Kitzbühel is one of Europe's best-known winter sports resorts, situated between the mountains Hahnenkamm (elev. ) adjacent to the southwest and Kitzbühler Horn () to the northeast. The Hahnenkamm hosts the annual World Cup ski races, including the circuit's most notable single event, the downhill race on the notable Streif slope. Introduced in 1937, the northeast-facing Streif is among the world's toughest downhill courses, if not the most, and is infamous for an abundance of spectacular crashes.