FIS approved the route: public apology from the boss of the Matterhorn descent

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Never before has a World Cup event generated as many headlines before its premiere as the two-nation downhill event in Zermatt-Cervinia. Immediately after the presentation of the route plan, several top athletes and coaches criticized the plan, especially because of the planned length. “But I don’t think it serves the safety of our sport to be at an altitude of 4,000 meters at the beginning of the month.” a World Cup winter starts a descent, the duration of which should be two and a half minutes,” said Italian speed giant Dominik Paris (34, three-time Kitzbühel winner, 2019 Super-G world champion) in August 2021.

The team led by OK boss Franz Julen took the criticism to heart and shortened the length of the route. The start is now at 3720 meters, which is more than 200 meters higher than in Beaver Creek. However, the Matterhorn downhill project never came to a halt. In recent weeks, the “Gran Becca” caused a media tsunami after the Valais Building Committee (KBK) announced that a very small part of the slope was outside the approved ski area. But twelve days before the scheduled start of the race, a happy ending is in sight.

Approved subject to approval by the FIS

The crew led by race director Rainer Senoner corrected the route so that this small area in question was no longer necessary. «I would like to apologize for the fact that we made a mistake in the planning. We never intended to do anything wrong, we always acted to the best of our knowledge and belief. Our team responded quickly and perfectly last week. Our adjusted route plan is now again within the permitted zone on the Swiss side,” assures President Julen.

Hannes Trinkl (55), former downhill world champion and current FIS speed manager, approved the track with this marginally adjusted route during the snow check last Saturday. However, the Austrian has made one reservation: “In the glacier area, the slope is still too soft due to the snowfall of the past few days.”

Those responsible for preparing the slopes on the glacier do not use water, but Julen is confident that this shortage will also be eliminated. “During our summer training tracks we have already sufficiently proven that we can create very compact routes with mechanical preparation. As soon as the weather conditions improve in the coming days, we can do the final preparations of the Gran Becca.”

Source : Blick