The Lauberhorn and its pistes are practically the stuff of legend. And then, once a year in January, they come together to form the longest downhill run in the world. Then there’s the slalom, full of cliffs and transitions, pushing the skiers to their absolute limits. The Lauberhorn races promise a grand spectacle, drama and a ski festival like no other. And the event has consistently delivered on this promise for almost a hundred years. Well, fairly consistently. Sometimes, very rarely, a snow cloud (or was it a beetle?) gets in the way. But otherwise, things usually go off without a hitch, and the races become the birthplace of the legends of our time. Too much? A great downhill event, yes, but “the birthplace of legends”?
Fair enough, but honestly: What are you thinking about now? I mean right now, when I whisper the words “Lauberhorn” and “legend” to you? Mind gone blank, or does a thought spontaneously pop into your head? A thought featuring the name Beat Feuz or Franz Klammer perhaps? Do you get butterflies thinking about those hair-raising diagonal jumps on the Hundschopf? Do you still shake your head in disbelief at the video of Aleksander Aamodt Kilde mastering the Kernen-S at breakneck speed? Or do you blanch at the thought of the dreaded “Guggiföhn” rolling in?
And just like that, we’re there, transported to the Home of Legends. Right here, on this page, in this blog, we’ll show you a whole world of legends on the Lauberhorn. We? Oh yes, that’s right: Doris Büchel and Irene Graf will be your guides, two women with a love of all things snow and Alpine ski racing, dogged determination when it comes to drama and detail, and a flair for storytelling. After all, legends are created from stories. They begin with tales of outstanding people, admirable achievements and incredible events. These are stories of heroes and heroines, not just of those celebrated figures, but also of those who do great things away from the limelight. Stories that touch our hearts and that people want to hear over and over again. Sometimes, they come to outgrow themselves and become bigger than they really are. But all legends have one thing in common: they always have an element of truth to them.
And that’s what we want to find. We’ll rummage through all the legendary events surrounding the Lauberhorn race for you, then polish them until they’d outshine the winner’s trophy in the bright winter sunshine. We’ll scratch the surface, leave no stone unturned and blow these stories wide open: we’ll even track down that one snowflake that meant an entire race had to be relocated to the next valley if that’s what it takes! But we’re pretty confident that there’s a treasure trove of legends here just waiting to be unearthed.
Doris Büchel will kick things off in the next blog post, and she’s already got some amazing stories to share. We don’t want to give too much away, but she’ll be sniffing around for clues at the iconic Hundschopf. Among other things, you’ll find out where the name really comes from. So what do you think: Is it “Hunds-Chopf” or “Hund-Schopf”?
Stay tuned!
Text: Irene Graf, writer, columnist, Adelboden
