( CNN ) -- When this season 's World Cup alpine ski champions stepped up to the podium to receive their prizes , they were following in some famous footsteps . The Dalai Lama , designer Karl Lagerfeld , Oprah Winfrey and boxing star Wladimir Klitschko have all been there . No , not the FIS winners ' pantheon . Not yet at least ( although Vanessa Mae 's appearance at February 's Sochi Winter Olympics should offer some encouragement to wannabe ski-celebs ) . Each has been the recipient of a piece of fine crystal designed and manufactured by JOSKA Kristall , a German glassblowing specialist . The Bavaria-based company is renowned as the maker of awards presented to many a famous face -- also including Arnold Schwarzenegger , Mikhail Gorbachev and Claudia Schiffer -- but it is perhaps best known for the iconic FIS World Cup globes that are dished out to the kings and queens of the snow . Some 64 World Cup trophies are awarded yearly to the discipline and overall winners at the various FIS ski , snowboard , Nordic , ski-jump and cross-country World Cup finals events . Recipients in 2014 have included alpine skiers Anna Fenninger and Marcel Hirscher , who posed for the cameras with the freshest batch after picking up the overall titles for the ladies ' and men 's events respectively this month . Yet behind these triumphant images of sporting glory lies a tale of intricate craftsmanship that is as painstaking in its quest for perfection as the preparations of any winter athlete . A glass apart . Founded in 1960 , JOSKA began as a glass-cutting enterprise before later adding a blowing factory , specialist engraving facility and hand-painting operations . It first manufactured the crystal sphere trophies in 1987 , with the first FIS globe handed over in 1989 . The process has since become part of winter sports tradition . Where football has its 18 carat gold World Cup trophy and ice hockey the silver and nickel Stanley Cup , winter sports have the crystal globe . `` Every season we have 33 of the small cups ( for the winners of individual events ) , 17 of the big cups ( for the overall winners ) , 17 for the nations cups and 177 medals of glass , '' JOSKA 's operations manager Alouis Adam told CNN 's Alpine Edge series . `` I think of the last 25 years we have made over 2,000 different small and big cups . '' Adam says the production of a World Cup trophy spans two days and a number of complex stages . Each is primarily forged using a 1,200-degree Celsius mass of molten glass which is then painstakingly shaped by JOSKA 's glassblowers . These skilled technicians inflate the hot glass to the required shape via a blowpipe , sweating profusely as they go . After a 24-hour cooling off period , the trophy is brought to a glasscutter who uses diamond disks to carve an intricate snow crystal design into the trophies . The FIS logos , the relevant discipline and sponsor names are then engraved into the glass . Once finished , the selected globes are packed up into specially designed shipping cases and transported from JOSKA headquarters to the relevant World Cup venue . Of the hundreds of globes made each year , only the finest are used -- JOSKA selects the 33 best trophies out of a total of 60 smaller globes produced annually . An emotional send-off . Having worked at the JOSKA for nigh on 42 years , Adam has seen hundreds of athletes pick up his company 's prized trophies . He attended this month 's World Cup finals and was as effusive as ever on witnessing the world 's best skiers , snowboarders and cross-country athletes ' joy at receiving the fruits of his company 's labors . `` That 's a beautiful feeling . I ( have ) watched all the World Cup finals the last 25 years and we are very proud when the winners have our product , '' he said . `` This goes out around the world and we are very proud -- the winner looks at the trophy and says it 's a wonderful trophy . '' JOSKA also manufactures trophies for cycling 's Tour de France as well as the German and Polish football federations . But while fond of these items , Adam believes there is something unique about the World Cup globes . `` ( This is an ) absolutely special design which displays a globe for the best in skiing , '' he said . Those winter sportsmen and women fortunate enough to have their hands on the prized crystal will be sure to agree . See also : Double world cup joy for Austria . See also : Toe tingling void at top of the alps . See also : Ligety snatches GS title .
Women 's crystal globe trophies are forged in 1,200-degree steel . More than 2,000 FIS medals have been awarded since 1987 . This year 's winners include Barbara Fenninger and Barbara Hirscher of Austria .