Streif forerunners to compete in Europa Cup races at Pass Thurn
Three Men’s Europa Cup speed races are taking place at Pass Thurn in Resterhöhe between 13th and 17th January. Hannes Endstrasser (22) and Nicolas Hofer (22) will be competing for Kitzbühel Ski Club. Both athletes will also be acting as forerunners for the Hahnenkamm Races.
Organisers of the Hahnenkamm Races always keep a watchful eye on the league below the World Cup. Two years ago, a couple of attempts were made to stage a Europa Cup race at the beginning of Race Week (Daniel Danklmaier won the last one in 2019). Unfortunately, this endeavour faltered due to unresolved technical problems with the slope. But a new window has now opened: the Austrian Ski Association is in active discussion with the Bergbahn Kitzbühel Cable Car Co. regarding construction of a permanent training slope with fixed infrastructure at Resterhöhe on Pass Thurn. This initiative is, of course, also supported by Kitzbühel Ski Club.
An intensive trial is scheduled for the coming week: two Men’s Europa Cup races will take place for the first time at Resterhöhe on 16th and 17th January. All insights gained will be useful for the planned construction of a permanent training track. Now, thanks to a cancellation in Wengen, a third race has been scheduled: the Men’s Europa Cup will be hosting a Super-G at the same venue on Monday, 13th January. All three races will start at 11 hrs. The three events are being organised by Oberpinzgau Ski Club, whose team will be supported by up to 15 KSC employees.
“We have been working fantastically well with Oberpinzgau Ski Club for years,” says KSC trainer and HKR Chief of Race, Mario Mittermayer-Weinhandl, who is very much looking forward to next week. “Because Oberpinzgau Ski Club, Kitzbühel Ski Club and the Bergbahn Kitzbühel Cable Car Co. all share the common goal of offering the best training conditions to young athletes from the region at Pass Thurn.” Mario Mittermayer-Weinhandl will be in attendance for the entire week as Chief of Race.
KSC members are also among the athletes competing, Hannes Endstrasser (22) and Nicolas Hofer (22). The duo can expect a very busy January, because after the three races at Pass Thurn their next stop will be Reiteralm and from there back ‘home’ to the Streif, where they will (once again) have the honour of acting as forerunners between 21st and 25th January.
Kitzbühel Ski Club has also embraced the opportunity to host two Women’s Europa Cup races: skiers and fans can look forward to two Super-G events on the Streif on 8th and 9th March - a long-awaited comeback after an interlude spanning some 64 years, as women's races were a long-standing tradition in Kitzbühel until 1961. Traudl Hecher (1943–2023) celebrated the most victories back then. Elisabeth Görgl’s mother triumphed in the Downhill, Slalom and Combined no less than five times. The women’s return to the Streif, however, is a one-off as the Women’s Europa Cup is to become a permanent fixture on the race calendar at Pass Thurn from the 2025/2026 season onwards, alongside their male counterparts.
Photo © K.S.C./Stefan Leitner
