Shiffrin plans fewer slaloms, more giant slalom and super-G

Mikaela Shiffrin plans to race fewer slaloms in the 2026-27 Alpine Ski World Cup season, shifting more of her attention to giant slalom and super-G as part of what she calls a season of exploration. The American skier said she intends to keep competing in slalom, but has not set a final number of starts. Shiffrin announced the change on October 6, saying she wants to find out how much she can improve in giant slalom and super-G rather than concentrating primarily on the discipline in which she has had her greatest success. She said her drive to improve and compete remains unchanged, and described curiosity about her potential in the other events as a reason for the shift. Her current plan is to make Killington, Vermont, her first slalom race of the season. She has left open the possibility of adding other slaloms later in the winter and said she wants to preserve enough ranking points to keep her options available. The plan means she is expected to miss the early-season slalom races in Levi, Finland, and Gurgl, Austria. The schedule has not been finalized, so the extent of the reduction remains uncertain.