Up Close and Personal…
Second training and the sun is out again – yes, another hard day at the office. From getting on the train in Lauterbrunnen with one of the Eurosport Germany commentators, Guido Heuber, you could feel the joviality for a new race. It is a strange feeling arriving at the races with people almost being drip fed in terms of arriving. Some arrive as soon as the previous race is done; others arrive at the last possible moment. Those that live nearby can go home and escape the World Cup for a day or two, teams and the long distance media go from place to place as required. Same thing different place is a regular statement.
It makes it a joy and a pleasant change when the weather is perfect and the opportunity to go skiing is there. Wengen, Grindlewald and the adjoining areas give great escapism for a couple of hours while the racers are doing course inspection. Training was delayed by half an hour this morning yet on the train ride up, the topic of conversation was how varied the coverage of the skiing was when compared to other sports.
The three of us got talking, one of the coaches was with Guido and myself by this time, and the first topic we compared was what Surfing offered against skiing. Surfing has seen all the major players in the industry sit down and see how they can promote the sport better. It was soon felt that two of the leading players in the sport would rather sit in their own room than talk with another major player and discuss how they could make the sport bigger and better.
I am told that surfing has cameras in the water, life coverage in HD from far flung places and the images are beamed out live. You can watch the events either live or go on to the sponsors websites and other sites geared to surfing and watch the events and the best of the action after the event with no difficulty.
In October last year, at the beginning of this season, Gunther Hujara from FIS spoke at the FIS Alpine Forum and stated that the sport was the best covered sport there is in terms of actual live coverage. Sure when you see the innovations being used at Wengen this year, this could be true. But if the sport is to appeal to a wider audience outside of the mountains, then this is just a start. Innovation and new concepts must come in with almost every race to capture the imagination of the sport.
The drone is sending out images from the start down to Hundschopf and as far as Canadian Corner is a great idea. Yet, in the words of Didier Cuche who was not aware of the drone before his run and thought he was being attacked by birds, he joked after his run, it would be great if the drone could keep up with a racer all the way down. On a serious note he said that as long as it is kept out of the racers eye, this was great.
So skiing needs to get more innovative. Nothing new there. Technology is advancing and the news that Tina Maze’s underwear is being investigated for infringement of the technical regulations on permeability is another case of the technology advancing faster than the rules.
By the time the train arrived in Wengen, the world had not quite been put to writes but it is apparent that ski racing does need to have a look at itself and move with the times: People want to see different angles, the jumps, the speed and not just interviews with one nation. Great Britain has no racers in the Downhill or the Super Combined this year yet still the BBC are here covering the races. Graham Bell gave an insight to the course with his cameras on the training run today. The course at race speed is just over two and half minutes yet with jackets and cameras, Bell reckoned it would take him almost three and a half minutes: This is earning his money!
As the training run progressed a group of us worked our way down the course watching from the side. I have inspected the course in the past yet watching the races over Hundschopf and other sections of the course you get a feel for the sheer speed they reach. Watching the race on TV is one thing but if you want to watch a race and feel the adrenaline, then going to the race is the best way. Wengen does the whole spectator atmosphere thing very well with screens and commentators all the way down the course. On race day at Canadian Corner, 20,000 will be packed into the grandstand and up the hill. This is now a VIP section and tickets are highly sought after.
So while Reichelt, Svindal (flu and all) and Janka took the fastest three times on this the second and final training run, tomorrow is Super Combined from a slightly lower start and then it is the race, The Lauberhorn. This area has so much history with the Eiger and all the climbing stories, yet each year the race here produces its own stories and acts of bravery.
Race day in the morning for the Super Combined!
