Eyes of skiing world turn on sport's 'Superbowl'

The eyes of the alpine skiing world will turn Saturday to the what is regarded as the Superbowl of the sport: the famed Kitzbuehel downhill.

The rollcall of winners includes some of the biggest names to ever have donned a pair of skis, such as Franz Klammer, Hermann Maier, Didier Cuche, Jean-Claude Killy and Toni Sailer.

The Hahnenkamm, or rooster's comb, is the mountain on which the "Streif" piste lies, widely recognised as the toughest course on the demanding World Cup circuit.

With a drop in altitude of 863 metres from the start to finish, the margin between more speed and a bad mistake can be miniscule on the thigh-straining 3.2km-long piste.

The winners tend to be experienced racers who are aggressive. They argue that the only way to conquer the slope, iced and groomed to make it completely unlike anything a "weekend skier" could possibly sample, is to attack.

The flipside to that aggression, which has resulted in several near-fatal crashes, is the ski racer's own "risk management".

While the course is often described as the "Super Bowl of alpine skiing", the men racing it, like Norwegian star Aksel Lund Svindal, liken it more to the Monaco Formula One race -- you're either on the track or in the wall.

And it is for that reason that the Tyrolean town welcomes 50,000 spectators for the day, with spills on the slope at mind-blowing speeds of upwards of 130km/h all part and parcel of the event.

Unfortunately for organisers and racers, the weather forecast for Saturday is not good, with 5-10 centimetres of snow predicted to fall before midday along with wind gusts of up to 60km/h high on the mountain.

Austrian Hannes Reichelt won the downhill in 2014, but said he favoured insatiable Norwegian speed king Svindal for the downhill crown.

"It was a tough course," Reichelt said after finishing third in Friday's super-G behind Svindal and American Andrew Weibrecht.

"I was really happy when I saw the finish line! It's a little warm-up for the downhill.

"It's really special. I can remember my victory here in downhill, it's so cool to be on the podium and be an Austrian and win here.

"On Saturday I will try to do the same run as today, on the limit. But Aksel's in great shape so to beat him is very tough. I had a perfect run in Wengen but it wasn't enough. For tomorrow he's the top favourite."

Weibrecht described his second place in the super-G as a "dream come true".
"This is one thing growing up we all dreamt about, being on the podium in Kitzbuehel, what a great day," he said, praising the "energy of the fans" and targeting a repeat in the downhill.

"Downhill has been a good thing for me this year, I'm starting to get back into it," he said.

"I'm excited to get an opportunity to race, go out there and concentrate and put it all together to make it one complete run."

Weibrecht's teammate Steve Nyman, fourth in Thursday's downhill training, summed up the Streif as both "risky and fun".

"It's a good course and there's a lot of risk," the veteran said. "They've put in the risky sections, but it's not too dangerous for the athletes.

"For the most part, it's really fun to ski, as always."
Source :AFP