It was 3:30 a.m. Outside our home, the little sliver of a moon was obscured by clouds starting to dump a few inches of overnight snow on the ridgeline above Park City. So began a ritual for me that dates back nearly four decades as I fumbled for my iPhone, clicking through to the Peacock app, and punching in coverage of the greatest event in ski racing — the fabled Hahnenkamm.
For much of the year, the Tyrolean village of Kitzbühel is a quiet little town in a secluded mountain valley. But on a weekend in January every year, its population of 8,000 swells to nearly 100,000. Across the planet, an estimated 300 million are watching. In the tiny nation of Austria, over half its population is glued to the television to watch the ORF broadcast.
So, what is it that gets me up at 3:30 a.m. on a cold Saturday morning every January? To me, there’s nothing like it in sport — any sport! It’s the speed (past champion Italian Dominik Paris clocked in at 89.18 mph coming into the finish)! It’s the danger. It’s the party atmosphere as fans pack together along the course and in the streets.
But most of all, it’s the heritage. No one does heritage better than Kitzbühel. It adorns its gondola cars with names of past champions. It invites them all back each year to celebrate once again. Maybe it’s the schnapps, perhaps the schnitzel, or possibly even the lederhosen and dirndls. But no one does party like Austria.
From Arnold Schwarzenegger to ski legend Franz Klammer to singer-songwriter James Blunt, the stars were there!
Like sectors on a classic Formula One motorsports track, each section of The Streif carries its own legendary tales as it stretches for over two miles on a thin band of ice over snow that captures every ripple of the farm fields underneath.
It’s a perilous drop right out of the starting gate. The first 25 seconds of the race are terrifyingly technical from the Mausefalle (mousetrap), into the football-field-length jump over a steep pitch into the Steilhang. Think about something steeper than McConkey’s or Jupiter riding down at 75 mph!
U.S. Ski Team athlete Sam Morse calls it “the most committing 10 seconds of a ski racer’s life.”
Park City’s own Olympic champion, Picabo Street, commentating for NBC/Peacock, said, “They talk about the fear, and it’s onboard all the time. It gives you this edge to tighten it up, be present, and to focus more. That’s something they lean into and embrace. You can’t second guess yourself — confidence is key.”
I have many memories of Kitzbühel from my time with the U.S. Ski Team. I cherish having a glass of wine with legendary coach Bob Beattie — one of the founders of the Ski World Cup — in the stube of the Goldener Greif as he retold the story of Buddy Werner’s 1959 Hahnenkamm victory. Bob told that story for 50 decades, lest anyone ever forget.
And, of course, there were the nights at The Londoner, the fabled Kitzbühel pub, celebrating with friends while the best ski racers in the world poured out Jägermeister and Stiegls.
I’ll never forget that gut-wrenching morning in 2008, watching in the darkness of my Park City home. Starting No. 2, American Scott Macartney crashed violently coming off the Zielschuss into the finish. I woke up our stateside medical team while our doctors in Kitzbühel rushed to his side at a hospital in Innsbruck.
It’s been 22 years since I walked with Daron Rahlves through the Strasse der Sieger — a tunnel under the finish that led to the awards stand. Daron was mesmerized as his eyes became transfixed on the names of past champions adorning the walls — Toni Sailer, Franz Klammer, Jean Claude Killy, Buddy Werner. That January afternoon was Daron’s day.
This year for the 85th running, easy money went down on Swiss superstar Marco Odermatt to win his first Hahnenkamm title. There was a time when the home country Austrians dominated. It’s been over a decade now since they took a Hahnenkamm title. And no Austrian has won a World Cup this year.
So I took a page from my ski friend MP from Quebec, keeping an eye on Canadians Cam Alexander and Jack Crawford. It had been 42 years since a Canadian had won.
Crawford started No. 20, with his teammate Alexander sitting in second. He was strong through the Steilhang, lost some time in the mid-section, but nailed the Hausberg to take the win.
Oh, Canada!