The Hundschopf

So what now: Dog's head or dog's hair? The former could be explained by the fact that the "Hundschopf" is indeed similar to the head of a dog. The latter could mean "Schopf" the synonym for "hair" and with "Hundschopf" therefore, the mane of a dog is meant. But as an old-established native of Wengen reported, "Schopf" is also the native Wengen expression for "stone". And what happens when a stone in Wengen looks like a dog? Voilà ... it becomes a Hundschopf. You're welcome!

But what exactly is this Hundschopf? Imagine it's winter and you're standing on skis at the start house of the legendary Lauberhorn downhill run at 2315 metres above sea level. You take another deep breath and then push off with three or four powerful pole pushes. The first key section is the Russisprung. You master this without any problems. This is followed by the Traversenschuss, where you accelerate from 100 to 130 kilometres per hour within five seconds. Quick question: have you ever held your head out of the window while driving on the highway? Try it (but only if you're not behind the wheel) and you'll get a rough idea of what that speed feels like for a ski racer. Okay.

Now you come to this long right-hand bend, to immediately turn into the next left-hand bend, which fortunately slows down your speed, before you now head for the spectacular, unique and, with 41 degrees of inclination, steepest section of the Lauberhorn downhill - the famously notorious Hundschopf! This is where you separate the wheat from the chaff for the first time. Are you risk-taking and courageous? Then you head straight for it. If you are more of a sensitive nature, then you should take an intermediate turn (or put on the brakes) at this point at the latest. I don't blame you, after all, the distance between the rock on the left and the safety net on the right is a maximum of five (!) ridiculous metres. In short: the place is steep, narrow and respect inspiring. But what can you do when the most important rule in a downhill race is: the fastest from the start to the finish is the winner? That's how it is today and that's how it was back then, almost a hundred years ago, when ski racer Ernst Gertsch founded the Lauberhorn races in 1930. At that time there were neither lines nor gates. The faster was the quicker. And the fastest way to the valley was via the Hundschopf. FIS conformity was definitely different! All the more special that it has retained its unique character to this day.

Anyway. You close both eyes, take off exactly on the edge between the rock and the safety net and flyyyyyyyyy out into the bottomless pit - up to forty metres away. It's a good thing that the piste constructors do everything they can to ensure that you not only fly beautifully, but also land safely. Speaking of safety: if the approach to Hundschopf were to be laid today as it was twenty years ago, the athletes - these powerhouses with rockets on their feet - would come hurtling in much too fast. For this reason, an artificial ramp was built about ten meters before the actual jump to ensure an optimal take-off for the riders - and thus extend the flight path to about forty metres. That's four times as far as a ten-metre-high diving tower - in other words, quite far.

It may be that the Hundschopf is old school, which is why some of the ski racers affectionately refer to it as "Jurassic Park" - analogous to the 1993 Hollywood blockbuster. But I ask you: what would Jurassic Park be without dinosaurs? The Lauberhorn without the Hundschopf? The Hundschopf without the Lauberhorn? I hardly dare say it, but probably not much more than a rock that looks like a dog's head.

Text: Doris Büchel, author, Liechtenstein