ALPINE SKI TRAINING. There is no training manual available to describe what is the best, or only, path to success in sport. There is nevertheless an unquenchable yearning among athletes to discover what it takes to get to the top.

Rolex Testimonee Lara Gut is working hard in the off-season to shine this winter. With the help of her own personal coaching team, she is demonstrating a willingness to explore new ideas in the pursuit of success on the slopes. That is why she spent several days this summer training in the Leukerbad sports facility with World and Olympic Champion shot putter Valérie Adams of New Zealand as well as with Swiss wrestling star Matthias Sempach. Lara's brother Jan also took part in these unorthodox training sessions.

What could a skier standing 1.60m tall and weighing only 56kg possibly learn from a 1.98m tall shot putter weighing 120kg? And beyond that, how could she benefit from training with a colossal wrestler who excels in a unique Swiss sport where participants try to push their rivals down onto their backs in sawdust. What on earth is the point of all that?

Lara Gut explains her strategy: "We all want the same thing - to reach our goals. Valérie wants to put the shot as far as possible, Matthias wants to throw his opponents on their backs into sawdust, and I want to ski faster. Obviously we've all got different physical attributes. Valérie is taller and heavier than I am and has a lot more strength. But on the other hand I'm more agile and have a better sense of balance. Valérie has, for example, an incredible springiness - in her sport it's just a second or two that is decisive. If I'm looking for more explosive strength, it can't hurt to take a closer look at how a shot putter like Valérie works on improving that explosiveness. But of course I'm not aiming to become the fitness training champion of the world - I'd rather be a world champion in skiing," she said with a hearty and happy laugh.

The joint training sessions with the athletes from such disparate sporting backgrounds were conducted by track and field coach Jean-Pierre Egger, former shot put world champion Werner Günthör and Lara's personal fitness trainer Patrick Flaction. All three athletes spent a day following the training programme of each other. "I was totally exhausted after a day with Valérie. But then on the day when Matthias Sempach began doing my workout, he thought we were completely insane. So we all discovered that we actually complemented each other quite nicely," continued Gut.

After spending so much time in the gym working out, the young woman from the Ticino is looking forward to getting back on her skies. This year, for the first time, she will be going abroad to prepare for the coming season. Gut and her team of personal coaches will fly to Ushuaia at Tierra del Fuego on the southern tip of Argentina. Ushuaia is the southernmost city in the world, and as the unofficial gateway to the South Pole it has become a veritable summer training Mecca for World Cup skiers.

Rolex and skiing - a story of passion dating back to 1968, when French skier Jean-Claude Killy became a Rolex Testimonee after his triple medal win at the Olympic Games. The association that developed between the brand and this exceptional athlete has gone from strength to strength.

For a long time, the Olympic medallist was the only - but so emblematic - link between the brand and skiing, embodying, through his enthusiastic hard work and ceaseless quest for perfection, cardinal values that are also those of Rolex. Now, another legend in alpine skiing, Austrian Hermann Maier, has taken up the torch. A Testimonee since 2007 with an impressive number of victories to his name, he is also a champion who perfectly exemplifies the spirit of Rolex.

Determination, precision and perseverance - qualities that, for Rolex, constitute fundamental principles and which are essential for a top skier. The links between the brand and skiing are not due to chance. By its association with this elite sport, whose ideals it shares, Rolex asserts its attachment to a philosophy in which performance means excellence. It is not surprising, therefore, that the brand supports the most widely known leg of the Alpine Skiing World Cup: the Hahnenkamm Races in Kitzbühel, Austria. Captivated by this event marking the high point of the ski season, Rolex became its Official Timekeeper in 2007. More than a sponsor, Rolex is a true partner, contributing year after year to the prestige of the competition.

Since 2010, three new rising stars in alpine skiing - Switzerland's Lara Gut and Carlo Janka together with American Lindsey Vonn - perpetuate in turn the relationship that began in 1968 between Rolex and skiing. The brand, which has chosen them as Testimonees, is with them at every turn as they collect honours in races around the world. More than ever, Rolex celebrates skiing and the sport's greatest talents.

KPMS
August 16, 2011

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