The 13th World Cup season began in December 1978 in Austria and concluded in March 1979 in Japan.
The overall winners were Peter Lüscher of Switzerland, his first overall win, and Annemarie Moser-Pröll of Austria, her sixth (which remained the record until 2017–18, when Austria's Marcel Hirscher won his seventh overall title). Although Ingemar Stenmark did not win the overall title due to restrictions on the number of races that counted for overall championship points, he won 13 races during the season (including the last four in a row and six of the last seven) to break Jean-Claude Killy's record of 12 race wins during the inaugural season of the World Cup, which (as of 2018) still stands as the record for most wins by a male skier in a World Cup season.
The World Cup race scoring system, which had remained unchanged since the start of the World Cup in 1967 as a "Top 10" points system (ranging from 25 points for first, 20 for second, 15 for third, and down to 1 point for tenth), was amended this season for the final two downhills and the final three giant slaloms and slaloms to a "Top 25" system (ranging from 25 points for first to 1 point for 25th). This system was abandoned after the end of the season, and a new "Top 15" system was introduced beginning in 1980.
Calendar
Men + Event key: DH – Downhill, SL – Slalom, GS – Giant slalom, KB – Combined, PS – Parallel slalom (Nations Cup ranking only)DatePlaceWinnerSecondThird285 1 9 December 1978 Schladming GS 092 Ingemar Stenmark Peter Lüscher Leonardo David286 2 10 December 1978 DH 087 Ken Read Dave Murray Vladimir Makeev287 3 10 December 1978 KB 010 Peter Lüscher Leonhard Stock Andreas Wenzel288 4 13 December 1978 Madonna di Campiglio SL 098 Martial Donnet Peter Lüscher Christian NeureutherNations Cup 14 December 1978 Madonna di Campiglio PS ncr Ingemar Stenmark Mauro Bernardi Karl Trojer289 5 16 December 1978 Val Gardena DH 088 Josef Walcher Peter Müller Walter Vesti 290 6 17 December 1978 DH 089 Erik Håker Peter Müller Ken Read291 7 21 December 1978 Kranjska Gora SL 099 Ingemar Stenmark Paul Frommelt Leonardo David292 8 22 December 1978 GS 093 Ingemar Stenmark Peter Lüscher Bojan Križaj293 9 6 January 1979 Morzine DH 090 Steve Podborski Herbert Plank Uli Spieß294 10 7 January 1979 Courchevel GS 094 Ingemar Stenmark Peter Lüscher Bojan Križaj295 11 9 January 1979 Crans-Montana SL 100 Christian Neureuther Petar Popangelov Karl Trojer296 12 14 January 1979 DH 091 Toni Bürgler Peter Müller Ken Read297 13 15 January 1979 SL 101 Paul Frommelt Andreas Wenzel Ingemar Stenmark 298 14 15 January 1979 KB 011 Phil Mahre Andreas Wenzel Piero Gros299 15 16 January 1979 Adelboden GS 095 Ingemar Stenmark Andreas Wenzel Jacques Lüthy300 16 20 January 1979 Kitzbühel DH 092 Sepp Ferstl Peter Wirnsberger Uli Spieß301 17 21 January 1979 SL 102 Christian Neureuther Ingemar Stenmark Phil Mahre302 18 21 January 1979 KB 012 Anton Steiner Andreas Wenzel Peter Lüscher303 19 23 January 1979 Steinach GS 096 Ingemar Stenmark Peter Lüscher Andreas Wenzel304 20 27 January 1979 Garmisch DH 093 Peter Wirnsberger Uli Spieß Herbert Plank305 21 28 January 1979 SL 103 Peter Lüscher Phil Mahre Petar Popangelov306 22 28 January 1979 KB 013 Peter Lüscher Phil Mahre Andreas Wenzel307 23 1 February 1979 Villars DH 094 Peter Müller Leonhard Stock Werner Grissmann308 24 4 February 1979 Jasná GS 097 Ingemar Stenmark Bojan Križaj Heini Hemmi309 25 5 February 1979 SL 104 Phil Mahre Leonardo David Ingemar Stenmark310 26 7 February 1979 Oslo SL 105 Leonardo David Ingemar Stenmark Phil Mahre311 27 10 February 1979 Åre GS 098 Ingemar Stenmark Phil Mahre Jacques Lüthy312 28 11 February 1979 SL 106 Ingemar Stenmark Phil Mahre Gustav Thöni313 29 3 March 1979 Lake Placid DH 095 Peter Wirnsberger Peter Müller Dave Murray314 30 4 March 1979 GS 099 Ingemar Stenmark Hans Enn Peter Lüscher315 31 12 March 1979 Heavenly Valley GS 100 Ingemar Stenmark Bojan Križaj Hans Enn316 32 17 March 1979 Furano SL 107 Ingemar Stenmark Christian Neureuther Paul Frommelt317 33 19 March 1979 GS 101 Ingemar Stenmark Heini Hemmi Jean-Luc Fournier
Women + Event key: DH – Downhill, SL – Slalom, GS – Giant slalom, KB – CombinedDatePlaceWinnerSecondThird 2731 9 December 1978 Piancavallo DH Annemarie Moser-Pröll Doris de Agostini Evelyne Dirren 274 2 10 December 1978 SL 099 Abbi Fisher Perrine Pelen Claudia Giordani Tamara McKinney275 3 12 December 1978 GS 090 Hanni Wenzel Marie-Theres Nadig Irene Epple276 4 17 December 1978 Val d'Isère DH 077 Annemarie Moser-Pröll Evi Mittermaier Bernadette Zurbriggen277 5 18 December 1978 GS 091 Christa Kinshofer Hanni Wenzel Marie-Theres Nadig278 6 18 December 1978 KB 010 Marie-Theres Nadig Annemarie Moser-Pröll Hanni Wenzel279 7 7 January 1979 Les Gets GS 092 Christa Kinshofer Hanni Wenzel Regina Sackl280 8 8 January 1979 SL 100 Regina Sackl Perrine Pelen Annemarie Moser-Pröll281 9 12 January 1979 Les Diablerets DH 078 Annemarie Moser-Pröll Evi Mittermaier Marie-Theres Nadig282 10 17 January 1979 Meiringen DH 079 Annemarie Moser-Pröll Irene Epple Bernadette Zurbriggen283 11 19 January 1979 SL 101 Regina Sackl Claudia Giordani Marie Kurz-Schlechter284 12 19 January 1979 KB 011 Annemarie Moser-Pröll Fabienne Serrat Hanni Wenzel285 13 23 January 1979 Schruns SL 102 Lea Solkner Claudia Giordani Annemarie Moser-Pröll286 14 26 January 1979 DH 080 Annemarie Moser-Pröll Cindy Nelson Irene Epple287 15 26 January 1979 KB 012 Annemarie Moser-Pröll Cindy Nelson Hanni Wenzel288 16 27 January 1979 Mellau SL 103 Maria Rosa Quario Annemarie Moser-Pröll Perrine Pelen289 17 3 February 1979 Pfronten SL 104 Hanni Wenzel Fabienne Serrat Regina Sackl290 18 4 February 1979 DH 081 Cindy Nelson Caroline Attia Irene Epple291 19 4 February 1979 KB 013 Hanni Wenzel Irene Epple Cindy Nelson292 20 6 February 1979 Berchtesgaden GS 093 Christa Kinshofer Irene Epple Annemarie Moser-Pröll293 21 8 February 1979 Maribor SL 105 Hanni Wenzel Christa Kinshofer Maria Rosa Quario294 22 2 March 1979 Lake Placid DH 082 Annemarie Moser-Pröll Marie-Theres Nadig Bernadette Zurbriggen295 23 8 March 1979 Aspen GS 094 Christa Kinshofer Irene Epple Marie-Theres Nadig 296 24 11 March 1979 Heavenly Valley GS 095 Christa Kinshofer Hanni Wenzel Irene Epple 297 25 18 March 1979 Furano SL 106 Perrine Pelen Hanni Wenzel Annemarie Moser-Pröll298 26 19 March 1979 GS 096 Marie-Theres Nadig Annemarie Moser-Pröll Irene Epple
Men
Overall
see complete table
In men's overall World Cup 1978/79 the best 3 results of each discipline count; best three downhills, best three giant slaloms, best three slaloms and best three combined. 37 racers had a point deduction. Ingemar Stenmark had 260 (!) points deduction and won 13 races.
PlaceNameCountryTotal DH GS SL KB 1 Peter Lüscher 186 0 64 57 65 2 Leonhard Stock 163 57 50 17 39 3 Phil Mahre 155 0 27 72 56 4 Piero Gros 152 0 58 57 37 5 Ingemar Stenmark 150 0 75 75 0 6 Andreas Wenzel 148 0 59 34 55 7 Anton Steiner 107 10 33 36 28 8 Bojan Križaj 106 0 66 40 0 9 Gustav Thöni 92 0 26 54 12 10 Steve Mahre 86 0 25 47 14 11 Leonardo David 85 0 25 60 0 12 Hans Enn 81 0 63 18 0 13 Jacques Lüthy 79 0 52 27 0 14 Christian Neureuther 74 0 0 74 0 15 Peter Wirnsberger 72 70 0 2 0 Peter Müller 72 69 2 0 1
Downhill
see complete table
In men's downhill World Cup 1978/79 the best 5 results count. Seven racers had a point deduction, which are given in brackets. Peter Müller won the cup with only one win. There were 8 different winners in 9 races. Leonardo David crashed in the race No. 29. He died after being in a coma for nearly six years.
PlaceNameCountryTotal 2AUT 5ITA 6ITA 9FRA 12SUI 16AUT 20GER 23SUI 29USA 1 Peter Müller 109 - 20 20 (2) 20 - (4) 25 24 2 Peter Wirnsberger 89 8 (2) 11 - - 20 25 - 25 3 Toni Bürgler 80 - 11 - - 25 2 - 22 20 4 Uli Spieß 75 - - 4 15 - 15 20 (2) 21 Ken Read 75 25 - 15 - 15 1 - - 19 6 Leonhard Stock 67 - - - - 6 4 11 24 22 7 Herbert Plank 65 11 (4) - 20 - 8 15 - 11 8 Werner Grissmann 63 - - - 6 11 6 (6) 23 17 Sepp Ferstl 63 (1) - - 3 - 25 8 14 13 10 Dave Murray 52 20 - 3 - 2 - - 4 23 Steve Podborski 52 2 (1) - 25 4 3 - - 18 12 Erik Håker 41 - - 25 - - - - - 16 13 Josef Walcher 40 - 25 - - - - - 15 -
Giant slalom
see complete table
In men's giant slalom World Cup 1978/79 the best 5 results count. Nine racers had a point deduction, which are given in brackets. Ingemar Stenmark won the cup with maximum points by winning ALL 10 events. He won his fourth Giant slalom World Cup.
PlaceNameCountryTotal 1AUT 8YUG 10FRA 15SUI 19AUT 24TCH 27SWE 30USA 31USA 33JPN 1 Ingemar Stenmark 125 25 25 25 25 25 (25) (25) (25) (25) (25) 2 Peter Lüscher 104 20 20 20 - (20) - (2) 23 21 (19) 3 Bojan Križaj 96 - 15 15 (6) - 20 - 22 24 (15) 4 Heini Hemmi 86 (2) 11 (8) (11) (11) 15 (8) 21 15 24 5 Jacques Lüthy 75 (1) - - 15 (1) 8 15 - 16 21 6 Andreas Wenzel 74 - - - 20 15 - - 19 20 - Piero Gros 74 8 8 - (4) - (1) - 16 22 20 8 Jean-Luc Fournier 73 11 (2) 11 (8) - - - 18 10 23 9 Hans Enn 70 - - - - 3 - 4 24 23 16 10 Leonhard Stock 69 - - (3) - 8 (2) 11 20 13 17
Slalom
see complete table
In men's slalom World Cup 1978/79 the best 5 results count. Six racers had a point deduction, which are given in brackets. Ingemar Stenmark won his fifth Slalom World Cup in a row.
PlaceNameCountryTotal 4ITA 7YUG 11SUI 13SUI 17AUT 21GER 25TCH 26NOR 28SWE 32JPN 1 Ingemar Stenmark 119 - 25 - (15) 20 (11) (15) 24 25 25 2 Phil Mahre 107 - - (8) (2) 15 20 25 23 24 - 3 Christian Neureuther 97 15 - 25 8 25 - - - - 24 4 Petar Popangelov 96 (11) - 20 - - 15 (3) 19 20 22 5 Paul Frommelt 92 - 20 (3) 25 11 - - - 13 23 6 Peter Lüscher 72 20 - - (3) - 25 4 - 11 12 7 Piero Gros 71 6 (4) (6) - (3) 8 - 21 19 17 8 Leonardo David 70 4 15 - - 6 - 20 25 - - 9 Gustav Thöni 64 (3) - (1) - 6 4 - 18 23 13 10 Martial Donnet 63 25 1 11 6 - - - - - 20
Combined
see complete table
There was no special discipline world cup for Combined awarded. The best three results only count for the Overall World Cup. However, Peter Lüscher's strong performance in this discipline was the critical factor in his victory in the Overall.
PlaceNameCountryTotal 3AUT 14SUI 18AUT 22GER 1 Andreas Wenzel 70 15 20 20 15 2 Peter Lüscher 69 25 4 15 25 3 Phil Mahre 60 11 25 4 20 4 Piero Gros 41 4 15 11 11 5 Leonhard Stock 39 20 11 - 8 6 Anton Steiner 28 - 3 25 - 7 Bohumír Zeman 18 8 - 6 4 8 Steve Mahre 14 - 8 - 6 Herbert Plank 14 3 - 8 3 10 Gustav Thöni 12 6 6 - -
Women
Overall
see complete table
In women's overall World Cup 1978/79 the best 3 results of each discipline count; best three downhills, best three giant slaloms, best three slaloms and best three combined. 25 racers had a point deduction. Annemarie Moser-Pröll won her sixth Overall World Cup - this record is still unbeaten.
PlaceNameCountryTotal DH GS SL KB 1 Annemarie Moser-Pröll 243 75 40 58 70 2 Hanni Wenzel 240 40 71 74 55 3 Irene Epple 189 66 70 17 36 4 Cindy Nelson 168 67 43 12 46 5 Marie-Theres Nadig 156 63 68 0 25 6 Fabienne Serrat 151 6 61 49 35 7 Regina Sackl 112 0 39 73 0 8 Christa Kinshofer 110 0 75 35 0 9 Perrine Pelen 100 0 32 65 3 10 Claudia Giordani 98 3 23 55 17 11 Lea Sölkner 95 0 29 66 0 12 Regine Mösenlechner 85 0 31 46 8 13 Maria Rosa Quario 84 0 19 65 0 14 Daniela Zini 82 0 28 54 0 15 Erika Hess 76 0 43 33 0
Downhill
see complete table
In women's downhill World Cup 1978/79 the best 5 results count. Five racers had a point deduction, which are given in brackets. Annemarie Moser-Pröll won 6 races out of 7 and five races in a row. She won the World Cup with maximum points. Together with the last two downhill races last season 1977/78, she won 7 downhill races in a row. She won her seventh Downhill World Cup - this record is still unbeaten.