Born in Innsbruck, Austria, to a German father and an Austrian mother, the family lived in both countries during his youth. They lived in Schongau, Bavaria, in Germany until Dopfer was age 10, when the family moved to Tyrol in Austria.
Dopfer raced for Austria through April 2007, then joined the German team that summer and made his World Cup debut in October 2007. During his first three seasons on the German team, he raced primarily on the European Cup circuit, with several World Cup starts per season, but no results. He moved up to the World Cup team for the 2011 season, and attained his first World Cup podium (and first top ten) in December 2011 in a giant slalom at Beaver Creek, Colorado. It was the first World Cup GS podium for a German male in nearly 18 years, since January 1994.[1]
