Swiss ski teams in good shape for 2010 events

The pinnacle of the Swiss calendar is the Audi FIS World Cup in Wengen from 13-17 January. “This is a global event,” said a spokesperson for the Swiss ski federation.

Ski enthusiasts flock to see athletes launch themselves down the Lauberhorn downhill run, the longest on the world cup calendar, which on a clear day makes for a stunning spectacle beneath the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau peaks.

Spectator tickets cost 30 francs for a day, or 80 for a 3-day pass, increasing to 64 francs or 164 respectively to include the use of all ski lifts.

“All the locals in Wengen go crazy at the side of the Lauberhorn,” says David Hürzerer, who worked for five years in a snowboard school in the resort.

The crowds can be unpleasant and hotel beds are hard to find, but “you can always stay in Interlaken,” says Hürzerer, as trains meet revellers returning from the ski villages until the early hours of the morning.

Shortly before Wengen, the men’s teams will also compete at Adelboden, on the Chuenisbärgli mountain. Viewing platform tickets for the giant slalom on 9 January are sold out. But places are available for the finishing slope and for standing room along the race course.

Last year 38,000 visitors attended the world cup events there and the organisers expect a similar turn out this year.

“In giant slalom the Swiss team has been doing really well,” says Peter Willen, president of the Adelboden world cup committee. “We’re hoping for the same result in Adelboden.”

Giant slalom is just one of the Alpine ski disciplines on the world cup calendar. The super giant slalom, or super-G, is shorter than a downhill, but involves more difficult, technical turns around the iconic red and blue gates.

It is one of the events in the women’s world cup event in St Moritz from 27-31 January. In March, the women’s calendar features Crans-Montana, where athletes will tackle the super-combined event: a downhill and two slalom runs, spread over two days.

The Swiss world cup Alpine ski team has had a bumper start to the season, with more podium finishes by December 20 than in last year’s competitions.

Veteran Didier Cuche, awarded the Credit Suisse sports personality of the year earlier this month, has celebrated early victories in Canada and in Val d’Isère, France, and also won plaudits for his determination to keep racing despite a broken rib.

Cuche is ranked fourth in the overall rankings, two places behind compatriot, Carlo Janka, who finished second in the Super-G at Val Gardena.

Ambrosi Hoffman and Silvan Zurbriggen are also names to look out for in Vancouver. Both athletes made the podium in world cup events in Italy last week.

The Swiss women’s team is thought to be weaker at international level than their male counterparts. But on  December 20, the women’s Super G team crushed the opposition in Val d'Isere to take the top two spots on the podium.

It was Fränzi Aufdenblatten’s first world cup victory, just 23 hundredths of a second ahead of Nadia Styger, who two years ago won a downhill race in Whistler, Canada, the resort where many of the 2010 Olympic events will take place.

Another Swiss, Fabienne Suter, took fourth position, sandwiching world cup champion, American Lindsey Vonn, in third place.

Other events hold promise for Switzerland’s Olympic dreams.

The 28-year-old Swiss champion Simon Ammann from ski club RG Churfirsten in St. Gallen leapt 141 metres last weekend at the Engelbergworld cup ski jump event. As a former double Olympic champion, the man known as "Harry Potter" in the Swiss press “is a good candidate for a medal” in Vancouver, said the Swiss ski spokesperson.

The lesser-known disciplines may not be attracting the headlines at the moment, but there are medals up for grab in a range of sports in Vancouver. Cross-country skiers will prepare during the Swiss national championships from 14-17 January in Marbach, Lucerne.

In the Nordic-combined discipline Switzerland has no obvious candidate for gold – traditionally Scandinavians have dominated the event – and national champion Ronny Herr made only 15^th place at the world cup event in Ramsau, Austria, on 19 December.

For something a little more wacky, the Ski Cross World Cup runs from 9-14 March in the Bernese Oberland. Event promoters offer a combined holiday-competition package for those with an interest in the sport.

Fans of Telemark can head to Gstaad on 23-24 January for the Swiss championships. “Free your heel, free your mind,” says the official competition site.