The month of January provides the best alpine racing every year. It is a month of monuments with the men racing at classic venues such as Wengen, Kitzbuhel and Schladming and the women hitting storied locales like Cortina.
These are courses steeped in history and defined by quirks and nuances that give them a meaningful place in the list of sports greatest stages. Just as golf fans revere the annual spring stop at Augusta and baseball fans revel in a game a Fenway, ski racing enthusiasts crave this January fix of alpine cathedrals. The drop into the Mausefalle in Kitz, the soaring jump of the Hundshopf, these are signature features that identify their track and give it texture and style. Careers are framed by what happens at these fabled venues. A win here will is a step towards alpine immortality. A victory elsewhere makes you a winner. Here, it transforms you into a legend.
This is the heart of the racing season and it runs through the soul of the sport. What happens in this next month will further shape the World Cup season and create heroes along the way. Watching the best athletes in a particular sport battle on that sport’s most hallowed grounds is the essence of great theater. Who will embrace the big stage and who will cower from its shadow? Will a newcomer have a performance that transcends talent and will others crumble under the weight of expectations? Will established stars emerge for an encore or stake their claim to a final shot at glory?
This next month provides a canvas for some great stories to be told. Yes, the world championships are next month in February, but the next few weeks offer up the calling cards of alpine racing. January truly is the greatest show on snow.
Hi there, not sure that this is true, but thanks