Competition in the male and female two-person bobsleigh classes will prove particularly fierce, with only 58 points separating Olympic champion Kaillie Humphries of Canada, on 1,510 points, from American rival Jamie Greubel-Poser.

Christina Hengster of Austria is a distant third on 1,354 points.

Other leading pilots on German ice will be home hope and freshly crowned world champion, Anja Schneiderheinze and world junior champion Stephanie Schneider.

The 2015 world champion Elana Meyers Taylor of the United States will be expected to be among the contenders. 

All eyes will be on the South Korean sled driven by Won Yunjong in the two-man event, currently on 1,337 points and chasing a first-ever World Cup overall title for the rising Asian sliding power and 2018 Winter Olympic host.

He lies 63 clear of second-placed Nico Walther of Germany, while Latvian rivals Ugis Zalims and defending World Cup titleholder Oskars Melbardis are both in contention on respective totals of 1242 and 1150.

German world champion Francesco Friedrich is down in 10th on 1,075 points after having missed several races following victories in the opening three World Cup legs.

The winner of each race will receive 225 points, with 210 for second and 200 for third.

Latvia's Martins Dukurs is the heavy favourite for a remarkable seventh successive men's skeleton title.

His haul of 1,560 points puts him 195 clear of South Korea's Sungbin Yun, who tied for second with Olympic champion Alexander Tretyakov of Russia at the recent World Championships in Innsbruck.

They are closely followed by Tomass Dukurs of Latvia on 1348, who recorded the same time as his brother Martins in St Moritz to earn a joint European Championship gold medal.

Germany's Tina Hermann won her first World Championship gold medal last weekend at the BMW IBSF World Championships, and has a similarly dominant 172-point lead in the standings over team-mate, Jacqueline Lölling.

They sit on 1,512 and 1,340 rpoints espectively.

Canadian Jane Channell is well-placed in third on 1,274.

There is predictable German domination In the four-man event, with the sled driven by Maximilian Arndt leading the way on 1,490 points, 120 clear of compatriot Francesco Friedrich.

Switzerland's Rico Peter lies third on 1,336 points.

Competition is due begin with both runs of the women's skeleton and women's bobsleigh tomorrow.

The men's skeleton and two-man bobsleigh events will follow on Saturday (February27) before the four-man on Sunday (February 28).