Between fairy tales and madness: That was Kitzbühel 2023

Yesterday afternoon at 17 p.m. in Kitzbühel: All the streets were empty. Here and there there are still people left over from the men's slalom, but no more. From now on, anyone who slips on the sidewalk in the evening and sprains their ankle runs the risk of not being found until the next morning in Kitzbühel.

Now the Gamsstadt once again belongs to the mostly wealthy second home owners and tourists. They will probably come in droves after the brilliant advertising with first days of snowfall and yesterday sunshine. The Kitzbühel World Cup week alone generated added value of almost 50 million euros. Although the first few days were very, very quiet. Even on Thursday, when things are traditionally busy in Kitz, there wasn't much going on. It was easy to get into most clubs and bars. Even on Friday, with heavy snowfall, the crowds of parties in the city center couldn't be compared to pre-Corona times.

Nevertheless, the organizers from the Kitzbühel Ski Club insisted on pointing out that there would be a sold-out downhill race on Saturday. 45.000 spectators were reported. There were only 25.000 tickets available to buy online. How and where the remaining 20.000 came together is a mystery. Especially since the TV pictures from the air already proved that the organizers' numbers couldn't be right. But that's what Kitzbühel is like: weird, shrill, with a lot of fibbing and a never-ending penchant for exaggeration.

The organizers didn't exaggerate with another PR campaign by a former ski superstar: Marcel Hirscher was the forerunner a year ago and used this to make a PR film for Red Bull, but this year Lindsey Vonn took on the role. Although not as a forerunner, she defeated the Streif at night. And not all at once, but always piecemeal, as we learned from well-informed circles. Several parts of the route were illuminated with lamps, whereby “la Vonn” skillfully presented herself and, thanks to ingenious camera technology and background music, the impression was created as if she had driven the entire route. Vonn received support for her PR stunt from former Kitzbühel downhill champion Daron Rahlves (2003, 2004) and compared the rides to the “absolute highlight next to my Olympic downhill victory in Vancouver in 2010.” Whoever believes it?

Slope workers on permanent duty The days in Kitzbühel were not a highlight for those responsible for the FIS. In particular, Hannes Trinkl and Raimund Plancker, those responsible for the downhill slope, were working non-stop. After the Friday departure, Plancker went to bed for two hours in the afternoon. From midnight he stood, slid and shoveled with around 2 piste sliders - including some South Tyroleans - on the mountain continuously until the race started on Saturday at 250 a.m. in order to get the second run off well. Such deployment of the piste commandos is only the case in Val Gardena, otherwise it is an exception. Apparently FIS race director Markus Waldner is already nervous about the World Cup in France from February 11.30th to 2th. Firstly, piste workers are in short supply there and secondly, the few who are there are not up for such feats of strength. That can be cheerful.

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Between fairy tales and madness: That was Kitzbühel 2023

Weird, shrill, with a lot of fibbing and a never-ending tendency to exaggerate - the Hahnenkamm weekend has set standards again this year. An experience report from the Gamsstadt.

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