№19 — Witnessing a German victory on the Streif
Since Christoph and Jan both have not seen a ski race live, despite the former being Austrian, I decided to take them both to see the Hahnenkammrennen in Kitzbühel and have a good day with a few beers outdoors. But then everything went downhill — literally. Nobody could believe it but a German did really win. In case you are wondering why this is a special experience: there has not been a German winner of the downhill race since Sepp Ferstl won 1979.
But let’s start from the beginning. When we left our place in Oberndorf at 0930am and took the train, the world was still at peace. We joined the masses in getting a ticket and then started the strenuous climb to the final jump — luckily they put in makeshift stairs, so we managed to get up there without serious injury. We watched the warm-up program, a few old fighter jets making passes and saw the one and only Hansi Hinterseer inspect the slope himself. Since he apparently approved, the race started. We made a little bet and I picked Beat Feuz — for a long time I was mentally preparing for my celebratory beer. But then a shadow crept up over the holy land Tyrol when Thomas Dreßen actually managed a phenomenal time and won. I thought I just saw a pig fly.
The remaining program of the day, including the Kitz Charity Trophy where semi-famous people try to ski down a few meters, and the trophy ceremony at night, which was supposed to be my original weekly experience, were uneventful in comparison. Even though the Austrian pride wept, it probably was a great win for tourism and for my mum. Why my mum? Because Thomas Dreßen’s girlfriend is from her hometown of Scharnstein and he lives there. Apparently, that is important enough that the Upper Austrian news show Oberösterreich Heute did a live section directly from Scharnstein.
