Saturday 23 October 2021
Appointment “fallen out of time”
Neureuther thinks the Ski World Cup is simply wrong
The alpine world cup of ski racing has started in Sölden for almost 30 years. And Felix Neureuther is also happy that it is starting. Only the timing bothers him more and more every year. Because to do this, more and more athletes have to train on threatened glaciers.
Felix Neureuther is torn. Sure, as a “big fan” of ski racing, he is “brutally” looking forward to the start of the season at the weekend in Sölden. But as a father, he also thinks about issues such as the environment or sustainability, and so one thing is clear to him: “The World Cup opener at the end of October is out of time for me.” The traditional opening has been taking place on the Rettenbach Glacier since 1993, on Saturday the women hunt there, the next day the men in the giant slalom over one of the most spectacular slopes in the World Cup circus. The races are an extremely important economic factor for the local tourism industry as well as for the entire ski industry.
Its importance, says OC boss Jakob “Jack” Falkner, also managing director of the mountain railways, is even higher than that of the January classics such as in the ski mecca of Kitzbühel. Not up to date anymore? Tourism pioneer falconer called Neureuther and gave him his opinion. And he was by no means the only one.
But Neureuther, who competed eight times in Sölden from 2003 to 2016, is sticking with it. It is not just the early start at a time when there is no snow even at high altitudes. The start in the middle of autumn also requires snow training much earlier in summer – even on glaciers. However, the 37-year-old warns that these are of inestimable value as fresh water reservoirs: “If they no longer exist, it has dramatic effects.”
“We want to sell our sport”
The “environmental issue”, says Wolfgang Maier, must therefore be kept in mind. The DSV Alpin boss has no problem with the start in Sölden, “this is a classic”. But the German Ski Association is also trying to curb training in the “eternal” ice. Of the youngsters, for example, “nobody has to go to the glaciers until mid-September,” says Maier, “you can do it differently”.
He therefore does not like the fact that the World Federation FIS also wants to start the speed season earlier from 2022 – directly to Sölden, at the beginning of November on the famous Matterhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland. He is not a friend of it “not only from an ecological point of view,” says Maier. The downhill skiers would have to move their most intensive training time forward by a month – and also on the glaciers.
Neureuther puts his hopes in the new FIS President Johan Eliasch. He set up a working group with the beautiful name “Alpine Future Vision”, headed by the long-time ÖSV President Peter Schröcksnadel. The 80-year-old innovator once said that he thinks “nothing” of climate change. His vision: indoor races in the Dubai desert or summer world championships under the roof.
Jürgen Graller, head coach of the DSV women, has a pragmatic attitude towards this. What the FIS is planning, “I cannot change”, he says, to discuss “only means loss of energy”. He asks, “What do we all want? We want to sell our sport.” The people at home in front of the television, says Graller, will say: “Okay, next week at the latest I have to go up the mountain.”