The British hosted FIS Telemark World Cup drew to a close yesterday following the prize giving at the Hotel Grimming in Rauris. The British organising committee paid tribute to the terrific help and assistance of the local Rauris community in putting together a brilliant few days of World Cup racing, particularly the Tourismusverband and the Hochalmbahnen who were played vital roles during the precedings. The event was a huge success and proved that it is possible to host a World Cup level event in a foreign country.
Teams started to arrive in Rauris a couple of days before the races to familiarise themsleves with the terrain - Rauris is a very small resort with only a handful of runs and is perfect for an FIS World Cup race. The resort boasts an homologated World Cup GS course and has previously hosted a Women’s FIS World Cup race.
The conditions were near perfect and the racers gave spectators their fair share of thrills with huge jumps and some spills. Both Giant Slalom and Sprint courses were technically difficult, the terrain on the Kreutzboden piste is particularly challenging with a shallow start giving way to a icy and fast track about half way down that lasts to the finish. The jump which was perched rather precariously on the edge of the transition meant racers were exposed to a fast landing with the next gate situated only a few metres from touchdown. The aggregate speed from the upper part of the course combined with the unfettered momentum of free flight had racers in all sorts of trouble trying to negotiate the tight left hander after the jump on both the GS and Sprint courses. Unfortunately some, to their dismay, realised that going ‘big’ on the jump was not the best tactical move and ended up tangled in the strategically placed safety netting. The rappelokke (360 banked turn) was well placed and provided a onlookers the perfect place to see top class world athletes in action. There were no events worthy of note here but it was interesting to see the technical nature of this discipline being put into practice - no sooner had the athletes left the 360 they were now pumping their arms and legs at a frighteningly rapid frequency to get themselves around the cross-country part of the course and to the finish.
12 nations arrived in Rauris to participate in the first ever British hosted Telemark World Cup and also the first Telemark World Cup of the 2010 season. There were 9 Brits from the team able to compete, sadly Rachel Morgan was unable to attend due to work committments and David Cardwell and Carl Simmons are plagued with injury.
There were some surprises and it seems that the French have been working hard in the closed season with Chris Lau taking first place in the Giant Slalom on day one beating Eirik Rykhus (NOR) by almost a full second, on the other hand Bastien Dayer (SUI) was way off the pace trailling the leading pair by almost 4 seconds. Chris Stewart (GBR) recorded his best finish in 29th position. 49 racers started. In the women’s event Amelie Reymond (SUI) showed that she was still top class and romped home with a performance that left Katinka Knudsen (NOR) who was struggling to find top form in her wake. Melodie David-Metral (FRA) came in with a respectable 4th place just behind Sandrine Meyer (SUI) who converted to telemark 2 seasons ago and has been one to watch ever since. Sarah Hannibal (GBR) gave a sterling perfomance in her first ever WC appearance coming 14th and recording some good WC points.
It was not long before the Norwegians exerted authority over the event in the Sprint with Rykhus crossing the finish just over a second in front of Philippe Lau (FRA) who followed almost 2 seconds later by Daniel Forrer (SUI) who was always in the top 5 mix last season. Meanwhile the women’s race was once again dominated by Reymond who was on superb form. On the British front there were some strong efforts Stewart and Andrew Clarke were close after the first run with less than 2 seconds separating them. All was to play for and Clarke took an icy patch incorrectly and slipped below a gate having to climb to continue. Stewart smashed the jump and recorded his first ever nil penalty there - only 9 other racers achieved this, he finished a credible 26th. With racers leaving the course at several points, not always under control, the Brits through gritted teeth muscled on to record 4 top 30 finishes (Chris Wotton (28th), Philip Maddox (29th) and Huan Davies (30th)). Hannibal fell, popped her shoulder but continued to ski to record an 18th place finish. Other finishers were Clarke (31), Matt Turner (32) and Richard Parrot (34).