Kitzbühel: Slalom course changes prove controversial

Bode Miller recently criticized organizers of the Hahnenkamm races for changing the classic slalom course.
    “The Kitzbühel slalom is such a great, classic race because nothing changed for about 20 years,’’ Miller said. ‘‘The old course had a great dynamic, but now they are taking history away from it.”
    Well, it’s actually 77 years, Bode, but who’s counting?
    No changes are taken lightly. Officials changed the course to bring the finish into the same arena as the downhill and super-G.
    The official statement reasons: “The new slalom will be more exciting to watch due to higher speed and different surfaces. The difference in elevation compared to the old course is 17 meters (197 instead of 180 meters). The big Hahnenkamm stadium will be used for slalom and downhill and offers high visibility to the spectators. The TV spectator takes advantage of better camera positions.”
BODE MILLER recently criticized organizers of the Hahnenkamm races for changing the classic slalom course.
    “The Kitzbühel slalom is such a great, classic race because nothing changed for about 20 years,’’ Miller said. ‘‘The old course had a great dynamic, but now they are taking history away from it.” Well, it’s actually 77 years, Bode, but who’s counting?
    There is no World Cup organizer more cognizant of history than the Hahnenkamm committee. Kitzbühel holds a huge place in ski racing lore. In an interview with the Austrian Standard, Hahnenkamm chairman Harti Weirather said: “Kitzbühel is the symbiosis between sporting maximum output and social platform. This mixture is a completely important part of the myth.”
    No changes are taken lightly. Officials changed the course to bring the finish into the same arena as the downhill and super-G.
The official statement reasons: “The new slalom will be more exciting to watch due to higher speed and different surfaces. The difference in elevation compared to the old course is 17 meters (197 instead of 180 meters). The big Hahnenkamm stadium will be used for slalom and downhill and offers high visibility to the spectators. The TV spectator takes advantage of better camera positions.”
    The old course was situated to the spectator’s right of the downhill on a hill that has provided plenty of challenge. The new course begins on the Gazslern slope and funnels into the downhill course for the Zeilschuss.
    The change has not met with universal approval. Miller is not the only athlete to criticize the new course. Steven Nyman, who was second at a downhill race in Beaver Creek, Colorado, last November, also said he was not happy with the changes. “It would have been great if they had created some more action,” he said. “The lower part now is just too flat.”
    Phil McNichol, head coach of the U.S. Ski Team, agrees the course isn’t as tough, but he sees advantages in making the change.     “The new course is not as challenging as the old one, but it will be the athletes’ performances who turn the event into a spectacle,” he said. “We always look from a sportsman’s point of view, and that’s OK, but there is also a huge marketing aspect to it and organizers must look constantly to meet demands in that respect as well.”
    Which fits right in with the visibility factors and television camera positions the organizers mention.
Perhaps it is just as well the course is not as technically demanding. The last U.S. winner of the Hahnenkamm slalom was Chuck Ferries — in 1962.
    — The Associated Press contributed to this article.