SRF expert Weirather (34) talks about her pregnancy, defends the FIS and dares to make a prediction: “A Netflix documentary? Some people should drop their pants.”

Aren’t you afraid to travel?
Absolute respect. But I’m not going to Finland. And we don’t comment locally on North America. There’s also Val d’Isère, which is almost seven hours away by car – I’ll skip that too. I am very happy that SRF accommodated me when discussing the operations.

Do you talk to other mothers, read pregnancy books or let everything happen to you?
My cousin has three children, so I could learn a lot from them. I’m careful with books, because sometimes you read this, sometimes you read that. There is so much well-intentioned advice, but ultimately every pregnancy and every child is different. The exciting thing is that since the beginning of my pregnancy I have looked at parents with small children in a completely different way. What do they do in which situation? What do you do when the child cries? Or whines? I’m much more aware of things like that.

You are entering your fourth winter as an SRF expert and are largely showered with praise. Would you actually comment on men’s racing?
I’ve never thought about that before. In principle it would not be impossible. But part of my expertise is that I know the athletes better, but also their coaches and supervisors and, last but not least, the women’s slopes.

The classic combination no longer exists. And now the team combination experiment has been suspended by the FIS. Justifiably?
The fifth discipline has been causing headaches for decades. Maybe we should leave it at downhill, super-G, giant slalom and slalom. On the other hand, the FIS does not want to miss out on a fifth set of medals at the Olympic Games, which I also understand. There is also a lot of money involved.

Greek slalom champion AJ Ginnis complained because he had no partner in the team combination and could not start. In the past it would have been the same for you, right?
There was actually no female slalom skier from Liechtenstein at the time that I could have competed with. I think the team combination is a good idea, but I understand AJ Ginnis’ criticism that the points scored should not count towards the discipline ranking.

He would have received zero in the slalom.
But if no World Cup points were awarded at all, several stars would likely opt out of the team combination. We don’t want that either. Perhaps a middle ground needs to be found.

Which?
The competition could count towards the Nations Cup and the overall World Cup, but not towards the individual disciplines.

The Slovakian Petra Vlhova would not have a combination partner and would not enjoy it, after all, she is one of the best in the battle for the big crystal ball.
Agreed. It’s a difficult situation and you’re certainly right to want to rethink the whole thing.

From next winter, fluorine-containing wax will be banned and may no longer be applied to skis. There are doubts about the accuracy of the measuring equipment and even fear of sabotage. Is it justified?
First of all, I have to say that something about the whole subject bothers me.

What?
That, as almost always, the FIS is criticized. She can’t do anything about it after the law is forced upon her. The FIS must apply it – whether it wants to or not.

And what about the doubts and fears of athletes, associations and ski companies?
I understand the uncertainty. The decisive factor is the fluorine limit value that a ski has after the race – it is currently 0.99. And I can say for sure: if a driver drives over snow containing fluorine during a race, for whatever reason, he has nothing to fear. It never reaches 0.99. I can’t say how much impact the fluorine issue will have on us in alpine ski racing, but I don’t expect any major problems.

The climate debate surrounding skiing is also heated. You also argue for a later start to winter.
The start in Sölden has already been postponed for a week. You could add another week or two.

Images of excavators working on the Rettenbach Glacier sparked outrage this summer. Former slalom ace Felix Neureuther spoke of a catastrophe for skiing. Are you coming with us?
I cannot judge whether everything was done correctly. I’m not an expert in that.

But?
I admire Felix for his dedication to the sport. It’s okay to criticize, but it should be constructive and include suggestions for solutions.

With its documentaries about Formula 1 and the Tour de France, Netflix knows how to introduce the sport to a younger audience. Skiing would also need this and it would be destined for new insights. Agreed?
I think these documentaries are super cool. But for this, associations, teams and especially athletes must be prepared to drop their pants in a figurative sense. I don’t think they are ready for that.

Can you do this?
For example, the Formula 1 Netflix documentary is often about very personal stories within the teams. Filming also takes place during team meetings and shortly before and after the races, with many intimate conflicts and emotions. My experience is that athletes in skiing want to protect this privacy. But that is exactly the secret of the success of ‘Drive to Survive’ and is therefore quite contradictory.

What about extroverted cracks like Lucas Braathen or Sofia Goggia?
Maybe it would work for them. But a few more are needed. It would definitely be worth a try.

Let’s look ahead to winter. Is there any woman who can stop Mikaela Shiffrin?
Something would have to go terribly wrong if she didn’t win the overall World Cup for the sixth time – for example, physical or mental problems or a huge series of failures.

Shiffrin has long collected everything there is to win. She doesn’t care much about records, she says. So what drives them?
I often ask myself this question. When I was regularly on stage from 2016 to 2018, I occasionally wondered: “That’s great, but what now?” At a certain point I no longer had the greatest joy. So I can’t even imagine what makes Shiffrin tick.

Please try it anyway.
I think Shiffrin is always looking for new challenges. Her mother Eileen, who is also her trainer, steps firmly on the accelerator – she is the driving force in the background and ensures that she does not stop. And in the end, Shiffrin is definitely annoyed when she doesn’t win, even though she’s always extremely fair to her competitors.

What do you expect from the Swiss?
No significant improvement is actually possible with Wendy Holdener and Lara Gut-Behrami, they are already at the top. I see Corinne Suter doing better than last winter – I think she will be more consistently at the front. Michelle Gisin, who could return to the fore after two difficult years, is exciting.

Which names should every ski fanatic remember for the future? Let’s say one athlete per discipline…
Among the technical disciplines, I would like to mention the French Marie Lamure in the slalom and the Swede Hilma Lövblom in the giant slalom. I think Delia Durrer from Nidwalden and Stefanie Grob from Appenzeller are very exciting athletes in the downhill.

Change the subject. The ‘Podcast at the edge of the slopes’, in which you analyze skiing with ex-ski expert Marc Berthod and comedy man Michael Schweizer, was named the best sports podcast in Switzerland in 2023. Were you surprised?
Just a little bit. It is very nice how quickly a community has been built up. We receive many messages from people who are intensively involved in the sport.

The podcast is often very moody.
Marc and I can tell everything in this format that does not belong in ski broadcasts. And Schweizer represents the classic ‘couch potato’ who sits in front of the TV with chips and watches races. It all fits together wonderfully – we have a lot of fun together.

Is the podcast one of the reasons why you are returning to the ski circus after your maternity leave?
In each case. Like commenting at SRF, it is a matter of the heart.

So are you traveling from one ski area to another with your baby this coming winter?
I do not believe it. Fabio will have a lot of fun rocking it at home – I’m sure he’ll be a super cool dad!