Chronicle
1964 – Golden Fox was born- three fathers: Dušan Senčar, Marjan Kožuh and Franci Čop.
1965 – Stand for spectators was built under Bellevue slalom course.
1966 – Giant Slalom cancelled due to lack of snow, heavy snowfall occurred before slalom event causing almost too much of snow.
1967 – Road to Pohorje was constructed.
1968 - Last place in slalom was held by Rosie Mittermaier, future threefold Olympic winner.
1969 – Plans for tourist development of Pohorje.
1970 – First World Cup event.
1971 – First Eurovision transmission from Pohorje.
1972 – Giant slalom event occurs in two runs for the first time in alpine skiing history.
1973 – Only 14 skiers qualified in slalom, technical delegate canceled the giant slalom event.
1974 – First venue change: to Badgastein.
1975 – Second venue change: to Sarajevo and Jahorina.
1976 – Third change of venue: to Kranjska Gora.
1977 – The Fox returns to Maribor den.
1978 – Race in a valley, world’s lowest finish area is located at 325 m.a.s.l.
1979 - First World Cup points for Slovenian skiers.
1980 – Course walked over more than a thousand times in only a week.
1981 - First tongue of snow on the clearing and a first strike of slalom skiers.
1982 – Move to an upper course on New Year’s.
1983 – For the last time on the upper course beneath Bellevue?
1984 - First great success of Slovenian skiers.
1985 – Male competitors join Maribor event, yet they dislike the slalom course and oppose to participate.
1986 - First Fox concert.
1987 - Bulldozed snow stadium.
1988 – Fourth change of venue: to Kranjska Gora, Mateja Svet celebrated a double victory .
1989 - Second tongue of snow and a grand world presentation of the snow stadium in Maribor.
1990 - Mateja Svet celebrated a win in front of 20 000 spectators.
1991 – Fifth move: to Kranjska Gora, victory of Nataša Bokal.
1992 - Successful Slalom, Giant Slalom cancelled.
1993 - Outstanding 30th Golden Fox anniversary.
1994 - Urška Hrovat and Maribor as Kitzbuehel.
1995 – Slalom event split into 2 days due to rainfall, outstanding Slovenians .
1996 - 40 thousand spectators in three days; waiting for Samaranch in vein.
1997 – New hotel Arena located in the finish area, Juan Antonio Samaranch among the spectators and Golden Fox Trophy for Urška Hrovat .
1998 - First cancellation in 35 years! Unhappy 35th anniversary.
1999 – Successful second attempt of 35th anniversary; first time super G event and skiers New Year’s Eve celebration in a tent right next to racecourse.
2000 – Winter idyll at Pohorje foothills: first Norwegian Slalom victory over Špela Pretnar, best slalom racer of the season.
2001 - One race (GS) was won despite high temperatures, other race (slalom) was lost.
2002 – Dušan Senčar, father of the Golden Fox , withdrawed as Organization Committee Chairman.
2003 – At 2 AM on race morning temperatures reached +8°C, yet race was evaluated as flawless!
2004 – Jubilee without both Golden Fox’s “fathers”, Dušan Senčar and Franci Čop, designer and builder of Pohorje slopes.
2005 – Two times the fastest one, Tina Maze! Second Slovenian victory at Pohorje foothills, first one in Giant Slalom!
2006 - Snežni stadion covered in snow, but thaw prevented Giant Slalom event.
2007 – Sixth change of venue. ’Best race course of the season,’’ was a united appraisal given by competitors and their coaches. Styrian-Upper Carniolan celebration in Kranjska Gora.
2008 – Three members of organization injured: a dislocated shoulder, dislocated knee and one torn tendon. Skiers however, did not experience any difficulties in rain and ice.
2009 – Everything was just perfect: two days of sunshine, two Presidents in the grandstand, new hotel Arena located in the finish arena, new hotel Videc on Pohorje, new six-seater lift on Pisker slope and Tina Maze the fastest one on the course! 15 000 spectators on site and another 200 million watching the broadcast!
2010 – Pohorje won! 52-year old gondola's supporting pillar collapsed. Only 157 days later a new 8-seated gondola lift system starts operating with capacity 2400 passengers per hour.
2011 – +16°C for twelve days in a row! Race started on 13th warm day, but without results. Giant Slalom had to be stopped and Slalom event had to be cancelled.
2012 – The Golden Fox event had to change its venue again, for a fifth time to Kranjska Gora. Podkoren hosted over 13 000 spectators in two days.
2013 - Record breaking number of spectators at Pohorje foothills! In two days event hosted more than 40 000 visitors. Tina Maze finished second in GS, won Slalom race and became the Golden Fox of Pohorje!
2014
50th jubilee brought everything at once. The Golden Fox event had to change its venue for an eighth time, of which this was a sixth move to Kranjska Gora. Two days prior race, a heavy overnight snowfall covered finish area in Podkoren with 130cm of fresh snow. Night before Giant Slalom event brought freezing rainfall. The course was completely ruined in the morning, Giant Slalom event had to be cancelled. Half of Slovenia experienced a power blackout due to sleet on Sunday, but in Podkoren Golden Fox and Frida Hansdotter celebrated victory!
2015
The Golden Fox gained, but Tina Maze lost. Massive 26 000 crowd was left disappointed after a double zero outcome which costed Tina the overall World Cup victory. Yet this why the Golden Fox Won! The race for the Golden Fox Trophy was a complete success as FIS Chief Race director, Atle Skaardal, said: “Very, very well. Excellent job!”
2016
The Golden Fox did not lose. On first day, it was one of best and most beautiful races in its long history, though on day two slalom was cancelled. It is like leading by 4:0 and ending in a tie.
Giant Slalom was a complete victory for Golden Fox event. During a winter without snow, Snežni stadion had a 70 cm thick snow surface. A week prior competition Maribor had spring temperatures and during Giant Slalom event there was +17C in finish area, while snow surface remained frozen and concrete solid. Wonderful weather attracted 9000 spectators who supported, cheered and enjoyed watching top performances of world's best female skies. Although Tina Maze this time joined the spectators’ part, there was a Slovenian representative on the podium-Ana Drev, second place! But nature stroke back … Cloudy and warm night changed snow structure. Start was approved and the best ones were leading, but there were no Austrian, Italian and Sweedish competitors among them while holes were getting bigger and bigger. It was manageable only up to bib number 25.
2017
Tina Maze took off her skies, walked through the finish line and into a legend, while three other Slovenian skiers finished inside the top 10 in front of 20.000 spectators! 53rd Golden Fox was one of the best races and most glorious edition in its long history. In the giant slalom Tessa Worley took the gold, while Mikaela Shiffrin who won the slalom event, was crowned as the overall winner of the 53rd Golden Fox. The best Slovenian skiers were Ana Drev and Ana Bucik, but the reason for the biggest excitement was local Ilka Štuhec, who won FIS points in both events.
2018
Front page of Slovenian mainstream journal says it all:
“Organizers of 54th Golden Fox joined forces with Kranjska Gora Organizing team and created an amazing weekend on a demanding racecourse in Podkoren, Kranjska Gora where Michaela Shiffrin reigned the race”. There may be only one crowned Golden Fox winner but it felt like everyone involved in this spectacle won.
Organizers from Maribor moved to the Podkoren venue in a record time for the 7th time and thus succeeded in keeping the race in Slovenia. On behalf of well pleased racers, Swiss Wendy Holdener thanked the organizers: “We love to race in Slovenia, because we know that the organizers will successfully move the race to Kranjska Gora if weather Maribor isn’t favorable.”
2020
Snow at Pohorje slopes was ready, but warm weather softened the surface and the Golden Fox made its eighth move to Kranjska Gora one week before the race. Everything ended well, it was the best race of the season and Meta Hrovat won third place in giant slalom.
The winner, Petra Vlhova brought one thousand Slovak fans to Podkoren, yet each day another competitor was faster than her. New Zealand's Alice Robinson won giant slalom and Swede Anna Swenn-Larsson in slalom had four turns before finish plenty of time advantage, but hit the pole and Vlhova won slalom and Golden Fox Trophy.
2021
On repeat! Italian Marta Bassino repeated Saturday's victory on Sunday's race and Slovenian Meta Hrovat repeated last year's third place as Styrian Golden Fox moves to Kranjska Gora for the ninth time. Today marks a significant organizational victory won on the slopes. The racecourse was as demanding as for men's race and the surface was as hard as concrete. Nevertheless, this gave skiers with higher bibs numbers a chance to prove themselves. Meanwhile at a covid test point, at minus 16 C, computers and electrical generators were shutting down due to severe cold. With testing over 500 accredited people, no one tested positive. As no viewers were present at the venue, the fans were cheering online using clicking.
Superlatives
Most victories:
- Vreni SCHNEIDER (SUI): 8 (6 x SL, 2 x GSL),
- Anja PAERSON (SWE) 7 (5 x SL, 2 x GSL),
- Mikaela SHIFFRIN (USA) 6 (4 x SL, 2 x GSL),
- Erika HESS (SUI) 3 (SL),
- Annemarie MOSER (AUT) 3 (1 x SL, 2 x GSL),
- Hanni WENZEL (LIE) 3 (SL),
- Lise Marie MOREROD 3 (1 x SL; 2 x GSL),
- Mateja SVET (SLO) 3 (1 x SL; 2 x GSL),
- Tina MAZE (SLO) 3 (2 x GSL, 1 x SL)
Most places among the first three competitors:
- Vreni SCHNEIDER (SUI) 15,
- Anja PAERSON (SWE) 7,
- Martina ERTL (GER) 6,
- Sonja NEF (SUI) 6,
- Tina MAZE (SLO) 6,
- Mikaela SHIFFRIN (USA) 6
Most slalom victorises:
- Vreni SCHNEIDER (SUI) 6,
- Anja PAERSON (SWE) 5,
- Mikaela SHIFFRIN (USA) 4,
- Erika HESS (SUI) 3
Most places among the first three competitors in slalom:
- Vreni SCHNEIDER (SUI) 9
The biggest time difference at a slalom race:
- Marielle GOITSCHEL (FRA): 4,2 s (1964)
The smallest time difference at a slalom race:
- Rosie FORTNA (USA): 0,01 s (1969)
Most giant slalom victories:
- Francoise MACCHI (FRA),
- Annemarie MOSER PROELL (AUT),
- Lise-Marie MORERORD (SUI),
- Mateja SVET (SLO),
- Martina ERTL (GER),
- Sonja NEF (SUI),
- Vreni SCHNEIDER (SUI),
- Tina MAZE (SLO),
- Mikaela SHIFFRIN (USA),
- Marta BASSINO (ITA): 2
Most places among the first three competitors in giant slalom:
- Vreni SCHNEIDER (SUI): 6
The biggest time difference at a giant slalom race:
- Marie-France JEANGEORGES (FRA): 2,39 s (1967)
Tied victory at a giant slalom race:
- Petra VLHOVA (SVK) + Mikaela SHIFFRIN (USA) 2019
Slovenians on Golden Fox:
- Tina MAZE - SL: 1 x 1, 1 x 2, GSL: 2 x 1, 2 x 2, pokal: 1 x 1, 1 x 3
- Mateja SVET – SL: 1 x 1, GSL: 2 x 1, pokal: 2 x 1
- Urška HROVAT – SL: 1 x 1, 1 x 2 1 x 3, pokal: 1 x 1
- Nataša BOKAL – SL: 1 x 1, GSL: 1 x 2
- Špela PRETNAR – SL: 1 x 2, GSL: 1 x 2
- Katja KOREN – SL: 1 x 2
- Ana DREV – GSL: 1 x 2
- Meta HROVAT - GSL: 2 x 3
- Veronika ŠAREC – SL: 1 x 3