The fascination of the Hahnenkamm

A mechanical engineering student opened the Streif show

Kilian Böck pushed himself out of the start house on the Streif at exactly 11.22 am.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer/Kronenzeitung)

The Hahnenkamm weekend opened on Tuesday with the first training session. The very first person to venture onto the legendary Streif this year was a 22-year-old who is studying mechanical engineering in Vienna. The "Krone" knows the story of the "forerunner A".

"Actually, it was always my big dream to win the downhill in Kitzbühel," admitted Vorarlberg student Kilian Böck with shining eyes, shortly before he became the very first skier this year to plunge from the starting gate of the legendary Streif at exactly 11.22 am on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old from Vorarlberg in front of the impressive start house of the Hahnenkamm downhill...(Bild: Christof Birbaumer/Kronenzeitung)

... and with the legendary Gams.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer/Kronenzeitung)

"Like-minded people" arranged the "job"
The 22-year-old Ski Club Arlberg member will no longer fulfill his dream of winning the legendary Hahnenkamm downhill, as he ended his active career - in which he made it to the European Cup - in April 2023. "But the fascination for the Streif has remained," says the man from Lochau and reveals how he came to be allowed to race down the 3.3-kilometre course with mousetrap, steep slope, Seidlalm and traverse as "forerunner A" this year: "In my last two active winters, I was without a squad and alone on the ski circuit. You quickly get to know like-minded people."

Clear to go for Kilian Böck on the Kitzbühel Streif.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

The man from Lochau was still relaxed before the start.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer/Kronenzeitung)

Among others, two Kitzbühel locals who had often risked their shirts as forerunners in their home race. "They then said, initially jokingly, whether I would like to do it too," says Böck, who won the legendary "White Ring" on the Arlberg in 2024 and had to retire last weekend on his way to defending his title after a crash. "This year, I thought I had to accept the offer - as long as I'm still fit and feel up to it."

The relief at the finish was just as great as the joy of having conquered the Streif for the first time.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

It "clicked" on the way to the mousetrap
No sooner said than done: Böck - who has since started studying mechanical engineering in Vienna - used the women's World Cup races in St. Anton at the beginning of January as a warm-up exercise before getting serious on the Streif for the first time yesterday. "On the approach to the Mausefalle, I really realized what I was doing," explains Kilian. "But after I landed the jump cleanly, it was a good feeling. But I didn't take any big risks - it was primarily a sightseeing ride." He doesn't want to take any unnecessary risks in the next few days either, but: "I'd like to speed up a bit more, push it a little more."