International Roundup: Musical chairs for Schiffy, Friedman's bad break, Santa Caterina

International Roundup: Musical chairs for Schiffy, Friedman’s bad break, Santa Caterina{mosimage}Andreas Schifferer’s mysterious absence from the World Cup in the last few weeks was definitely noticed in Austria, where one major newspaper published a story speculation as to why Schiffy went missing. Then this week Fischer Skis announced that they knew where he was…On the Turracher Höhe glacier, testing Fischer product. ‘If the tests are successful the Austrian could even be competing for World Cup points with Fischer skis as early as Tuesday, January 11, 2005, in the giant slalom in Adelboden’ read the Fischer press release. Changing ski brands in the middle of the season is a rare occurance, especially for a high-profile Austrian. In the fall, Schifferer switch from Atomic to Rossignol a major coup for the French brand, which began only this season to sign athletes from the top level of the powerful Austrian team. “Andreas Schifferer approached us and asked whether he could test our skis’ said Sigi Voglreiter, the Fischer race director. ‘Schifferer is a top racer who is capable of being successful in three events. It goes without saying that we have given him the best possible skis and we hope that he will decide in favour of Fischer.”

Friedman’s injury a bad one…

Bryon Friedman, who badly injured his leg Thursday , is still in the hospital in Sallanches, France (home of the Dynastar factory). After his crash, he suffered from compartmental syndrome. The broken bones in his lower leg were jolted as he tumbled down the hill, which led to major swelling. Doctors had to make incisions on both sides of his shin to relieve the pressure.

Mark McCormick wins logo contest

The Mt. Bachelor Ski Education Foundation has announced the winner of the logo contest for its annual U.S. Bank Pole Pedal Paddle event. The winning entry is viewable online. Race clubs and academies across North America should feel encouraged to alert skiracing.com of any news posted at club websites. Send an e-mail to the online editor at webeditor@insideinc.com, and we will do our best to include it in our news roundups.

New cableway in Santa Cat…

The new cableway at Santa Caterina opens on Sunday, just 20 days before the women’s events at the alpine world championships begin at the Italian event. It covers 1,000 meters of elevation in just 11 minutes, and can deliver 3000 people an hour to the top of the mountain. Race organizers say that the he eight-seater cableway in Santa Caterina Valfurva will be ‘the most important facility in the Alps in terms of capacity and speed’ (funny, we thought that was the U.S. Ski Team, which boasts the discipline leader in both men’s and women’s downhill). The Santa Caterina cableway’s installation was controversial (opposition to its installation helped derail the resort’s ability to host World Cups last year). According the promoters, the lift is ‘characterized by its drastic reduction in environmental impact by meeting the necessary requirements to safeguard the ecologic balance. The higher speed obtained thanks to the new technologies has allowed to reduce the number of facilities from nine to four, without any negative impact on the quality of the service which, on the contrary, has improved in terms of efficiency and safety.’