The veteran Austrian racer officially clinched his first season title when the Kranjska Gora slalom was wiped out three days before the scheduled race. Heavy rainfall devoured the Slovenian race course, leaving race organizers with no choice but to cancel.

There was no dramatic down-to-the-wire conclusion, wild finish area celebrations, or nervous calculations of hundredths of seconds and related points by racers, coaches, fans and media.

None of the above ultimately mattered – Manuel Feller became a well-deserved World Cup slalom champion on Wednesday, March 6th, even if he officially clinched the small crystal globe while getting into his car rather than rocketing down a slick slalom slope.

The 31-year-old newfound Austrian World Cup champion ran the gamut of emotions.

“It’s amazing, but at the moment, it’s a little bit hard to recognize – everybody wanted it decided on the slope, but the advantage over Linus was pretty large,” Feller said about the turn of events. “Still in slalom, anything can happen. You can say the chance was taken away from Linus, but you can also say that the emotions were taken from me.”

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Feller touched upon how he believes he finally ascended to the top over a 12-year World Cup career filled with highs and lows.

“I learned with every turn, I learned with every race, and I learned with every year. Finally, it was my routine that was probably the key for this success,” he said.

How exactly did Feller discover that he had won his first-ever World Cup title? On Wednesday afternoon, he was headed to his home in Austria with his cousin after two weeks of racing in the U.S. Getting into a car; Feller found out that Saturday’s slalom in Kranjska Gora was suddenly canceled. Twenty-four hours of heavy rain and mild temperatures destroyed the surface of the Podkoren slope. Race organizers had no other choice but to say, ” Sorry, guys, no race.”

With just one slalom remaining at the FIS World Cup Finals in Saalbach on March 17, Feller’s 635-466 points advantage over Linus Strasser is insurmountable. Considering that he no longer had a final race to prepare for, Feller and his cousin rerouted and went directly to the supermarket. They purchased celebratory beers. A fun evening was on tap.

Feller commended his German challenger, who also enjoyed the best slalom season of his career.

“I want to thank Linus for the fight this season and everyone who cheered for me in both good and bad times over so many years,” Feller said. Altogether, 169 points is a big lead. You can’t call it luck for me that the race got canceled.”

Feller’s slalom discipline title is the first won by an Austrian ski racer, male or female, in three years.

Marco Schwarz (slalom), Vincent Kriechmayr (super-G), and Katharina Liensberger (slalom) were the most recent Austrians to raise a small globe, all in 2020-21, prior to Feller this season.

The best race of Feller’s season

The extroverted racer from Fieberbrunn in the Austrian Tyrol charged out to an auspicious start this season, winning in Gurgl on Oct. 18. He was unflappable after that, blazing down courses seemingly with ice in his veins. Feller finished among the top five in all nine slalom races, including four victories. His slalom scorecard reads 1-5-1-1-4-5-4-1-5.

Ironically, Strasser captured both slalom races on Austrian snow (Schladming and Kitzbuehel), while Feller took top honors at both prestigious Swiss races (Adelboden and Wengen). He also won an exceedingly difficult race in Palisades Tahoe. Feller was 0.28 seconds faster than Beijing 2022 Olympic champion Clement Noel.

“Especially the U.S. races have been pretty tough. The second run in Tahoe was probably one of the toughest ones. Especially the course setting was pretty difficult. Maybe it was the best race of my career,” Feller wondered about the victory on the Red Dog course.

“Even if the slope itself wasn’t that difficult, but with all of the circumstances, it was something that I’m very proud of,” he said.

Tough climb to the top of the slalom world

Feller elaborated upon the daily rigors and perseverance he has endured over a 12-year World Cup career. Finally, he has risen to his potential.

“The key had already built up step-by-step over years,” Feller said. We’ve been working on things that got better and better over the years. My stable upper body and, of course, daily routine were big points over the years and this season.

“And the material has been working amazing. Both my serviceman Richie (Weißenbacher) and my company Atomic have done a really good job. I changed my skis before Gurgl. That was probably one of the biggest keys to this amazing success.”

Feller flirted with winning a slalom title in 2021-22 but ultimately settled for second. He finished 90 points short of Crystal Globe winner Henrik Kristoffersen. He has overcome various adversity throughout his career.

“I’m most proud that I didn’t give up over the years. Looking back ten years ago, I had my first back injury. There was pain close to one year, not getting better over a half of a year. And then just little steps,” Feller said.

“I want to thank myself for not giving up, always believing in myself, always continuing to push myself. And always trying to get better and better.

Feller will have one more slalom race on home snow in Saalbach on March 17. It will serve as a coronation for the new men’s slalom king.

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