"Krone" self-experiment

Nightrace: Down the steep slope with the sliders

Sliding has to be learned: "Always stand nicely on the downhill ski," is the tip.(Bild: Sepp Pail)

Without them, the Nightrace would not run smoothly: After each racer, the sliders push the snow and ice aside. "Krone" editor Fanny Gasser ventured down the steep slope with them.

"It takes two things to become a slider: you have to be a wild dog - and at my age, you also have to have a bit of a bird," says Paul Ebner and laughs. At 83 years old, he not only holds a record among the sliders here in Schladming, he also represents the many good spirits behind the Nightrace: "It is the enthusiasm of many people from the region that makes the race what it is," emphasizes Wolfgang Höflehner.

Jakob Ebner and Wolfgang Höflehner (from left) are not worried about the steep slope: "This year, the slope even has good grip."(Bild: Fanny Gasser)

Höflehner is the coordinator of the 70 to 80 "brownies" that are needed per run to keep the slope in shape. "Our aim is to ensure the same conditions from start number 1 to 80." To achieve this, they position themselves at five posts at the edge of the slope and slide snow and ice aside after each runner. "This year the snow conditions are perfect, the slope is even quite grippy," says the 52-year-old.

The "Krone" dares to try it out for itself
If that's not reason enough to try it out for ourselves. The three of us get into the gondola and ride up to the mountain station. Höflehner takes a close look at the edges of my skis, takes a kit out of his jacket pocket and fine-tunes them. "Always stay on the downhill ski," he says, and off we go. I slide down the "sprayed" piste, which Manuel Feller will be whizzing down with ease on Wednesday, feeling a little unsteady and with wobbly knees. But I receive praise: "The trick is to master the slope as a slider," says Höflehner.

Wolfgang Höflehner and Paul Ebner (from left) took "Krone" editor Fanny Gasser with them on the piste.(Bild: Sepp Pail)

During a short breather, he explains to me how he positions his protégés along the course during the giant slalom and slalom: "We want to be invisible. We have to be out of the picture before the camera pans back to the gate." I barely have time to think about it before I'm already racing down the steep slope to the finish - and even without crashing!

At the end of the race day, there's a packed lunch and an expense allowance for the sliders, but I'm proud enough to have overcome myself. Although Ebner's achievement is probably much more remarkable: "Six months ago, I beat lung cancer. Being back on the slopes as a slider was always in the back of my mind as motivation." On Wednesday evening at the night slalom, he will fulfill this wish.