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SUCCESS, DRIVEN BY VALOUR, THE SPECTATORS RETURN

VERVE AND SOME SERIOUSLY STRONG NERVES! Second in line: the spectators. Following the pandemic-affected races in 2021 and
2022, the joy of the returning fans is palpable. Spectator discipline and enthusiasm in
THESE WERE THE 83RD HAHNENKAMM RACES 2023 January 2023 was great, with the event being a strongly frequented but well-manag-
ed sports festival, just as Kitzbühel Ski Club had hoped for. The system of only being
How else should one describe the indescribable? In any case, last winter’s 83rd Hah- able to purchase tickets “online” was a new venture - one that started in September.
nenkamm Races will go down in history as a rollercoaster of emotions. Seldom have Special areas quickly sold out, however the notion of purchasing day tickets did not
success and failure been so closely intertwined, when seemingly insurmountable diffi- seem to be widely acknowledged until winter arrived, when sales took off. The change
culties and joyous occurrences are a constant parallel. over to digital access control ultimately caused a minor headache, but restrictions
proved their effectiveness for the first time. Friday (Double Downhill) was better than
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS average with 20,000 spectators, Saturday achieved close to ideal crowd capacity
Let’s begin with the results. The objective of all these endeavours is to honour worthy with 45,000 visitors, and Sunday had another great result with 20,000 spectators. Long
winners under the best possible conditions – and the list of Hahnenkamm award winners may this continue!
in 2023 is indeed an impressive one. First of all, many congratulations to all the winners
and rank-achieving competitors: CRAZY WEATHER
Most of Europe endured a prolonged spell of heat and drought in summer and autumn,
KITZBÜHEL DOWNHILL (Friday, 20/01/2023) from which our region was largely spared. As early as mid-September, the first snow fell
1. Vincent KRIECHMAYR AUT 1:56,16 on Mount Hahnenkamm, offering a promising sign. Summery conditions, however, re-
2. Florian SCHIEDER ITA 1:56,39 turned in October before winter made another appearance in early November. Thanks
3. Niels HINTERMANN SUI 1:56,47 to cold temperatures and optimal use of snow cannons by the experts at Bergbahn AG
4. Jared GOLDBERG USA 1:56,51 Cable Car Co., it was possible to supplement nature’s supply with sufficient artificial
5. Adrian Smiseth SEJERSTED NOR 1:56,55 snow by mid-December. By the end of November, however, heavy fresh snowfall
5. Dominik PARIS ITA 1:56,55 made intervention necessary on the Hausberg Traverse section, to prevent avalanches
from occurring. The publicly accessible Streif slope opened on 17th December shortly
HAHNENKAMM ABFAHRT (Saturday, 21/01/2023) before Christmas, followed at the same time by a characteristic Christmas thunderstorm,
1. Aleksander Aamodt KILDE NOR 1:56,90 including spring-like temperatures of +18 degrees for the first few days of the New
2. Johan CLAREY FRA 1:57,57 Year! Consequentially, no work on the slopes and stadium could start, while every-
3. Travis GANONG USA 1:57,85 one waited for winter to return. All in all, it took over two weeks before sub-zero
4. Mattia CASSE ITA 1:57,89 temperatures resumed, enabling work on completing the racecourses and spectator
5. Vincent KRIECHMAYR AUT 1:58,20 facilities to continue. Nevertheless, Organisers continued to battle with alternating high
temperatures and persistent rainfall from the top to the bottom of the mountain. For
HAHNENKAMM SLALOM (Sunday, 22/01/2023) the first time in its existence, the Parallel Streif spectator slope had to be closed from
1. Daniel YULE SUI 1:44,63 Monday 9th Jan to Thursday 19th Jan, otherwise it would not have been possible to
2. Dave RYDING GBR 1:45,03 make adequate preparations in time for the event. Nerves were stretched to breaking
3. Lucas BRAATHEN NOR 1:45,04 point. There was no alternative but to be patient and wait - while intense rainfall (in total
4. Linus STRASSER GER 1:45,05 46.6 l/m2 or 12 rainy days until Race Week) continued unabated. During the week
5. Henrik KRISTOFFERSEN NOR 1:45,10 prior to the 83rd Hahnenkamm Races, the decision was made to cancel the JUNIOR
RACE 2023, due to insufficient slope dimensions and a lack of alternative venues.
Fortunately, it turned out to be the only race cancellation on this winter’s race calendar!

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