The inside story on Ryan Cochran-Siegle’s switch to HEAD
As Ryan Cochran-Siegle’s contract with long-time sponsor Rossingol was approaching expiration, the American racer wasn’t expecting to make a change. The 29-year-old Cochran-Siegle, often referred to as RCS, was still sidelined after a dramatic crash in January on the Kitzbühel downhill, which landed him in the nets and prematurely ended his career-best season. RCS went on to surgery and months of rehabilitation following a C7 fracture in his neck.
Cochran-Siegle was fully focused on recovery when his contract with 17-year partner Rossingol was up for renewal in April. He had joined the Rossi team at the age of 14 when his uncle scored him his first sponsorship. For more than half his life — and entire ski racing career — Rossingol helped launch RCS from junior athlete to his first Olympic Games in 2018, three World Championships, and first World Cup win last season. He had established relationships with the brand, built strong team dynamics, and found the support to build his career to this point. It wasn’t until communicating with U.S. Ski Team head coach Forest Carey that he started entertaining alternative ideas other than contract renewal.
Throughout Carey’s tenure, he has established key relationships with many equipment manufactures, including Rossingol and HEAD. As he moved into the men’s head coaching role earlier this year, he recalls a conversation with HEAD Race Director Rainer Salzgeber in which the two incidentally discussed RCS’ expiring contract. Not long after that, Carey received an inquiry from none other than Johan Eliasch, then-CEO of HEAD, now-FIS President, who requested RCS’s phone number. Eliasch is said to have been personally involved in the deal, including perhaps its biggest selling point: the addition of Heinz Hämmerle as technician.
“Seeing what they (HEAD) put on the table, it seemed like for me a really cool step in a new direction, and I think that was the exciting part of it,” said Cochran-Siegle. “But it was also a really tough decision. I ended up signing with HEAD, and moving from there. I have been really pleased. Obviously, Heinz is a big part of that too and the support that goes into the brand and the HEAD team.”
The Austrian-born technician, known perhaps most famously as the former serviceman for Lindsey Vonn, is one of the world’s most experienced and respected ski tuners. He’s known for spending hours pouring over detailed meteorological reports and refining the meticulous details of his athletes’ skis, which could make the difference between winning and being a step off the podium. Often referred to as “Magic Heinzi,” the ski technician has long worked with downhill champions including Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal and Kjetil Jansrud, Switzerland’s Beat Feuz, and Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr.
Hämmerle began his ski tuning career as his own ski technician. He had an unprosperous ski racing career, yet was quick to point out that he always had the fastest skis. He went to work for his father’s carpentry business before landing a position with HEAD as a technician, starting as a young tech for Patrick Orlieb, who went on to become a world and Olympic champion. He has since worked with other champs, such as Hans Olsson, Hannes Trinkl, Armin Assinger, and 1980 Olympic men’s downhill champion Leonhard Stock, before landing a role with American superstars Bode Miller and, soon after, Lindsey Vonn.
Vonn joined the HEAD team in the summer of 2009 after splitting from Rossignol. Like RCS, Rossignol had supported Vonn since she was a child. And like RCS’s switch to HEAD, Hämmerle was a part of the package. At the time, Hämmerle was still assigned to Bode Miller who had not yet announced if he would return for another season. By the time Vonn met with Eliasch, the decision had been made to make the switch, which sealed the deal for Vonn. Hämmerle oversaw 63 of Vonn’s 82 World Cup wins. He was responsible for 12 World Cup wins with Miller.
“Heinzy is the greatest technician of all time in my opinion,” Vonn told Ski Racing. “He cares more about ski racing more than any athlete and he’s looking for a champion that works just as hard as he does, and I think he’s found that in RCS. I’m excited to see him working with another American that I have so much respect for.”
In May, Cochran-Siegle was cleared to return to snow to freeski at Mammoth Mountain, where he joined his team for early season ski testing. In June, he was granted full clearance to train and has resided in Europe since mid-August. He’s been skiing with the men’s tech team in Saas Fee and will head to a speed camp in Zermatt Sept. 6.
In his first training camps with his new ski tech, Cochran-Siegle has admired Hämmerle’s insight and knowledge in helping him get comfortable and confident on a new setup. It’s been both a quick and humbling experience to make the switch to a new brand after all these years — a brand he considers to be dominating the rankings in speed and GS. Fellow World Cup victors Matthias Mayer, Alexis Pinturault, and Mathieu Faivre are no longer solely competitors on a start list but a part of the many talented racers and teammates on HEAD.
“I think right now I just feel like I’ve been given just such a huge opportunity and I’m just trying to do my best to get up to speed with everything, literally and figuratively,” said Cochran-Siegle. “It has to be the right situation to make these decisions work, and it just fell into place and worked out for the best.”
If there is one common thread between Cochran-Siegle and Hämmerle, it’s professionalism. According to Carey, this past year the servicemen on the World Cup took notice of RCS’s talent and professionalism before he got hurt — and it’s that commitment to professionalism that will cultivate a successful relationship between the two.
“I know Heinz has experienced so much and I obviously want to bring some of those experiences to the table, too, for him. Definitely going to be working hard this season and going hard for the future,” said Cochran-Siegle.
In Vonn’s eyes, RCS has a similar mentality as Hämmerle, which makes the new relationship a desirable match for both. In that regard, she sees some potential similarities between her own past relationship with the technician and Cochran-Siegle’s.
“RCS works super hard. He’s insanely talented, and it’s just been a matter of time for him to break through,” said Vonn. “Now we’re seeing that. And now that he’s with Heinz, the sky’s the limit.”
In Hämmerle’s first season with Vonn, she won 11 World Cups, and took her third straight overall title along with a gold in downhill and bronze in super G at the 2010 Olympics. What does that mean for RCS entering the 2022 Olympic year? Time will tell.
About the Author: Karina Schwartznau
