The Red Slope ski track on Medvednica which overlooks Zagreb is ready to host the FIS World Cup women's slalom race next week, the organizers said on Monday.

The International Ski Federation (FIS) has given the green light after FIS official Markus Mayr, who visited Zagreb a few days ago, confirmed that there was sufficient amount of snow there for the race to take place.

The race, held regularly since 2005, and dubbed Snow Queen Trophy, was launched during the heyday of Croatian skier Janica Kostelic, and is part of the FIS Alpine World Cup series of ski events. This year’s race is scheduled to take place on 4-5 January.

The most successful women skiers at Zagreb to date are Mikaela Shiffrin from the United States and Marlies Schield from Austria, with four wins each. However, the last three races were all won by Petra Vlhova of Slovakia, who will be coming again this year, looking to equal the record held by Schiffrin and Schield.

From 2008 to 2021 the Trophy also included a men’s race, normally held a couple of days after the women’s event. However, after the men’s race was cancelled in January 2022 due to bad weather, the race was dropped from the men’s calendar for the 2023 season.