Switzerland’s Didier Defago waited just over six years from his first win until he won the Lauberhorn in Wengen and like the wait for bus, now two have come along as he stormed to victory in the biggest race of the year: The Hahnenkamm Downhill. Despite the changing weather overnight, from rain to hazy sunshine, race day dawned with great expectation. The crowds came in by car, by bus and by train, all anticipating a great event.

The racers did not disappoint, and while Rolex Testimonee Hermann Maier took an early lead, he did not expect his result to stand the test of time: “It was a good run not a perfect run, but I do not know why I lost so much time in the flat section,” he explained. While the large crowd went wild with their hero leading the race, Maier let out a sigh of relief with each competitor that failed to beat his time.

To win a Hahnenkamm-Race a skier needs a lot of luck and needs to take incredible risks. The overnight rain and the freeze that followed meant that the course was even more treacherous than usual, and a number of racers failed to make it all the way down. Winner Didier Defago, from Switzerland, admitted in the post-race press conference that the first time he inspected the course he felt that “we must be crazy to do this!” Defago, fastest on the Rolex Speedometer and also fastest throughout the whole course, admitted that “it has been a long wait, yet I had a good week,” referring to his rise to super stardom following winning the two big classics of the week, Wengen and Kitzbuehel. Defago’s run was smooth, clean and he was delighted with it.

While the Swiss took the top spot in the second classic of the season, Austria had to be content with the additional places on the podium. Michael Walchhofer looked to be heading for a win until he momentarily lost control of his right ski on exiting the compression above the Zielsprung. That loss of speed cost him dearly, such was the closeness between the top racers. “It was a worry for me, yet I was lucky,” commented a relieved Walchhofer. Walchhofer was happy with his placing despite not being able to add to his 2006 win in Kitzbuehel.

After winning the Super G, Klaus Kroell almost made it a stellar weekend for himself but was still delighted with his third place and second podium here in Kitzbuehel. “A great weekend, two races, two podiums, my dreams come true, unbelievable” declared Kroell. “My run was good but not perfect. On the top I made a little mistake, the middle section the feeling was good but on the lower section I did not risk so much, so maybe this is where I lost the win!” For Kroell, the screams of the crowd made him think that it was a good run, yet he felt that with Didier Cuche still in the start, the thought of losing his place on the podium concerned him. But it was not to be, as Cuche was “only” able to finish in equal fourth with American Bode Miller.

As the sun disappeared behind the Streif, there was no chance of the temperature dropping in Kitzbuehel since the legendary post race celebrations began. Kitzbuehel does not do things in small measures; this is The Race, the race all racers want to win!

RESULTS
Hahnenkamm Downhill

1. Didier Defago (SUI) 1:56.09
2. Michael Walchhofer (AUT) 1:56.26
3. Klaus Kroell (AUT) 1:56.38
4. Didier Cuche (SUI) 1:56.59
4. Bode Miller (USA) 1:56.59
…
10. Hermann Maier (AUT) 1:57.12

Safety first: From the boots to the helmet that tops it all off

Viewers see him standing there as he gears himself up to blast off from the start. The yellow and black helmet is synonymous with Rolex Testimonee Hermann Maier. From his very first days on the Salzburg Regional Team, Hermann Maier has been with Carrera and this has proved to be a very popular association. But these days the subject of safety and wearing helmets is in the news on a regular basis. Carrera’s racing Manager Heinz Strassegger says: “The unfortunate accident with the German Politician, Thueringen’s Minister President Dieter Althaus, on New Year’s Day means that the subject of safety is paramount again.”

The speeds that racers reach in all the disciplines is fast. The slalom racers can reach speeds as high as 70km/h whereas the downhillers and Super G racers will get up to 120 – 140 km/h. Things do go wrong and it is in these times that the helmet is important. Carrera spends a lot of time making sure that their athletes are happy and feel secure with their helmet on. Racers spend a long time over the summer making sure that the fit is perfect. “It is like fitting a pair of ski boots,” explains Strassegger, when describing the importance of fitting the helmet correctly. “About 80% of the racers can fit into the regular helmet and for the rest we fine tune.”

Accidents do happen, and Strassegger is keen to stress that following an accident it is vital that people do check their helmets to make sure that there are no cracks in the outer shell. Maier’s helmet has been the traditionally top selling helmet of the Carrera range amongst the junior and children racers: “Everybody wanted to be Hermann!” explains Strassegger. Now Carrera are finding that freeride helmets are more popular amongst the public. In recent times the construction of helmets has also helped to improve the popularity of wearing one: Big heavy helmets have given way to light, fashionable helmets weighing just 450 – 550 grams.

The debate over whether or not to wear is now being publicly debated across the alps. In Italy all skiers up to the age of 15 have to wear a helmet by state law; in Switzerland the argument rages over whether wearing one encourages skiers to go faster, and in Austria the debate is about whether insurance coverage is valid in the event of an accident resulting in a head injury. Certainly the fact remains that in the event of a crash wearing one will help.

For Hermann Maier wearing his yellow helmet gives the fans the most recognisable image of him. Unlike the number of skis he will go through in a season, Maier will use maybe four to five helmets in a year according to Strassegger. His is a special design after all for a special racer! The ski boots: Comfort and safety.

While skis are the vital element regarding speed and a helmet is imperative regarding the safety of a racer, it is the boots that allow the racer to drive his skis onto faster times. The boots are the link between the skis and the racer and for Maier, who returned to his spiritual home of Lange in 2007, the electric blue boots that symbolize Lange give him that extra control when he changes direction while racing down the course.

At the beginning of each season plenty of time is spent with each racer making sure that the boots fit correctly. Beginning in March, at the end of one season, the process of finding a correct fit goes on through the summer so that by the time the racers are training on snow, this is one component that the racer has already sorted. A badly or loosely fitting boot can cost the racer precious time and can be potentially unsafe. The last thing you want according to Maier’s boot serviceman, Florian Watschinger, when travelling at 140kmh is a badly fitting boot, “it is unsafe!”

Maier is a craftsman not only on his skis but also when it comes to using his hands to make his boots secure. In Beaver Creek, Roberto Christoforetti, Head of the Lange Boots operation, noticed that the heel of Maier’s boot had broken. A new base of the boot was put in place yet it still had to be ground so that it perfectly fit his foot in order to withstand the pressure that builds up around the turns. Instead of handing the boot over to someone else to work on, Maier got hold of the file and went to work himself! Maier finished the work a mere two minutes before the only training run that happened before the race.

The all round safety package for a racer is vital and making sure that the helmet fits and the boots keep the foot secure mean that the racer can react to the slightest thing, even when travelling at 140km/h. Safety is number one.

January 24, 2009
Hahnenkamm-Race
Kitzbuehel, Austria
January 23 - 25, 2009