“Finishing sixth or seventh isn’t that good for me.”

For the first time in 10 years there was a winter in which Dominik Paris didn't win a World Cup race. The 2022/23 season got off to an unfortunate start for him when he lost his commitment to Lake Louise, and even after that, success stories were in short supply. In the end, his only podium finish was second place in the Super-G in Cortina d'Ampezzo. For someone who has won 2 World Cup races, that is a very meager record.

“It was stupid right from the start, everything went wrong in Beaver Creek, I parked in Val Gardena and in Wengen too. At the World Cup I tried the crowbar and it failed me,” Paris points out that he simply made a few too many mistakes. And he also knows why that was the case: “I wasn’t in such a good mood as a skier last winter.” “I probably pushed the limits too much sometimes.” dominik paris And with his experience he also knows what happens when things don't work. “At some point it starts to play in your head when the results are missing. Then insecurity creeps in and it is difficult to get it under control again. I know I'm fast, but I probably pushed the limit too much at times," is his sober analysis of last season.

Some changes in training And because he doesn't want that to happen again, he has changed a few things in training because: "Finding sixth or seventh isn't good for me." He especially changed the dry training. “That has had a good effect on skiing. If I feel better about it, then I can push myself to the limit.”

Dominik Paris looks to the future. © Pentaphoto

Paris hasn't changed anything about its surroundings. Alberto Ghidoni and brother-in-law Luis Kuppelwieser continue to be his most important contacts in the sport, and Matthias Schnitzer is still his dryland trainer. Only Michael Gufler is no longer there, who has now gone to Switzerland after his involuntary departure from the Italian association. In August/September, Paris was in South America for more than 3 weeks, first in Argentina and then in Chile. This turned out to be a wise decision, especially in retrospect, because speed training was almost impossible anywhere in Europe in the fall.

The ski world has changed It has now been almost 15 years since Dominik Paris made his World Cup debut at a Super-G in Val Gardena. So he is one of the most experienced athletes in the World Cup. “A lot has changed since then. Technically the driving is different, the material has changed. And in some cases the descents are no longer that difficult. Some places where a lot of courage is needed have been defused,” says Paris. But what bothers him most is that the slopes are becoming less and less icy, and not just because he feels more comfortable on such slopes.

“I am convinced that there would be fewer injuries if the slopes were icier. You have to stand very well on the ski when it's icy, otherwise you'll fly. But there's no risk of the ski grabbing, like on the aggressive snow. Huge forces then take effect and the knee twists. “That doesn’t happen on ice,” claims the Ultner.

Why aren't any young athletes coming? When he came to the World Cup, the “Azzurri” were a power in the speed area. “Fill, Staudacher, Heel and Innerhofer, they all made it to the podium. I learned a lot there,” he remembers. Now the competition in your own team is no longer so great, even if Casse and Schieder belong to the top group in the downhill. But in the Super-G, Italy is not represented in the top ten of the World Cup start list. “There are no boys coming here. I don't know why that is either. I can imagine that they only train on groomed slopes and don't ski freely enough. But I don’t know exactly what it is,” says Paris.

It remains to be seen whether the changes in training were worth it. At the speed season opener in Zermatt/Cervinia there was only one training run. The remaining training sessions and the two races fell victim to the bad weather. Now his season begins in Beaver Creek at the beginning of December.

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“Finishing sixth or seventh isn’t that good for me.”

It was quiet around Dominik Paris this summer. But that's nothing unusual with Ultner. Italy's best downhill skier wants to have a blast again this winter after a difficult season.

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