Faster in preparation than Odermatt: love and new training make Hintermann stronger than ever before

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Valle Nevado (Chile), in the first week of September: the mood barometer has reached its lowest point in the training camp of the Swiss downhill skiers! The heavy snowfall is particularly worrying for Niels Hintermann. “I got nervous because I was afraid that I would leave Chile with far too little good speed training in my legs.”

Because it actually snows for almost three weeks in the Chilean Andes, Hintermann and Co. never actually enjoyed a really ice-cold training track during their stay in South America. Yet the fastest downhill skier from Zurich since Peter Müller (66, world champion 1987) can announce two months later that he has taken a big step forward in this camp.

Faster than Odermatt

Also because his coach Reto Nydegger found exactly the right words in the saddest phase. «Reto made it clear to me that the sessions on a fresh snow slope were a huge opportunity for me. He was confident that I could improve my technique under these conditions. Reto turned out to be right,” assures the 28-year-old, explaining the details: “Until then I had always skied very poorly on soft slopes. My driving style was not precise enough, especially because the slightest positional error is brutally punished in such conditions. But because we trained almost exclusively on soft slopes in Chile, I was able to stabilize myself. And that is now paying off, even on hard slopes.”

The latest training comparisons in Zermatt with Marco Odermatt showed how good shape Hintermann is. «Odi really wanted to achieve the best times during these training sessions. To stop time even faster, he stretched out one arm as he crossed the finish line, just like in the races. Yet Niels was a few hundredths faster in all runs,” reveals speed assistant coach Willi Dettling.

In the ZSC Lions farm team

The ZSC Lions farm team also plays a major role in Hintermann’s strong condition. Since the dismissal of his old conditioning coach Jürgen Loacker, the 2022 Kvitfjell downhill triumphant has been completing strength and conditioning training together with the GCK Lions.

“My future father-in-law is a good acquaintance of ZSC CEO Peter Zahner,” Niels explains. “When it became clear that I was losing Loacker as a fitness coach, he asked Zahner about alternatives for me. That’s how I ended up at the GCK Lions.”

The collaboration with the ice hockey professionals turned out to be a bull’s eye for the self-proclaimed downhill wilds. “I benefit enormously from training with the Lions, also because the team spirit here is much more pronounced than in skiing. During every exercise there is someone behind me who protects me and at the same time pushes me so that I load even more weight on the dumbbells. That is why I have taken another step forward in this area last month.”

Wedding next July

Hintermann’s anticipation for the first World Cup downhill in Zermatt-Cervinia this Saturday has been expressed accordingly. «The team around OK president Franz Julen responded correctly to the criticism that some drivers expressed about this project a few years ago; the length of the route was shortened. I’m sure we’ll have great races here. And because there is no longer a slope on which I cannot be fast, I logically expect a lot on this slope as well.”

Hintermann has six podium finishes (two wins, four third places) to his name so far. You can be sure that the Bülach native will polish this balance in the coming months. Anyway, on July 6, 2024, he will have a blast – on that day, Hintermann will marry his girlfriend Lara in church.

Source : Blick