Ski check from Crans-Montana and Kvitfjell: World Cup shock on raclette evening, an outburst of anger and a Bosnian fairy tale

It’s Friday, just after 8 p.m. The atmosphere is festive in the cozy restaurant La Bergerie du Cervin above Crans-Montana USA. In his speech, outgoing OC boss Marius Robyr thanked the journalists for their work, looked back on eventful years and looked forward to the 2027 World Cup. The fire is blazing in the enormous fireplace and the raclette wheels are stacked next to it. Swiss ski boss Urs Lehmann honored Robyr in his speech in perfect French, and he is also looking forward to the world championships at home in three years’ time. But then, in the middle of the social gathering, the bomb explodes – first there are whispers, then everyone looks at their cell phones. The FIS publicly threatens Swiss-Ski with withdrawal from the World Cup! It is said that financial promises have not been kept; it concerns shortage guarantees and liability issues. The fun is over, the media people leave immediately and the Swiss ski bosses meet. “The World Cup is not in danger,” co-CEO Diego Zuger said the next day. A meeting with the FIS on Monday could end the dispute.

Although Vincent Kriechmayr (32) finished second in Kvitfjell behind Niels Hintermann (28) from Zurich, which gave the Austrian downhill team its first podium finish this winter, ÖSV head coach Marko Pfeifer is very angry after this race. “Apart from Kriechmayr, only one of our athletes, Daniel Danklmaier, was in the top 15. I cannot and do not want to accept such a performance.” Pfeifer divides his downhill team into all its individual parts: “With the exception of Vincent, our established athletes are losing more and more and our second row racers are 26 or 27 years old and are therefore no longer among the youngest!” Pfeifer remains standing even after Kriechmayr’s Super-G victory on Sunday. “We have a lot of work ahead of us with a view to the World Cup at home in Saalbach in 2025. We have to analyze it well and really accelerate so that we don’t fall behind and catch up.”

Will Lara Gut-Behrami (32) win the overall World Cup for the second time after 2016? The Swiss bullet hunter (she also leads in three disciplines) is taking a big step in this direction in Valais. She comes first, third and sixth, which gives her 200 points in three days. Meanwhile, Mikaela Shiffrin (28, USA) is still working on her comeback – she has to hurry if she wants to intercept Gut-Behrami. The Ticino woman now has a lead of 205 points, with ten races to go.

Three weeks after his first Super-G podium finish in Garmisch, Franjo von Allmen achieved his best downhill result on the 1994 Olympic track – the three-time vice world junior champion of 2022 thundered to fifth place with number 28. But the 22-year-old from the Bernese Oberland is not doing any happy dances. «I am very happy with my placement, but my performance leaves a lot to be desired. A few small mistakes irritate me and sometimes I take unnecessary risks. I still have a lot to learn.”

For Jasmine Flury (30), the days in Crans-Montana are a reflection of the season. Why? For the downhill world champion, the rollercoaster of emotions goes up and down and back again. After the first training, the otherwise calm woman from Graubünden bursts out of her collar and speaks of a finish slope that was “not worthy of the World Cup” and a jump that was “completely unnecessary”. Two days later she comes second and overtakes the slope of Mont Lachaux and comes second. And on Sunday? She doesn’t compete anymore, Flury has pain in her knee, but it shouldn’t be anything serious.

After Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (31) was injured, the Alpine men from Norway are also going through tough times. Because Adrian Smiseth Sejersted (29) was seriously injured in the last training before the home race after a violent rollover (dislocated shoulder), only one Viking, Frederik Möller (30th in the descent), finished in the points in Kvitfjell. What really hurts those responsible: The Norwegians have not yet won a single race at the highest level this season. The last time the Norwegians had a World Cup season without a victory in the Alps was in 1987/88.

Spring has long arrived in Crans-Montana. But despite significantly higher temperatures (even at the start) and a finish slope that is completely in the sun, track boss Patrice Morisod works magic. The former trainer of ex-ski topper Didier Cuche actually drives three flawless races with the right amount of salt and tireless work. It is particularly nice that Morisod does not shy away from self-criticism and speaks candidly. When Flury challenges the conditions during the first training, he agrees. He is also immediately ready to defuse the target jump. When asked if this is even necessary (Flury doubts this), Morisod says: “Jasmine is right. From a sporting point of view it makes no sense – this jump is a marketing thing because you can advertise with it.

End of season or sensational comeback? This question arises for the French Kitzbühel hero Cyprien Sarrazin (29). The two-time Hahnenkamm winner injured his left calf in a fall on the “Vinterhogget” jump during Friday training and therefore had to abandon the weekend races. Marco Odermatt has a 42-point lead over Sarrazin in the battle for the small ball before the final descent in Saalbach. Doctors are currently divided over whether the ski kamikaze of the “Grande Nation” can compete for the crystal in the highest discipline again. After the tests in Norway, one doctor believes in a quick recovery, the other does not. Odermatt is still counting on his last opponent: “It will take almost five weeks until the final in Saalbach. I assume that Cyprien will be fit by then. And because I trust that he can win with one and a half legs, I am preparing for an exciting final for the downhill ball.” It is certain that the man from Nidwalden will receive the big ball for the third time in a row for the overall victory in Saalbach. the duel for the Super-G ball, Odermatt has an 81 point lead over Vincent Kriechmayr for the last race.

Elvedina who? The Bosnian Elvedina Muzaferija (24) writes double history in Crans-Montana. A week ago she became the first person from the Balkan country to win a European Cup race. And then on Saturday at the World Championships she almost pushed Lara Gut-Behrami off the downhill podium! Muzaferija races to 4th place, eleven hundredths less than third. No one from Bosnia and Herzegovina has ever made it this far in the World Cup – regardless of whether he is a man or a woman.