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The World Cup Finals are a sure sign that spring has arrived and that Alpine Skiing will retreat from the spotlight for half a year.

The best skiers are gathered in Garmisch Partenkirchen and are taking part in the last competitions of the season, but many are already adding up the scores of this season. The season itself is far from over; there are several National Championships taking place in April and some FIS races as well. Some skiers will take time to test new equipments, as all sponsorship deals end after the Olympics.

The Germans are learning how to organise World Championship races. Garmisch Partenkirchen is hosting major skiing events next year as well as they gained some experience by hosting the Junior World Championship in Alpine Skiing last year and this year it was the world cup finale. After what I’ve experienced, they have their work cut out for them if they wish to get any praise in the future.

The press centre in the arena was certainly too small. In fact, it was actually a combination of a canteen, a space for teams and working space for reporters. Chaos ensued. During the first race of women’s grand slalom there was a power outage and many reporters were left without visual contact and race results.

This is unforgivable; every FIS race must have backup generators to prevent such problems. There were also plenty of logistical problems and it is vital they sort out the parking facilities. All in all, there is plenty of work to be done, and the slopes themselves are not as attractive as they could be.

A lot of buzz is surrounding the Austrian team. Once the strongest Alpine Skiing team in the world just had the worst season in history. First, there is the disaster at the Vancouver Olympics: the Austrian male team did not bring home a single medal. Downhill, the most revered discipline and an Austrian speciality, proved to be a disaster. They did not manage a single win in the entire season, which last happened 18 years ago. Things weren’t that great in the Super G and grand slalom either.

The only successful skier this season was Reinfried Herbst in slalom, and this does not suffice for the Austrians. Tony Geiger’s dismissal is now a fact, and it looks like the team is changing its head of the national team after 11 years. The chairman of the Austrian skiing association Peter Schröcksnadel is announcing radical changes, for example hiring Austrian coaches which had success with training other National teams. We have some interesting changes to look forward to as far as the »coach market« is concerned.

We need to mention someone else as well. In the men’s super G, we saw Liechtenstein’s Marco Büchel on the starting line for the last time. He is one of the most well loved alpine skiers. Everyone from his competition, coaches and reporters adored him. When he made it to the finish line in his shorts, half the female world cup contestants were waiting for him there. The winner of 4 world cup races is finally giving up skiing at 38. Now he’ll be able to spend more time with his wife Tania and his dog Jesper. He will surely stay linked with skiing however; he will be the expert correspondent at a German television channel.

Once you’ve got skiing in your blood, there’s no turning back.

Each Olympic Game brings its own winners and losers and their stories inspire us and other athletes for decades to come. These are stories that embody the Olympic dream. Children that wish to become athletes don’t dream about winning a world cup or perhaps a world championship competition, what drives them is the thought of winning an Olympic medal.

This is the magic behind the most prestigious sporting event. Every 4 years the best of the
best gather for 14 days and push the limits of what was thought possible. Higher, faster, stronger.

True heroes aren’t always those who win gold. There are hundreds of athletes from all over the world, and everyone has a story. Canada was moved by the story of Joannie Rochette. The popular figure skater’s mother passed away just before the start of the Olympics, and everyone thought that she would retire from the competition, but instead, she decided to participate and show the world everything she was working for every day these past 4 years.

The whole nation supported her. She received hundreds of letters and emails, each full of support and comforting words when she needed them most. She was very nervous before both of her performances, but she managed to focus and her performance was nearly perfect. She won bronze. Her father was on the stands, crying, and everyone in Canada was watching as well.

After the competitions she said, that this was something she had to do, and that her mother would surely understand, since she was supportive throughout her career and that she felt she was with her throughout the Olympics as well. This was the first figure skating medal for Canada since 1988.

This is just one among many stories that have already become part of Olympic history and those who will in the years to come. The only other story that touched so many people during these Olympics is Petra Majdič winning bronze in sprint cross country skiing with four broken ribs.

Both athletes have shown that the power of spirit can overcome the body, and that the limits of what was thought possible can be moved.
If we look through the archives of past Olympic Games we can find many of these stories. But their magic lies in their emotional charge and their power to inspire us to try harder in our day to day lives. Not all heroes are those who appear on the big screens. Everyone, who sets out to achieve their dream and is prepared to risk it all, is a true hero.

The organisers of the World Cup races at Kitzbühel are looking forward to a very special visitor. During the 70th championship in Hahnenkamm, Daniel Albrecht will visit the Mecca of skiing. The Swiss skier fell badly during downhill training last year when he jumped the final jump on the slope. His injury was followed by weeks of recovery in an artificial coma followed by a lengthy rehabilitation, which still aren’t quite over.

He’s been in great shape for some time now and there is more and more talk about his returning to the slopes. In his case it’s more about his psychological recovery and the strength needed for him to revisit Kitzbühel. Luckily for him, he doesn’t remember the day of the accident.

Albrecht’s and Scott McCartney’s fall the previous year triggered several changes in the fear surrounding the Strife slope. The measures they took are not just safety related, the course itself was changed. This year, we won’t be able to see the final jump, where skiers flew for up to 80m; in fact, they changed it so much that skiers will barely leave the ground. This was an understandable change, since the skiing speeds have increased in the last years. But skiers enter the final jump straight on, so the speeds shouldn’t pose a problem. Even the famous “traversa” pass will lose much of its diversity this year.

The organisers have done their best to keep the slope as mellow as possible. No bumps and waves that threw skiers off balance this year. The most difficult and spectacular race of the season will lose some of its appeal this year. Wengen lost its final “S
and Brüggli, Kitzbühel the final jump and the traversa. Who knows, perhaps Bormio will shorten the infamous San Pietro next year. What will the people that put themselves to the test and won, fell and risked their lives on these slopes say?

Bode Miller said in Wengen that he was happy that he won the Lauberhorn race on the original slope. He said that it had lost its charm now, and that even the F1 races aren’t driven on straight roads. Drivers and skiers must know how to slow down on turns to a point where they can pull them off. Those, who do that best, are winners, and this is surely the point of these competitions. The problem is that in the beginning of the season we lost 3 or 4 contestants per race, and the FIS had to put a stop to it.

This year’s first training on the Streif passed without casualties, which was not the case in previous years. We’ve already mentioned Daniel Albrecht and Scott Macartney, but Ondrej Bank, Tomas Graggaber, Hans Knauss, Pietro vitalini, Josef Strobl, Brian Stemmle and Andrej Jerman are among them as well, to name just a few. That’s how the Streif myth was formed and that’s why winning this one meant much more than any other; and this shouldn’t change. There should always be a nervous silence at the start of Streif. After all, there are 50,000 people waiting for them at the bottom, ready to proclaim them the winner.

The Mousetrap (Mausefalle), the Slope (Steilhang), the Old Snare (Alte schneise), the Hausbrg break (Hausbergkante) and the final jump (Zielsprung) should remain as they are. Streif should remain intact, because this way, today’s winners are equal to those who won the previous years; and for them, winning Kitzbühel means becoming living legends.

Vedran Pavlek never won any World Championship points when he was part of the Croatian National Skiing Team back in the 90’s. He was a good skier, but just couldn’t cope with the overwhelming competition. He was a man of vision however, and was well aware of his strong points: he is a hard worker, has excellent organisational skills and has contacts all over the world.

After his professional skiing career was over, he knew that he wanted to be in charge of the National Team in Croatia. With all honesty, not many people stood in his way. He became the manager of the Croatian Alpine Skiing National Team and the collaboration proved to be extremely successful. He never could have made it if it weren’t for Ivica and Janica Kostelić, but luck plays an important part in everything. With the two skier’s amazing achievements to back him up, he managed to obtain financial support from sponsors and the State alike. But his true dream was to organise a race in his hometown, Zagreb.

Ten years ago, such an idea would have seemed silly at best, but Pavlek knew that it could be pulled off. He lobbied successfully with the International Ski Federation and united businessmen and politicians alike, even Milan Bandič, the controversial mayor of Zagreb, agreed to help out with the finances and granted him a sum of €2 million  for the organisation of the race. Without his help, he managed to collect just half the amount needed for the organisation. Bandič paid a high price for his support: the grant might have cost him the presidential elections for that year, and his success in the next mayoral elections was also in question.

Croatia is a country on the verge of bankruptcy where many people who are retired, live in poverty. It seems inconceivable that in those circumstances Croatia organised a race, costing €4 million.

On the other hand, the men’s slalom on Wednesday was broadcasted live to over 20 countries where Croatia and Zagreb were introduced to a lot of people thanks to these broadcasts. Some believe that more people will decide to visit Croatia because of such events. This data, however, can not be verified.

The fact is that Pavlek accomplished something incredible by bringing skiing to Croatia. The event was prestigious and well planned: the whole caravan was stationed at the Westin Hotel, the best in town, and the rewards were outstanding. Pavlek is now thinking about organising a slalom race on the Sljeme, but much more funding will be needed in order to organise it as the slope itself and the pool, supplying the water for the artificial snow, must be enlarged. Who will pay for all this? Most likely the taxpayers but Zagreb and the FIS have extended the contract up to 2014. And if Ivica Kostelić stops competing, who will come to cheer?

As we bade farewell to the year gone by and welcomed in the new one, wishes and resolutions were made at midnight as per tradition, with some having come true already.
Even the most incredible ones as made by Andrej Jerman, a Slovenian skier came true as he can confirm having won the Bormio downhill.

Just ten days before he was in Val Gardena, lying in bed and watching the Saslong downhill race. After his fall in the Super G the previous day, the pain from his injuries was just too bad for him to compete; however, he didn’t give up. Mustering all his strength he undertook treatment and physiotherapy and recovered well enough beyond all expectations. The rest is skiing history. He arrived at Bormio feeling well, had two perfect trainings and a race that he nailed in the second half. The message of this story is that from hard work, determination and confidence can lead to great things.

That we can make a difference, Obama’s slogan “Yes we can” is definitely not just talk, for if we all just gave up when faced with an obstacle, there would be no progress. Humanity wouldn’t get nearly as far as it did. Some of you might argue that our progress has brought us to the edge of disaster, but that isn’t strictly what I’m talking about. It’s about the cultural and spiritual progress, about art and, to an extent, technological progress. People can make a difference. All of us can make this planet a better place in every way possible. This is my New Year’s wish for you.

With the holidays already over, I hope you spent them with your families, with those, who mean most to you. That you also thought about the elderly and spent time with children as life gets back on its old tracks so soon after the holidays.

Athletes’ lives are not easy. The skiers, that are not Europeans, can’t always get home for the holidays. Ski jumpers, for instance, have a competition on the 1st of January. The holidays gain importance with time, and older and more experienced skiers sometimes take time off for Christmas and New Years races, so that they can visit their families. Bode Miller, for instance, chose San Diego over Bormio this year. He would have ranked high had he taken part in the downhill race, but he has a daughter waiting for him in the US. Luggage full of presents, he returned home twice this holiday. When he came back, he was more at peace, focused on the task before him: do well in the world cup races and then win Olympic gold, a wish, shared by all the alpine skiers. We will have to wait for Vancouver, however, to see who the one that wants it the most is.

I wish you health, peace and success in 2010,

Urban Laurenčič

Espace Killy is a world renowned ski resort in the Savoie Alps in France.  I was sure I’d get to know it properly last February, since I spent a good two weeks there during the Alpine World Cup. However, there were only two sunny days and the temperatures were extremely low, about -17 Celsius. The weather couldn’t keep me away from the slopes entirely but I managed to see and experience those slopes that were open, and I was very pleased with what I saw.

Val d’Isere is located at a high altitude so there’s plenty of snow each year. The terrain on which the slopes are located is vast and varied and so fits every skier’s needs.  Some lifts are out of date but most have been recently updated and are capable of getting you to the top of the slopes within a couple of minutes. The French are known to pay less attention to grooming of the slopes and expert skiers have trouble adjusting to the unkempt snow.

Due to the World Championships, Val d’Isere improved its own look and its offers to customers, which coming from the French is a good thing. It often happens in France that projects remain unfinished, dirty and so on. Val d’Isere really surpassed itself this year and is now ranked firmly among Europe’s best ski resorts, and needs just a few modern ski lifts and Swiss precision to become level with Zermatt.

The ski resort got its name after the best known resident of Val d’Isere, Jean Claud Killy. Even though he was born in Paris, he spent his childhood in the Alps. In the mid 60’s, he was the best skier of the time, winning several of the first World Championship races in 1966 as well as Olympic gold in three disciplines in Grenoble in 1968. In Franconia, USA, the place where Bode Miller learned to ski, he won three races in three consecutive days, a different discipline each time. When the FIS decided to entrust the World Championships to Val d’Isere, Killy was an obvious decision to be President of the Organisational Committee. It is interesting that he had to resign from his post to prove that the project wasn’t being carried out the way it was supposed to, and after that, things started going the right way – who knows what state Val d’Isere would meet the World Championships in otherwise.

Marc Bauer, Jean Claude Killy and SAS Albert de Monaco

Perhaps it was because of these discords that Killy was not present at all the races, but he was in the finish area at the grand slalom race. Perhaps he felt that a skier capable of achieving Killy’s success was already on the slopes. The young Carlo Janka had easily managed to stay on top of the extremely steep slope and avoided all of the mistakes his competition had made. At the age of 22, he won the title of world champion in the most basic of skiing disciplines. A new star was born and the public was in a state of shock – but not because of Janka, it was his relaxed demeanour during the race itself and the ceremony that followed. It only took a year for the Swiss to take Killy’s role – he too won gold in three disciplines in three consecutive days, which happened last weekend in Beaver Creek. Even Raich ad Svindal acknowledged his feat.

Now, the ski caravan is nearing Val d’Isere, where everything started for Janka and Killy. This weekend, both Super G and grand slalom races will take place and Killy will be watching again, perhaps thinking about the Olympics taking place this season, just like those in Grenoble in 1968.

If there is such thing as love at first sight, then this goes for Hermann Maier and Beaver Creek. When Vail was proposed to hold the World Championship in 1999, the Americans presented an ambitious project: to build a ski slope bearing the name «Birds of Prey». It was planned to be one of the most difficult slopes in the world alongside Kitzbühel. The International Ski Federation approved the project and the Americans began building, but no-one expected that this slope would change the life of a builder from Flachau, Austria.

When the slope was first tested out in 1997, Hermann Maier was just building his reputation among the Austrian national team. He came to the fashionable resort of Vail with two wins already in the bag, despite the stiff competition. The new slope appeared to be tailored to his physical abilities. He came in second in downhill, won the Super G, and his incredible success story began.

Herman Maier was at the peak of his performance just before the World Cup in 1999, Beaver Creek was the stage where he would win the title of World Champion. The Americans saw Maier as the new Arnold Schwarzenegger, and thought of his possible future on the Hollywood screens, but all he cared about were medals.

Lovers of alpine skiing will always remember the downhill race in Beaver Creek that year. Maier went for a gate, which was positioned on a difficult lateral passage, at a speed of 100kmph and showed the world an amount of determination never before seen in alpine skiing. Even if the gold medal in downhill escaped him, he still won the world championship with a substantial lead compared to the legendary Norwegians Kjus and Aamodt and, on top of that, he was the World Champion in Super G as well.

Next season, the ski caravan stopped amidst the Birds of Prey yet again. The Herminator’s statistics were: three races, three wins. During his career, he won at Beaver Creek 8 times, and came in second another four times. If we can call Wimbledon Roger Federer’s living room, then Beaver Creek was surely home to Hermann Maier.

The legendary Austrian won’t scare the birds of prey any more, since he has retired this year and ended his incredibly successful career. Beaver Creek will never be the same without him.

Five hundred kilometers from Vancouver, where the 2010 Winter Olympics will take place, the best alpine skiers participate in competitions in “speed” disciplines. Lake Louise, which lies in the heart of the Canadian Rocky Mountains in Alberta, is where the competitions in downhill and super G are traditionally organized. Canadians will not let anything to chance this year because they know that it’s their last opportunity to promote Canadian skiing to an international public and attract as many people as possible in Whistler during the Olympics in February, for the alpine skiing races. That’s why the Lake Louise races have no admission fee for spectators, there will be free hot chocolate for everyone and a multitude of additional activities to spice up the waiting time in between the races. Currently, an elaborate media campaign is taking place in North America, intended to increase the interest of the public in winter sports. As it was expected, Canadians are dedicating their full attention to Vancouver 2010 and are trying to market their project best they can.

The skiers themselves pay little attention to this, as they are all focused solely on the final part of their training. The Swiss and the Slovenes, for example, are in Nakiska. This resort’s name was resounding in the media these last few days – and not just because Didier Cuche, Didier Defago and Andrej Jerman were training there, but because Daniel Albrecht skied his first downhill after his horrible accident in Kitzbühl. It’s difficult to forget the excellent Swiss’ fall in the bottom half of the Streif slope. He was in a coma for a long time, but started rehabilitation shortly after coming back to his senses. He took things step by step, literally, as he first needed to learn to walk, before he took to skis again. Soon enough, he tried it and before long, he took up giant slalom and, finally, downhill. This is a discipline in which the skier reaches up to 130kmph, and that allows no room for mistakes. Sources state that Albrecht did a wonderful job, reportedly he was only 6 tenths of a second slower than Cuche and Janko in average. Some believe that he might compete in Beaver Creek next weekend, however this seems unlikely, though he might give it a try in the grand slalom, a discipline he is more prepared for.

Daniel Albrecht is training for the return to the slopes in the same place where Primin Zurbriggen won the Olympic gold in 1988. This can only be a good sign for the young Swiss skier.

Nearly three weeks have gone by since this season’s first giant slalom races in Sölden, Austria. The athletes will gather again this weekend, this time far up north in Levi, Finland for a new World Cup challenge. First, the ladies will compete on Saturday and next day, the men. The infamous Bode Miller will unexpectedly be joining the caravan in Levi. Apparently, he wants to prove himself so badly that he couldn’t bare not to join two weeks ahead of plan.

This week’s post is primarily meant to inform you about the upcoming races and where the world’s best skiers will be. After Levi, the skiers will enjoy a free weekend, or rather, they will try to fit in the most training they can, because in late November, the season starts for real. From 28 November to 14 March they will ski non-stop, from races in North America to the peak of the season in February during the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, to the World Cup final in Garmisch-Partenkirschen, Germany.

Men:

Women:

In Soelden I had the chance to witness a debate between experts on two different theoretical coaching approaches. The topic of the debate in question was alpine skiing and the problem of wasted talent. Everyone involved in the debate agreed that one particular skier had not succeeded in developing his talents to the fullest. There were several reasons, one of them certainly being his way of life which, with little training and a lot of partying, wasn’t entirely dedicated to success.

The first coach’s theory was that everything is lost if the athlete in question doesn’t have the necessary discipline: “No matter how talented he is, if he isn’t prepared to apply himself, every effort is in vain.”. I admit that I agreed with him, but then another opinion got my attention: “If the athlete doesn’t know how to fulfill his potential, he needs guidance.” Of course, everyone agreed that the athlete has great potential and is capable of achieving top results in at least two alpine disciplines. “If we consider that everyone benefits from the athlete’s success, sufficient support should be provided. An individual approach, tailored to the athlete’s needs, is necessary. If he needs supervision, then supervision should be provided. If he needs a psychologist, he should talk to one. One should talk to the athlete and truly get to know him, only then can he reach his goals.”

This made me think – in the past, I had a habit of doing things at the last minute. Preparation for college exams and tests in high school…I always knew the exact date of the exam, but I never started to study earlier than two days in advance. Sure, this approach brought OK grades, but certainly not excellent ones. How much better could I have been, had someone motivated me and studied with me?

Talent is not always enough to reach top levels in alpine skiing. Companies that sponsor athletes are undergoing financial troubles, so skiers now have to rely on themselves more. The coach might suggest a workout regime by e-mail and leave everything else to the athlete. No one could say if he’ll be in good enough shape for winter training on the slopes.

If every skier had the iron discipline of Hermann Maier, the competition would be a lot stiffer. Would Tina Maze have won the silver medal if she didn’t train and live the way she does? I dare say she wouldn’t have. It would be much more likely that she would stagnate in the team and perhaps even end her career. It is clear that her way of working makes her happy and she is looking forward to new challenges. And all that, just because she has a team around her that she can totally trust and that revolves around her 24/7.