The 70th Hahnenkamm Races at Kitzbühel promise to be as exciting as the previous ones - yet the super-G, staged on the treacherous ‘Streif' course ten times since 1995, will be more than special for many of us as it will be the first time for many years that Hermann Maier will not be competing for victory on what he considered ‘his home-run'.

The 37-year-old Austrian, a five-time-winner in Kitzbühel in super-G and once in downhill, decided to retire from ski racing last autumn to start enjoying life in another way. Thursday afternoon, he met the media in the center of the town for the first time since announcing his retirement in Vienna last October.

"It's nice to be here, I'm looking forward to watching my former colleagues speeding down the course Friday and Saturday - but this time I'll be on the other side of the fence," he told the media.

"I'm enjoying my new life a lot - except that I injured my right hand again last December in a near-fall on icy snow while skiing at home," he added. "But I'm feeling better now."

The four-time overall World Cup champion also explained that he is sometimes watching the races on TV and that he has been horrified by some of the crashes he saw. "Sometimes they take place in unexpected places. The consequences of some accidents are sometimes dramatic and difficult to evaluate exactly. Racers may need much time to overcome a crash. Unfortunately, risk is part of our sport. It would not help a lot to make the courses easier because then the skiers would take even more risks and get into worse troubles."

"The most important is to be fully responsible for your choices. On some parts of the course you sometimes have to back off. It's not possible to always race at 100%. I found out by myself. At Nagano, I tried to go for it from top to bottom but then I was suddenly flying up in the air. I was lucky to remain unhurt. My line was impossible. Yet that's part of becoming more mature and experienced with the time. I believe it's important to leave some obstacles on the courses so that your body and your brain tell you to back off when needed."

Hermann, known for years for his reckless tactics and his very aggressive racing, is now enjoying another kind of much calmer and relaxing skiing - ski-touring. The former bricklayer and ski instructor likes to spend now entire days moving slowly on the snow on the beautiful mountains surrounding Obertauern, a high altitude resort situated half an hour away from his hometown of Flachau. His younger brother Alexander, a former snowboarder on the World Cup tour, is often accompanying him on these journeys.

The two brothers climb up the mountains and take great pleasure in free skiing for hours in smooth powder snow. "Each single day, I'm somewhere up there, it has become a true passion, I have been dreaming of it for years," Maier added. "I had much fun competing for years, but ski touring outside the packed runs, in the free nature, is something really magnificent that I have loved forever. I don't need any special preparation, just to grab my skis and go somewhere nice. It gives me huge pleasure, it's wonderful, nicer than World Cup racing," said the relieved Austrian who captured 54 World Cup wins in his career as well as two Olympic gold medals in 1998.

Hermann Maier doesn't think he will be melancholic during the races while observing his former colleagues fighting their way down the slope. "It will for sure be a special situation to be aside this time. I'll be in the situation to be sort of racing through the other skiers. I'll try to take some distance and watch with respect what they will be doing. I'll be enjoying it much more than before!"

by Patrick Lang
FISalpine.com
Friday 22 January 2010