Kitzbühel: A few very brave men above, fearful silence below

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Page 1 — Above a few very brave men, below fearful silence

Page 2 — “World Champion in Snow Blowing” Page 3 — Schnitzel party with the singing landlady

After a few forerunners rushed to the finish, a plane made several loops in the sky, after two men peed in the snow behind the main stand, the mood in Kitzbühel changed. Just a few minutes until the start of the descent on the Streif. The festival atmosphere has turned into a murmur. The 45,000 people along the route are now surprisingly quiet.

There are those moments when it is collectively clear what is appropriate and what is not. And the collective feeling on Saturday shortly before 12:30 p.m. is: tension. Because everyone here knows that there are some very brave men at the start house. Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal, who won the Super-G three times in Kitzbühel, said that there is a saying among riders: It’s nice to be in Kitzbühel, but it’s also nice to go home. “I always felt afraid because the route is brutal.”

On television you can’t even begin to convey how brutal it is. You can see how steep it really is by looking at the fans behind the fences at the finish line – which is by far not the steepest part of the route. If you slip once, you’ll only be able to stop when you’re on the flat.

The rich have come, the beautiful ones who get annoyed when their white ski pants get dirty. But also normal ski fans. And the après-ski friends. In addition to the 45,000 on the track, up to 300 million people around the world are watching. The Streif is a myth. If you spend a racing Saturday in Kitzbühel, you know why.

Mousetrap, 85 percent gradient

The first starter, a German. Big cheers. A lot of Piefkes, as the Germans are called here, came to Tyrol. Everyone looks at the screen to the left of the track as Andreas Sander heaves himself out of the starting house. However, only those who can see over the person in front can see the screen. On the other side of the track, a few meters behind the spectators, the rescue helicopter lurks as if threatening. At the top of the mousetrap, 85 percent gradient, Sander jumps 48 meters.

At the descent the day before, Sander was outside the top 30, out of the question for a runner-up. The German downhill team is in crisis, no rider is in shape. In contrast to the best German slalom skier: Linus Strasser. On Sunday he will win the Kitzbühel Slalom, becoming the first German in ten years. There are still a lot of spectators there, but not nearly as many as at the descent. It is the spectacle that defines Kitzbühel.

However, the fact that they have been running two runs in Kitzbühel for several years is controversial. Some think this devalues ​​the traditional race on Saturday. Many drivers think it’s slowly becoming too much. In Wengen, where three speed races took place within three days a week ago, there were bad crashes.

But it’s convenient for Sander that he can do it again today. Get out of the crisis with small steps. In the middle of the route, at the Seidlalm, he is still doing well. Almost 60 years ago, three men are said to have had the idea of ​​turning individual races into a series: the World Cup.

When Sander jumps over the edge of the local mountain, those watching see him in real life for the first time. As a tiny dot. The screen switches off and you have to look at the track. Sander comes over the traverse, still very small. It’s way too deep! At over 100 km/h it hangs down in the sloping terrain. He fights his way up and makes it into the next goal. He will be 23rd, a step forward.

The permanent guest Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Frenchman who perhaps managed the perfect ride. © Barbara Gindl/​dpa, GEPA pictures/​Christian Moser/​imago

After a few forerunners rushed to the finish, a plane made several loops in the sky, after two men peed in the snow behind the main stand, the mood in Kitzbühel changed. Just a few minutes until the start of the descent on the Streif. The festival atmosphere has turned into a murmur. The 45,000 people along the route are now surprisingly quiet.

There are those moments when it is collectively clear what is appropriate and what is not. And the collective feeling on Saturday shortly before 12:30 p.m. is: tension. Because everyone here knows that there are some very brave men at the start house. Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal, who won the Super-G three times in Kitzbühel, said that there is a saying among riders: It’s nice to be in Kitzbühel, but it’s also nice to go home. “I always felt afraid because the route is brutal.”