The 2027 Hahnenkamm race week runs from 18 to 24 January, with downhill training Tuesday to Thursday, the super-G on Friday 22, the downhill on Saturday 23 and the slalom on Sunday 24 January (organiser's programme, as of November 2026). Race-day tickets are sold only in advance through the organiser, the Kitzbüheler Ski Club, on hahnenkamm.com. Pick your day by how much crowd you can take: Saturday is the spectacle, while the free training days let you see the Streif without the crush.
The Hahnenkamm races are the one week of the year when Kitzbühel stops being a ski resort and becomes a stadium. Big crowds come for three race days in late January (the organiser expected about 45,000 spectators for the 2026 downhill alone), the town fills up, and the downhill on the Streif is shown live around the world. The races are organised by the Kitzbüheler Ski Club (K.S.C.), and everything time-sensitive on this page comes from its official site, hahnenkamm.com.
This guide is about the practical side: which day to go, how tickets work, where to stand, and how to get in and out. If you’d rather see the course without anyone on it, walking the Streif in summer is a very different and much quieter way to meet it.
When is the Hahnenkamm race in 2027?
Race week runs from 18 to 24 January 2027, with the downhill on Saturday 23 January. The organiser’s programme is marked “subject to change”, so check it again before you book anything non-refundable.
| Day | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tue 19 Jan | Downhill training 1 | Streif. Two of the three training sessions are planned to run |
| Wed 20 Jan | Downhill training 2; junior slalom | Juniors race on the Ganslern |
| Thu 21 Jan | Downhill training 3 | Streif |
| Fri 22 Jan | Super-G | Starts at the Streifalm. Evening downhill draw and light show at the finish |
| Sat 23 Jan | Downhill | The Streif. Evening prize giving and light show at the finish |
| Sun 24 Jan | Slalom (two runs) | Ganslern |
Start times are on the organiser’s page. Weather moves things around every few years, and a cancelled training run or a postponed race is part of the deal with any downhill.
Tickets: how they work
You buy race-day tickets in advance from the organiser, and only there. The 2027 page says plainly that there are no on-site sales (source, as of November 2026).
General standing tickets go through the organiser’s online shop, with up to nine single tickets per race day per order. Grandstand, zone and group tickets (ten people or more) are requested through the ticket office instead. For the general spectator area, adult prices are €35 on Friday, €45 on Saturday and €35 on Sunday, and children enter free with photo ID (check the birth-year cut-off on the organiser’s page). The grandstand and zone tickets cost a good deal more and include food and drink. All prices as of November 2026, from hahnenkamm.com.
Ignore resale sites. The organiser warns that outlets offering tickets at greatly inflated prices are not its partners, and we don’t link to any of them. If a page is selling Hahnenkamm tickets and isn’t hahnenkamm.com, assume you’ll pay more for less.
Where to watch the Streif
Stand in the finish area. The organiser itself calls it the best place to watch, and for a first visit we agree: it’s easy to reach, you see the racers come over the Hausbergkante for roughly the final 35 seconds of the run, and video walls along the course show the rest (spectator information, as of November 2026).
The Streif’s famous sections, the Mausefalle jump near the top, the Steilhang, the Hausbergkante and the Zielschuss into the finish, are what make the race. The organiser lists the start and the Mausefalle as interesting places to watch, and says skiers can reach the course sides at the Mausefalleboden, Seidlalm and Oberhausberg. You need a valid ticket there too: the ticket rule applies at the start and along the entire course, not only at the finish.
Our view: for first-timers, the finish beats a trek up the mountain. Up high you see a few seconds of one section and very little else, and getting down again with the crowd is slow. Come back another year for the Mausefalle if the finish leaves you wanting more.
Can’t make it? Broadcasters change by country and year, so check the organiser’s TV and live stream page rather than any schedule printed elsewhere.
Which day to go
Go on Saturday for the downhill if you want the full spectacle and can handle the crush. Go midweek if you want to see the Streif up close for free.
Training days (Tuesday to Thursday). Admission is free on training days, according to the organiser. You see the same course and many of the same racers, with a fraction of the crowd. This is the day we’d pick for anyone with children or anyone who mainly wants to see how steep the Streif really is.
Super-G (Friday). A full race day with tickets, a big crowd and the evening draw for the downhill bib numbers at the finish. A good compromise if Saturday sells out.
Downhill (Saturday). The main event, the biggest crowd and the busiest night in town. Book early. For the 2026 race, Saturday’s finish-area tickets sold out eleven days before the downhill (organiser).
Slalom (Sunday). Held on the Ganslern rather than the Streif, with two runs. It suits people who like watching technical skiing up close, and Sunday is often the easier day to get a ticket.
Getting there and away
Take the train. On race days ÖBB runs a free Hahnenkamm shuttle between St Johann in Tirol and Kirchberg, stopping at Kitzbühel Hahnenkamm station, a few minutes’ walk from the finish area (organiser, as of November 2026).
If you drive, use the official free car parks: Oberndorf if you’re coming from Salzburg or Munich, Kirchberg if you’re coming from Innsbruck, then ride the shuttle in. The car parks at the Hahnenkammbahn and the Ganslern are closed during race week, and on downhill Saturday the organiser says you should be parked by 09:00 at the latest. Arriving from Mittersill, the Kitzbühel Süd car park is about 20 minutes’ walk from the grounds.
Leaving is the hard part. After the downhill most of the crowd tries to go at once, so either leave before the prize giving or stay put, eat in town and travel later. Food and drink can’t be brought into the event grounds, and large bags aren’t allowed.
Flying in? Our guide to flying into Munich compares train, bus and transfer, and there’s a separate page on getting here from Innsbruck.
Where to stay in race week
Kitzbühel itself fills up early and prices rise for the week. If you haven’t booked by autumn, look along the rail line: St Johann in Tirol and Kirchberg are both on the free shuttle route, and Fieberbrunn is further east on the same line, connected by regular trains.
Staying in town is still the best experience if you can get it, because you can walk to the finish and to the bars afterwards. Our guide to the best areas to stay explains which parts are within walking distance of the Hahnenkammbahn.
Race week: book early
Where to stay
Compare hotels and apartments in the town centre, near the Hahnenkamm lift or in quieter Reith and Kirchberg.
Airport transfer
Shared and private transfers from Munich, Salzburg and Innsbruck airports, door to door.
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The rest of race week in town
Race week is a party as much as a sporting event. The bars near the Hahnenkammbahn and in the old town are packed from the afternoon, and the evening prize givings and light shows in the finish area keep the crowd in town. Our page on après-ski covers where things happen, and race week is the busiest it gets.
You can still ski that week, but not on the race courses: the organiser closes the Streif and the Ganslern to the public. The rest of KitzSki stays open, and the Kitzbüheler Horn side is a calmer choice while the Hahnenkamm is busy. For an overview of what the ski area is like, start with our skiing guide.
A short history of the Hahnenkamm race
The organiser dates the first Hahnenkamm race to 28 and 29 March 1931, held late in the season to show that the Hahnenkamm still had snow when other resorts were into spring (source). The Kitzbüheler Ski Club still organises it. Over the decades the downhill became the one every racer wants to win, partly because the Streif’s steepness and jumps leave so little margin. The club’s own history pages cover the rest.
Is race week worth it if you’re not a fan?
If you don’t care about ski racing, probably not. You’ll pay more for a bed, ski on a crowded mountain with the race slopes closed, and find the town too busy to enjoy its quieter side.
If you’re curious rather than committed, go for one free training day, see the Streif from the finish and leave before the weekend rush. If you just want a ski holiday, the quieter January weeks on either side of the race offer the same mountain at its least crowded, and early-season skiing in December is another option if you want cheaper rooms.
For fans, though, it’s worth doing once. Few other events put you this close to the world’s best downhill racers in such a small town.
Plan your race week
Decide your day first: free training if you want space, Saturday if you want the full show. Then buy official tickets on hahnenkamm.com and book the bed straight after, because rooms run out before tickets do. For everything else about the town, start with our Kitzbühel guide.
