ÖSV ladies in Gurgl

No special training, but hiking as an advantage

The slope in Hochgurgl: familiar to the Austrians last year.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

The long Indian summer prevented a special training session for the Austrians on the new slalom slope in Gurgl, they studied the piste on foot.

Hochgurgl a year ago: at the World Cup premiere at over 2000 meters above sea level, the air was too thin for Austria's competitors - the ÖSV slalom team celebrated a triple victory with Manuel Feller, Marco Schwarz and Michael Matt. The defeated team grumbled about the exclusive training that the home team had completed beforehand.

This year, the women celebrate their World Cup debut on the selective course on Saturday. Without extra training. Peter skillfully thwarted that. "We even postponed our journey to Levi by five days so that we could train there," sighs ladies' boss Roland Assinger, "but there was only artificial snow - and that was too dangerous for us."

So a hike on the green Gurgl slope remained the only possible "training" for the girls. The race on the Kirchenkar slope will be a complete leap into the unknown (apart from the slope run the day before). Assinger nods: "That's the case for everyone this time." Postscript: "Unfortunately!"

"Blacky", last year's runner-up in Gurgl, skied gates on the Reiteralm on Monday for the first time since his disc surgery: "A mega feeling."