[1] Due to weather delays, it was run on Thursday, February 16, a full week after originally scheduled.

[2][3][4] The reigning world champion was Harti Weirather of Austria, while teammate Franz Klammer was the reigning World Cup downhill champion and Switzerland's Urs Räber led the current season.

[5][6] Similar to 1980, the defending Olympic downhill champion was from Austria and did not compete; Leonhard Stock was injured a month earlier in early January.

In order to meet the minimum vertical drop requirement of 800 meters (2,625 feet), the starting gate was in a newly constructed summit lodge and restaurant, with a connecting ramp to the mountain proper.

[8][9][10] In his first full World Cup season, he was a top "glider" and made up time on the flatter lower third of the course.