Even though Alpine Skiing really only hits the headlines once every four years when the Winter Olympics come around, it is, in fact, a sport which offers plenty of betting opportunities for punters outside of that one specific event.

It’s not exactly realistic to think that all these skiers become such pro’s in just strapping on their skis once every four years with no competitive action in between.

Indeed not. The elite within the sport competes not only at the Winter Olympics but the World Championships and the FIS World Cup. The latter actually is a series of events which spans about five months, so that is a surprising amount of skiing betting opportunities that you can take a look at. So the big question of how to bet Alpine Skiing intelligently so that you can balance that risk & reward factor, can be answered quite simply by “form is the key”.

FIS World Cup Form

Because the FIS World Cup rolls along from season to season it is the best guide that you can take to a skier’s current form. Really it is like looking a tennis player over the course of a few months of action, or a football team’s run of results in a set period of time. It’s no different really when it comes to skiing betting. The FIS Ski World Cup is the top level of action outside of the Olympic Games, so this is where you will find the most betting opportunities with competitors in action on a regular basis.

So the form of the current FIS World Cup season for Alpine Skiing opportunities can provide a lot of detail for you. This is just the basics of betting on any sports, statistics are your friend and finishing places of a particular athlete at previous races are so vital to being able to bet Alpine Skiing inteligently. Just don’t get all snow blind and throw bets down wildly without reason. If an athlete has been quiet all season but wins a couple of races at the World Cup before heading to the Winter Olympics, their value may need to be reassessed.

Just as an example, if a great like Lindsey Vonn has been tearing it up with three podium finishes in her last five World Cup races, chances are she’s on top of her game and is worth considering for a successful time in her next race. To expand further, Austria’s Marcel Hirscher won just two of the opening ten races of the 2017/18 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup. But at the back end of the season, he won six of eleven, just ahead of going to the Winter Olympics.

Guess what? He won two golds at the Olympics as his form was strong and he won the first two races back on the World Cup circuit following that too.

Digging deeper and looking back over a few seasons of a particular race, you may see an athlete who just seems to only perform at their top ability at a certain track where conditions suit them. Skiers competing on their ‘home’ courses where they perhaps train the most, can add a little extra to their chances. These are factors to consider to try and prevent your skiing bet from going ‘downhill’.

Bookmaker coverage

As this is a seasonal sport, you will likely find that bookmakers will vary in the number of skiing markets that they put up. There are European-sports-centric bookmakers available that will offer more options when it comes to betting on alpine skiing and so that is something that you are going to want to shop around for. You don’t want to be left short of options when the new season of the FIS World Cup opens up for example.

So research bookmakers that carry skiing betting and look for the in-depth options for market variety. It’s never a bad idea to have more than one bookmaker available to you that offer good skiing markets. That way you can shop around a bit for the best value that you can get. That’s a valuable little tip on how to bet on Alpine Skiing intelligently.

Different Forms

Alpine Skiing is a blanket title which covers Slalom, Giant Slalom, Downhill, Super-G and Combined/Super Combined. These are the different disciplines of the sport and you will see athletes switching between them. But naturally, you are going to find more specialised performers in certain disciplines. For example, Lindsey Vonn has had a stunning career in Downhill and Super-G, but if she turns up for a Slalom, her chances there aren’t going to be great as a Slalom specialist. So never just back a name, check out race type and conditions.

Types of Skiing Bet

There is also a bet selection which is an important part of understanding how to bet Alpine Skiing intelligently. The most common type of bet in Skiing is just the outright winner of a particular event, be it the World Cup Slalom or the Winter Olympics Super-G. It’s a straightforward pick (not forgetting the value of each-way odds on bigger-priced selection) of who you think will win.

But there are options for skiing betting where you can branch out a bit to things like direct Head To Head markets between two competitors and a Top 3 finish for a particular race, which is just backing someone to fish in the top three places. So even though it is a seasonal sport, there are plenty of betting opportunities around on Alpine Skiing and never enough can we stress the value of reading form.