The races were held February 14–23 at Whiteface Mountain in Wilmington, New York,[1][2] northeast of host Lake Placid.

Hanni Wenzel led the individual medal table, finishing on the podium in all three women's events, with two gold and one silver.

China, Costa Rica and Cyprus made their Olympic alpine skiing debuts.

During the Olympics from 1956 through 1980, World Championship medals were awarded by the FIS for the combined event.

The combined returned as a separate event at the World Championships in 1982 and at the Olympics in 1988.