Day to in Arber…….abgesagt / cancelled / annullee ….the same in any language
As the clouds roll on over this northern outpost of Bavaria, it has been a day that has been too common for the women on the World Cup this year. The promised for clouds came and literally blew down the chance of a race. It was a no go. Yet arriving at the top first thing this morning, we were informed that the race could / may / might go ahead with the first run starting at 12.15. Why could they not have texted that to me and I could have stayed in bed for a while longer! I was nice and snug! Maybe the concept of texting the press has not reached the Germans yet….!
So we all sat around the press centre debating whether to go out. Some did not even venture up onto the hill and made a few calls to coaches etc to get comments, others sat and watched the racing first from Deer Park (Freestyle World Champs) and then the race from Hinterstoder. And yet others just sat around talking! A girl from the Munich 2018 Olympic Candidate City group came round giving away free sweets and as I picked up a pack (just in case I have a hypo you understand), I was interrupted by two English accents! We may not have many racers on the Women’s World Cup but the number of people on the World Cup who are British keeps rising! These two guys were the guys responsible for putting up the giant TV screens that you see in the finish. It takes a day to put them up and a day to take down yet when the wind comes in this makes it an even bigger challenge they were telling me. Usually they use helicopters to move the screens from the large HGV’s that transport the screens around yet when the wind comes in it means a lot of manual listing and putting on the snowcats to get them around. With the race postponed till tomorrow it means that they will have the afternoon to take the finish screen down and then get it into the lorry and over to Garmisch…. Good luck to them!
I stayed last night at a great Pension. I was chuffed that I had found the cheapest place between all my colleagues and they were joking that it was probably a farmhouse or something! Wrong guys! This was a great place: warm welcome, great food, a beer and a great bed! All for €50 and change as well….. And some are paying in excess of €100 for the same! And the breakfast this morning……wow! It may have been run by a Dutch Couple, John and Caroline, but if you ever find yourself in this area look up ‘The Flying Dutchman’ and you will not regret it!
So no race…. Who is the winner in that situation? Well it is not those looking at the World Championships Super G in Garmisch that is for sure. Right now they should have been heading to Garmisch for a rest day in the morning and a free ski on the hill in Garmisch on Monday before the race on Tuesday. Now they will have to scoot across tomorrow night and then sort themselves out for the free ski on Monday. Conditions in Garmisch are not great and the warm front that is messing about in Europe will hit Garmisch on Monday. This means a shortened free ski for the girls so as not to ruin the carefully manicured slope!
Here is another conundrum for you to all mull over. The teams etc were supposed to have left here today. With hotels etc being paid for by the Organising Committee while racers are in town, the German Ski Federation has picked up the tab for the extra nights accommodation for the 53 racers on the start list and their coaches etc…. Just not the press who have to do that!
I came down from the hill today in an Audi A8. Now if you have a spare £100,000 these beasts cost, get one! Speed, power, comfort…yeah it has them all but what REALLY impressed me was the fact that as we drove down I was getting a massage on my back through the front seat! I had wondered why a colleague was insistent on the front seat yesterday, now I know! Very impressed!
So Arber day three will happen and no trip to the sun drenched slopes in Hinterstoder – jealous? Of course especially when I tried to the little boys room at the top today and was told that I could not go through the restaurant door (three metres away) but had to go down and through the queue downstairs. There are some things that Germans do very well (Audi cars and back massage systems) and there are things that they just do not get….looking after people that write about their home town and will try and encourage people to come here….!
All said and done, if you are a coach and want a quiet place to bring your kids to train without pubs, clubs and hoards of other distractions, then Arber / Zwiesel could be an option for you. And if you do want this then definitely look up the Flying Dutchman as a place to stay! (Email: zum.fliegenden.hollaender@t-online.de and mention Racer Ready!)
9.15 start tomorrow in Arber and the guys go in Hinterstoder for a GS. Can Vonn and Ligety pull a double win for America or will the German power team, yes German (it is GS remember) want to put a home marker down before Garmisch starts? Svindal and Richard are the ones leading the chase to beat Ligety in Hinterstoder but it has been a long time since the GS men had the boards out. Adelboden was the last time and there has been a lot of skiing since then. Ligety skipped Chamonix last weekend to train GS not far from Hinterstoder and is in great form.
And now all you need to do keep getting the inside line through Garmisch is……click here
