The ongoing topic of security – it goes a little further

The tragedy surrounding Matteo Franzoso's death a month ago during training in La Parva, Chile, is still fresh in our minds. And this is less than a year after the death of Matilde Lorenzi during ski training in Schnals. Meanwhile, serious injuries like those of Marta Rossetti (torn cruciate ligament) and Marta Bassino (fractured tibial plateau) are met with a shrug. The motto is: It's part of ski racing. The discussion has been further fueled by the film "Downhill Skiers," which has been showing in cinemas for two days. What was intended as a two-hour spectacle about the fascination of downhill racing turned into a merciless display of the serious crashes suffered by Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, Vincent Kriechmayr, and Cyprien Sarrazin. With the consequences: While Kilde will likely make a World Cup comeback at the end of November, Sarrazin's future career hangs in the balance. Which is secondary anyway. Far more important is that the 31-year-old Frenchman can, as of today, lead a somewhat normal life again. Waldner: “There is no such thing as safety in ski racing” FIS Race Director Markus Waldner is in the midst of the almost daily shitstorm about the dangers of ski racing. The Brixen native and his team, which also includes Hannes Trinkl and Raimund Plancker, have been responsible for ensuring the best possible adherence to safety criteria since October 2014. But Waldner also emphasizes: "There is no such thing as safety in ski racing. For us, it's a constant struggle against the advancements in equipment, slope preparation, and the athletes' ambition to squeeze out even a tenth of a second." The fact that the fatal tragedies involving Franzoso and Lorenzi, as well as David Poisson (2017) and Regine Cavagnoud (2001), all occurred during training strengthens Waldner's thesis that something must be done in this regard in particular. This makes sense: When Franzoso suffered his fatal fall, the teams from France, Switzerland, Austria, Norway, and Germany were all on the same course alongside the Azzurri – but the net barriers were clearly not secured according to standards. Vincent Kriechmayr's statement that the coaches would be "unaffordable" with additional safety work is, of course, an oversimplification. The athletes themselves also know that falls can be fatal if they fall in insufficiently secured areas. This is called personal responsibility. The carbon shin guards, which had been much discussed last year, were half-heartedly banned. Half-heartedly because if a rider presents a medical certificate stating that they cannot ride without them, they are allowed to continue using them. Athletes like Thomas Tumler, Marco Odermatt, and Dave Ryding sometimes have serious problems with inflamed skin on the shinbone or overgrown bones on the shin, which even require surgery at the end of the World Cup season. Another aspect is the extremely heavy speed skis, which now weigh up to twelve kilograms – each ski, mind you. Fighting the ski industry on this issue currently seems hopeless. And while cut-resistant underwear and airbags are mandatory for all athletes starting this year, work continues in the development centers. This means that helmets are to be made safer in the future and reinforced with a neck system. Binding systems are to be automatically released when an athlete falls thanks to algorithmic inputs. It will likely take another three to four years before this measure is effectively implemented and takes effect.

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The ongoing topic of security – it goes a little further

The 2025/26 Ski World Cup begins today, and with it the discussions about safety. Editor Andreas Vieider takes a look behind the scenes in his diary.

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