Didier Cuche gave the rest of the Downhillers a wake up call and laid down his intentions with the opening training run for the 70th Hahnenkamm Downhill. In perfect conditions: blue sky and hard snow conditions, the atmosphere surrounding the premier Downhill of the Alpine Skiing World Cup season was fantastic. From the early arrivals of spectators, keen to get a feel of the legendary course, to the racers arriving at the start, this was time to get down to business.

For the 63 racers putting their selves down the course, the vision and snow conditions could not have been better.  Mario Scheiber from Austria was the man entrusted with being the first man through the Rolex timing gate and out onto the course; he did not disappoint the crowd lining the course at the top.  Scheiber is a relative novice in Kitzbuehel yet he gave many of the seasoned racers a lesson in how to tackle the fearsome course.  Scheiber's time was fast and smooth: it took many a racer to post a better training time, yet he felt he still has more in the tank to give come race day.  This was only Scheiber's second experience of the Kitzbuehel downhill course due to his injury last year yet on his previous visit he had finished second!

The only man to beat Scheiber was the current World Cup Downhill point's leader, Switzerland's Didier Cuche. Cuche is a seasoned veteran of the Hahnenkamm and would have preferred the course to have been slighter tougher, especially the Zielsprung jump. Cuche admits that come race day he will by flying a little further through the air from the final jump.  With many of the racers relaxing approaching the run in to the finish, the speeds witnessed on the Rolex speedometer in the finish area were not as fast as can be expected on race day, Cuche still posted a speed of 137.3kmh, fifth fastest behind Klaus Kroell (138.7kmh through the speed gun).

The Austrian fight back after their disappointment in the last World Cup race was highlighted by Michael Walchhofer who finished third in the training run just ahead of young Croatian Natko Zrncic Dim who had started near the back of the field.

WARNING: PASSING THIS POINT MAY DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH!

The Kitzbuehel start: Faster acceleration than a sports car, 0kph to 80kph in three seconds, out of the Rolex start gate and down the hill at a gradient of 51%.  These may just sound like mere numbers but this is the welcome racers attempting the Hahnenkamm are greeted by. "I remember my first time here," explained Didier Cuche as he watched number 1 in the first training run, Austria's Mario Scheiber, leave the Rolex timing gate, "I was scared, I was so scared I just wanted to run back down over there and get back on the gondola!" Ivica Kostelic admitted to putting in a few short slalom turns before going over the Mausefalle on his first foray down the course. Once the racer walks into the start house and the warm up room there is little chance of escape. This is the business end of the sport.

Many of the racers have very different ways of preparing for their run. Some stay quiet and focus on how they will approach the fearsome steepness of some sections; others like to move around and talk. The closer they get though to their departure the focus is never in doubt. Guenther Hujara, race director to the Men's World Cup Tour, likens the approach to going down the course to a smoker: You have the option to go down the course or not! In seriousness, in the safety of the Jury room at the bottom of the course, Hujara, explains that he feels there should maybe be a sign above the door into the warm up room saying "Warning: Passing this point may damage your health!"

Back up at the start Heinz Strassegger, from Carrera helmets, has seen many young racers come to the start for the first time, including Rolex Testimonee Hermann Maier.  "Some of the young racers you can see the fear on their faces yet as soon as they have gone out of the start then they just get on with it," he explains. Even seasoned professionals like American Steve Nyman have their own way of dealing with the anxiety of the build up to the start.  Nyman explains "I just want to talk to people about anything, anything to take my focus away from what I am about to do!"

On a perfect day like the first training run for the 2010 70th running of the Hahnenkamm, the blue skies and great visibility calms the nerves. There have been days when the weather comes in and visibility is reduced and this does not help. To keep the mind free, some racers even took time out to watch the televisions available at the Red Bull start area hospitality that were showing Rolex Testimonee Roger Federer in the Australian open.

When the first runner goes out the gate, the crowd, even on first training run are six or seven deep at the top and down to the Mausefalle. The large ice sculpture of the late Toni Sailer, the Austrian ski racing legend who did so much for the Race, looks down on the racers as they carve out their own destiny. Chatting near the end of the run Strassegger points out twenty year old local rookie, Markus Duerager. Duerager is making his World Cup debut yet is strolling around the start area with, it appears, not a care in the world. This is just one more way of the racers preparing for their run.

The first training run is taken seriously by the racers, even if some do not go full speed. Manuel Osborne-Paradis, the leading Canadian, is renowned for holding back in the training runs. "I  look for the line and try out different things," he explained as he stripped down, put his number on and started mentally preparing.

The closer the time comes for each racer, he listens into the course report that is radioed up to each racer.  Norwegians and Canadians share reports and racers of both nations huddle around the radio listening as each coach sends up news from his section. Sipping water as they listen to keep the hydration up, each racer then spends time visualising his run, perfecting the turns, the jumps, and every centimetre of the run. Slowly they peel off all their warm up gear and then walk into the start hut.

From there, there is no way out apart from through the Rolex timing gate and onto the course.

Hahnenkamm Press Office
January 20, 2010
Kitzbuehel, Austria