Downhill course

The downhill run begins at 2,315 metres above sea level on the Lauberhornschulter. 

This section has a very particular history. One spring, Bernhard Russi was looking for a suitable jump to shoot some footage on technique for a television programme. He found the perfect spot on the Lauberhornschulter and had the jump built up with large quantities of snow. Before the next race, the then race director Fredy Fuchs decided to integrate it into the course, calling it the “Russisprung”, or “Russi’s Jump”.

In just five seconds, the skiers’ speeds increase from 100 to over 130 kilometres per hour. The section snakes slightly at the beginning and then, past the AK start, becomes quite wavy in places. The challenge lies in getting the aerodynamics just right: the skiers have to maintain a low crouch and ensure the perfect line through the bumpy left-hand bend into the traverse up to the first split time.
 

The real symbol of the Lauberhorn downhill. With a gradient of 41 degrees, this is the steepest part of the entire course. The tight, rocky passage seems to present an insurmountable, impassable obstacle: too narrow, too steep and with a short, hard fall area. On the Hundschopf, the right mix of risk-taking and technique is crucial. Everything that can be demanded of a downhill skier comes into play here in the tightest of spaces. The turns before it are sharper than usual, there are no more than 5 metres between the rocks on the left and the safety net on the right, the jump edge can only be guessed at, and the choice of line is determined by the end of the net and the skier’s imagination. And after that ... the abyss!

An intriguing combination of jump, curve, line choice and the highest technical demands on the skier. Depending on the skier’s speed, this right-hand bend can be taken with a wider or tighter radius. Finding the ideal speed determines whether the skier has enough landing space before the compression. Joos Minsch is by no means the only person to have been thrown off here, but he was one of the first prominent victims. In the first training session for the 1965 Lauberhorn downhill, the man from Graubünden wanted to prove himself right from the off. However, poor conditions meant the race was started at the Hundschopf. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, Joos Minsch risked too much, jumped too far and fell on landing. There was nothing to break his fall, and he only stopped down by the railway track. The result: a broken pelvis, nine weeks in hospital, the end of the season – and the naming of a this demanding, key section of the course in his honour.

In honour of Canada’s Dave Irwin and Ken Read, who both crashed in 1976 in the same race in almost the same place in quick succession, this section was named after their home country. The popular Canadian Corner VIP spectator platform is also located here, and admission tickets are available to purchase in our online shop. 

Travelling at over 100 kilometres per hour, skiers come to the Alpweg, just 3 metres wide and more akin to a channel due to the net on the valley side. This leads to the craziest chicane on the World Cup circuit: a tight right-left combination over the Kernen-S slows the skier down to a critical speed range (70 to 80 km/h) which they have to live with for the next 20 seconds. Bruno Kernen, who would go on to win in 2003, suffered a horrendous backwards crash into the net here in 1997 before being brutally catapulted back onto the piste. That’s why a short, cautious approach to the right-hand bend is not just about maintaining an optimal speed, but also reducing the risk of crashing.

After the Hundschopf and the Alpweg, the trilogy of crazy passages on the Lauberhorn comes to an end with the Wasserstation. This bottleneck not only makes spectators on the train passing overhead hold their breath, but also makes the skiers gulp when they see it for the first time. They race through this narrow passage at 90 to 100 kilometres per hour. At just 9 metres wide, the tunnel is actually too narrow, and it is so low that nobody dares to enter the dark hole fully upright.

A somewhat thankless part of the course, the flat section with its long, gradual changes in direction gives the skiers time to take stock. This is also where the first signs of fatigue become apparent, and as competitors glide through, all the attention is focused on their skis: are they lying nice and flat, are the edges too aggressive, are they accelerating?

Hanneggschuss is steep, long and dark and asks a lot of every skier. When their skis start to sway halfway down the straight, only making contact with the snow every 10 metres and, contrary to expectations, the piste doesn’t get any wider in the dark compression at the bottom, that’s when downhill skiers really show their mettle. This is when the real specialists make themselves smaller and more aerodynamic, accelerating to a top speed of over 140 kilometres per hour. The danger is there to be overcome – it has to be, and it can be.

A brief moment of respite. Here, on this short, flat stretch, skiers can afford to catch their breath. After the crescendo in the Hanneggschuss, they can to switch their attention to finding the right pressure and speed in the flat left-hand bend.

The newly designed jump from 2003 was the subject of fascinating TV pictures with the Silberhorn mountain in the background. In a slight right-hand bend, the skiers can allow centrifugal force and flight to take control, meaning the bumpy Wegscheide has been given a completely new dimension.

The legend now only lives on in the name. In 1954, the Austrian favourites Toni Sailer, Anderl Molterer and Walter Schuster were all eliminated here one after the other, thrown off by three humps in quick succession. The treacherous waves no longer exist, and the Austrians have one less opponent to face.

At the point where all the big races have long since ended, a unique, technically extremely demanding key passage follows on the Lauberhorn that can turn the rankings upside down. The skiers are tired by now, and here they have time to prepare briefly and take stock again. They become aware of the spectators and perhaps even hear the commentators. Some know they can lose everything here or make up the decisive fractions of a second they need to win. But for most of them, after well over 2 minutes of skiing time, it’s just a matter of getting through it. The three tight, icy bends are bumpy and made more difficult by the natural contours of the terrain. So it’s no surprise that some suddenly change their tactics here and don’t follow the aggressive line they had chosen during their test runs.
 

“The finish is where the skier comes to a halt.” Nowhere is this adage so true than on the Lauberhorn. After around two and a half minutes of skiing, rising from a low crouch at 100 km/h and braking within 100 metres are the final major challenges on this course. Anyone reaching the finish in Innerwengen for the first time will be left in no doubt that the Lauberhorn race has a special character all of its own: the essence of downhill skiing – the Home of Legends! 

The downhill finishes at 1,287 metres above sea level in Innerwengen.