It is usually one of the first international senior competitions of the season. Skaters are entered by their respective national federations and compete in four disciplines: ladies' singles, men's singles, pairs, and ice dancing. The Fritz-Geiger-Memorial Trophy is presented to the team with the highest placements across all disciplines.
Nebelhorn Trophy has been held annually since 1969 and is thus one of the oldest international figure skating competitions that is still in existence. In its early years, this competition was paired with a now-defunct French event, the Grand Prix de St. Gervais (unrelated to the current ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating event), to form the Coupe des Alpes, with many of the same skaters participating in both events and a team trophy presented to the country with the highest combined placements across both competitions. During the 1980s and early 1990s, before the establishment of a regular junior international competition circuit, younger skaters were often sent to these events as their first senior international competition assignments.
