Why a South Tyrolean ski jumper suddenly became a ski crosser

Daniel Moroder is only known to die-hard winter sports fans. The 20-year-old from Ortisei, son of successful ski jumping coach Romed Moroder, has struggled in the Continental Cup in recent years, where a 29th place remained his best result. Given the poor results, the passionate skier said at the end of last season: “I want to try something new!”

Moroder took part in two downhill cross races in the spring. The participants have to negotiate a slope as quickly as possible that is not full of gates but is full of bumps. One of the most famous races is “The White Rush” in St. Anton. “I came fifth among the 550 competitors. I also cut a good figure in a second race,” explains Moroder, who now saw the opportunity to change sports. Always passionate about ski cross The idea that he could try out as a ski crosser at some point had been floating around in the head of ski jumper Lara Malsiner's friend for a long time. “I actually always had this idea. As a plan B, so to speak, if things don’t work out in ski jumping,” he explains. However, the change was not only due to the lack of results. “In ski jumping you have to be very light. I've always had trouble maintaining the perfect weight. After I started ski cross, I gained 15 kilograms.” Now he feels fitter, significantly less exhausted and generally better.

A year ago he was still on the ski jumps: Daniel Moroder © Daniel Moroder

But why ski cross of all things? A sport in which good training opportunities are rare and which is technically highly demanding. Well: Moroder did alpine skiing until he was in elementary school before he decided to take up ski jumping. But tipping over rows of slalom poles is too boring for him. And so the man from Val Gardena, who skied as often as he could during his active ski jumping career, found his way to the fast-paced sport, which has been an Olympic sport since 2010. “I have always had a great passion for it. I often watched the races on TV and thought: 'I want to try that too'. Especially since I have no problems with the jumps because of my ski jumping past.” And so Moroder started training in the summer. Not an easy task, as there are only a few prepared routes and they are used a lot. Make a lot of sacrifices Lucky for Moroder: He was allowed to prepare for the season with Italy's B team - but at his own expense. In order to financially support his dream, he works as a locksmith. He also drives the snow groomer on Monte Pana in the evening. Because training always starts in the morning, the daily routine is tightly staggered. “I'm self-employed, but it's very tiring,” says Moroder. “But I like doing it.” Nevertheless, the man from Val Gardena hopes that he will make it into the national team for the new season. He definitely has what it takes.

In his first race on the Pitztal Glacier, where athletes from all over the world took part, he promptly achieved sixth place. Now it's about getting further strong results in order to get a starting place in the European Cup at some point. The problem: There are very few FIS races in ski cross because the effort involved is very high.

However, at the age of 20, Moroder still has enough time to make his dream come true. Even before he caused a stir with his ski cross results, the native of Val Gardena had become famous on the Internet. Two videos of daring jumps on Seceda were viewed millions of times on social media. “But I don’t attach too much importance to it,” he says.

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Why a South Tyrolean ski jumper suddenly became a ski crosser

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