in one event! (The first slalom at Vysoké Tatry.)
PlaceNameCountryTotal DH GS SL KB 1 Hanni Wenzel 311 56 100 85 70 2 Annemarie Moser-Pröll 259 85 37 72 65 3 Marie-Theres Nadig 221 100 85 11 25 4 Perrine Pelen 192 0 80 100 12 5 Irene Epple 141 43 72 5 21 6 Fabienne Serrat 122 0 49 48 25 7 Erika Hess 111 0 59 52 0 8 Claudia Giordani 107 0 39 68 0 9 Daniela Zini 99 0 32 67 0 10 Cindy Nelson 94 53 3 1 37 11 Christa Kinshofer 79 0 42 37 0 12 Heidi Preuss 78 42 3 4 29 13 Jana Šoltýsová 72 51 0 0 21 14 Tamara McKinney 65 0 24 41 0 15 Regine Mösenlechner 60 0 22 38 0
Downhill
see complete table
In women's downhill World Cup 1979/80 the best 5 results count. Seven racers had a point deduction, which are given in brackets. Marie-Theres Nadig won 6 races out of 7 and won the World Cup with maximum points.
PlaceNameCountryTotal 1 5 8 9 10 13 16 1 Marie-Theres Nadig 125 25 25 25 (20) 25 25 (25) 2 Annemarie Moser-Pröll 100 (11) 20 15 25 (12) 20 20 3 Hanni Wenzel 66 10 11 (9) 15 (10) 15 15 4 Cindy Nelson 59 20 (4) 12 10 - 6 11 5 Jana Šoltýsová 58 9 15 20 (5) 7 (5) 7 6 Irene Epple 51 (2) 10 11 12 8 (7) 10 7 Heidi Preuss 48 12 - 8 - 6 10 12 8 Doris de Agostini 47 - - 5 7 15 12 8 9 Evi Mittermaier 42 6 8 10 9 9 - - 10 Laurie Graham 38 15 9 6 - - 3 5
Giant slalom
see complete table
In women's giant slalom World Cup 1978/79 the best 5 results count. Six racers had a point deduction, which are given in brackets. Hanni Wenzel won five races in a row. She won the World Cup with maximum points.