The 25-year-old enjoyed a stellar year last season, following up gold in the super-G and silver in the giant slalom at the Sochi Olympic Games by becoming the first Austrian to claim the overall World Cup title since Nicole Hosp in 2007.
Fenninger looks set to have a battle on her hands to retain the crown, with prodigious American Mikaela Shiffrin providing an intriguing challenge.
The 18-year-old is a heavy favourite to claim a third consecutive title in her favourite slalom discipline, in which she became the youngest ever Olympic champion in Sochi.
But Shiffrin can no longer be considered a one-discipline specialist as podium finishes at Beaver Creek and Lienz last season helped her record a career-best seventh in the giant slalom standings and an overall sixth-place finish.
Shiffrin's rapid rate of development means a first giant slalom career victory is in her sights. Achieving that on Saturday would place down a significant early marker in the race for World Cup glory.
Double Olympic gold medalist and dominant 2012-13 overall champion Tina Maze will aim for a strong start as she looks to put an inconsistent season behind her.
Following her historic pair of titles in Sochi, the richly gifted Slovenian failed to register a World Cup victory.
Nevertheless, ahead of a planned sabbatical at the end of this season, Maze remains arguably the world's premier operator in giant slalom when on her best form and a threat in the slalom, super-G and downhill.
Switzerland's Lara Gut was victorious in Soelden last season before claiming a third-placed finish overall, while Liechtenstein's Tina Weirather completes a formidable cast of pretenders to Fenninger's title.
Competition organisers in Soelden have been hard at work, with warm temperatures hitting the region over recent weeks, and ladies race director Atle Skaardal is confident an abrupt change in conditions can be dealt with.
"After struggling with a lack of snow over the past weeks, we are about to face a different challenge - possibly too much snow this week,” Skaardal told the official FIS website.
"On Tuesday the hill was treated with the injection bar in order to best prepare the base prior to the heavy snowfalls, which have been announced for Wednesday and Thursday. The current forecast still allows enough time to clear the snow off the course and with a promising outlook for the weekend I am confident that we will have good races."
Lindsey Vonn is set to make her much-anticipated comeback from major right knee surgery, although the 2010 Olympic downhill champion's return will come in the season's first speed races.
Vonn is on 59 World Cup victories, just three shy of overall record holder Annemarie Moser-Proell, but her future participation in giant slalom and slalom remains in doubt.