Allmen’s downhill talent celebrates World Cup premiere

Franjo von Allmen has a famous teacher – the Bernese Oberlander is trained in the European Cup by Franz Heinzer (60; 17 World Cup victories). Three months ago, the three-time junior vice world champion delivered the 1991 downhill world champion a major shock! Heinzer still gets chills when he thinks back to that moment: “Franjo had a terrible start on the flat in Zinal. Anyone who saw that fall knew for sure that Franjo would not race again this winter.”

Steeled on the way to school

But the 21-year-old got up quickly. Six weeks after the horror crash in Valais, Von Allmen took his first European Cup victory on the downhill in Orcières, France. And that is why he can make his World Cup debut at the speed races in Aspen (USA). “The fact that Franjo was able to perform so quickly after this heavy fall is mainly due to his impressive muscle armor, which saved him from a serious injury in Zinal”, Heinzer is convinced.

Von Allmen’s physical strength is also due to the distance he had to travel almost every day during his childhood from the school in Boltigen to his parents’ home, which is not far from the Jaunpass. “I almost always did this fairly steep climb of about three kilometers by bike.”

After leaving school, von Allmen also had a completely natural form of strength training during his apprenticeship as a carpenter. In his apprenticeship, the Schletti carpenter, our great hopes for the future in alpine skiing still occasionally help: “For me, working with wood is the ideal balance between skiing, because it gives me other ideas.”

Three Oberländer in the Wild West

In his hometown of Boltigen (pop. 1,400), Von Allmen is also ubiquitous in the butcher shop. After Franjo came second twice at the Junior World Championships in Panorama (Ka) last year, master butcher Urs Wittwer started producing “Franjos Silberblitz-Wurscht”.

Aspen is known more for expensive steaks than rustic sausages. Franjo von Allmen will still feel at home at his World Cup premiere in Colorado, as Marco Kohler (25, Meiringen) and Lars Rösti (25, St. Stephan), two companions from the Bernese Oberland Ski Association, will be at the start. They were also sharpened by Franz Heinzer in the European Cup.

Source : Blick