On the “Bird of prey runway” claws are required

Three weeks late and in Colorado instead of the Matterhorn region, the downhill skiers finally want to start the Ski World Cup today. In Beaver Creek there are two downhill runs and a Super-G (each at 6:45 p.m./live on ORF 1) until Sunday. The favorite is the Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who has already triumphed here four times. But Austria’s speed group around Vincent Kriechmayr and Daniel Hemetsberger is also eager for the start of the challenging event “Bird of prey runway”.

The respect: Things always went well here for a ski superstar of yesteryear: Hermann Maier won six World Cup races plus two World Cup gold medals in the 1999 title fights. “I can still remember my first visit well. It’s completely flat at the top. And you think: Where is that?”says the Salzburger. “At some point the first transition will come. The first ones are just coming back over the edge and all I can hear is: ‘It’s amazing! What a crazy thing!’ So I drive on, look into the abyss and think to myself: Ui! Suddenly you couldn’t see anything anymore. That’s how steep it goes down there.”

The course: The air in the Rocky Mountains is thin. The starting point is 3483 meters above sea level. From the top it’s a rapid 2.6 kilometers and 750 meters in altitude down to the finish, gradients of up to 65 percent. The route was designed by the Swiss Bernhard Russi for the 1999 World Cup and has already achieved classic status in the World Cup. “I emphasize that I was allowed to create this slope”Russi likes to say. “It was a pleasure. Because the mountain already had everything. We didn’t really have to do anything except find a line down.” Many people have already thrown off this route. For example the Norwegian Aksel-Lund Svindal, who took part in 2007 “Golden Eagle Jump” had a bad fall and was in the hospital for several weeks. With Maier, Svindal is also the record winner on the “Birds of Prey”.

Upper Austria’s hopes: Kriechmayr from Mühlviertel celebrated his very first World Cup victory here in 2017 in the Super-G. That’s not the only reason he says: “Beaver Creek is one of the most spectacular runs on the calendar. You’re at your limit, the route is incredibly demanding. It’s finally starting, it’s been a long wait.” Hemetsberger from Nußdorf finished fourth in the final training session on Wednesday despite a damaged index finger. The 32-year-old points out: “We are missing the kilometers of snow this year because it was rarely right.” Incidentally, Austria’s downhill skiers have been without a win in the US winter sports resort since 2007 (Michael Walchhofer).

Andreas Ploier from Straß im Attergau will be able to compete in the Super-G at the end in Beaver Creek on Sunday.

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