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ned and all cost and price calculations were adjusted to these new egulations. Due to session, the eagerly awaited and much-planned online ticket sales, which were asso-
the dynamics, it was no longer possible to predict what the future held and the question ciated with many innovations and combined with a few uncertainties, was launched. A
of: “Is it even possible to plan for spectators to attend events in the second half of completely unnecessary and additionally aggravating factor was provided by an article
January?” was inevitably raised. in a Tyrolean daily newspaper about perceived social injustices (... only the rich and be-
autiful are able to get tickets for the Hahnenkamm ...). The situation was as exasperating
JANUARY 2022 - RACE MONTH as it was discouraging. A mandatory wearing of masks for ten days in the city centre of
Unfortunately, too little attention was paid to preparation work in terms of snowmaking Kitzbühel for „virus protection at the Hahnenkamm Races“ was now considered a minor
and basic grooming by the experienced staff of the Bergbahn AG and KSC officials; matter, hardly eliciting any reaction apart from some incredulous headshaking. With the
but it was pleasing to see that operations still went well despite a few days of thaw at exception of patrolling security forces, there was little to nothing going on in the town
the beginning of the New Year. The stadium set-up was also accomplished quickly and anyway, as extensive travel restrictions had brought tourism to an abrupt halt until Race
smoothly, while the office arrangements to assist the participating race teams was equal- Week. All tourism-dependent businesses were worried whether the second half of the
ly well prepared and organised. The race event was therefore well planned and not par- winter could even happen. Now everyone was hoping and praying for a successful
ticularly affected by Corona developments - in keeping with the motto: working in fresh Race Week.
air is good for you and healthy. At the beginning of January, a spontaneous debate
about hosting a replacement race (Super-G) for the men and even the organisation of 82nd HKR - RACE WEEK 2022
a women‘s speed race was on the discussion table for 24 hours. However, both topics At last! After the tough days of the previous week, when everything had revolved around
evaporated as quickly as they had materialised. The men‘s Super-G was finally held in spectator numbers being restricted to a maximum of 1,000, the races could finally start.
Wengen as part of the Lauberhorn Races in fantastically beautiful conditions, while the At the start of Race Week, all the talk was about TV pictures from Wengen with 15,000
women‘s races remained in Zauchensee, following health policy approval by the state spectators, which initially gave rise to hopes of a return to normality. Now, however, we
of Salzburg. The pandemic in Kitzbühel, on the other hand, had gained dramatic momen- were presented with yet more challenges on site, in various tasks and areas of ope-
tum all over again. A new virus variant was announced, which appeared more intensively ration. Race Week details can be summarised by topic as follows:
for the first time in Kirchberg at the turn of the year. Numbers of infected persons in Kitz-
bühel and the local district exploded. After 2021, the authorities were again very nervous WEATHER
about 2022; everything looked like a horrible repeat of the previous year, only more in- Monday: cloudy & cold. Initial light snow showers herald a change in the weather.
tense and therefore even worse. Who would have thought it possible? Kitzbühel city and Tuesday: blue skies and cold. A beautiful winter’s day.
tourism management would probably have preferred that no spectators at all attended Wednesday: blue skies and temperature inversion. A fabulous winter’s day. The sunniest
HKR 2022 and were afraid of potential damages to their image. At the same time, day of the week.
interviews with tourism and public authority representatives in all media outlets about Thursday: cloudy & cold. Blustery wind on the mountain brings light snow showers again.
videos of après-ski parties in Kitzbühel during the Christmas holidays, fuelled discussions Friday: heavy clouds and Race Week’s coldest day (-11 degrees in the valley).
about image-damaging events even further. As a result of the ensuing sensitisation and Driving snow and storm on the mountain. Around 11 cm of fresh snow on the mountain
during an online meeting with Kitzbühel district authorities on 12.1.2022, race organisers (snowdrifts!) and 15 cm in the valley.
KSC were given the task of splitting the Hahnenkamm Races into separate sporting and Saturday: low cloud cover and cold. Stormy wind on the mountain. Persistent snowfall
spectator events, with independent spatial arrangements for both. In the case of the brings a dump of around 50 cm on the mountain (snowdrifts!) and 30 cm in the valley.
spectators, this meant that a fenced-off spectator corridor was to be created from the Sunday: patchy clouds with fog on the slopes and cold. Remaining snow showers subside.
control positions into the finish area, which was to prevent accredited sports officials
and spectators from coming together. Official permission for a maximum of 1,000 spec- SPORT
tators (prerequisites: vaccinated or recovered, as well as negative PCR test and FFP2 Monday: jury arrival and enthusiasm about the condition of the racecourses.
face mask obligation during the entire stay in open areas and on the grandstands) was Tuesday: jury discussion about the weather forecast for the weekend and exploration of
issued the following evening. On 14th January, only 4 days (!) before the first training possibilities for programme adjustments.

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