Hahnenkamm, Kitzbühel


The Hahnenkamm is a mountain in Europe, directly southwest of Kitzbühel in the Kitzbühel Alps of Austria. The elevation of its summit is above sea level.
The Hahnenkamm is part of the ski resort of Kitzbühel, and hosts an annual World Cup alpine ski race, the Hahnenkammrennen. The most famous slope on the Hahnenkamm is the classic downhill course, the Streif, which is regarded as the most demanding race course on the World Cup circuit. The course features highly technical, "fall-away" turns, many with limited visibility. It also contains several flat gliding sections, immediately preceded by difficult turns, placing a premium on both technical and gliding skills. A run on the mountain's northeast face, the Streif course, is mostly in the shade in January. It is usually overcast and coupled with fog, the result being "flat" lighting which compounds the course's difficulty.

Hahnenkamm race

The Hahnenkammrennen are the annual races, held since 1931 and a fixture of the men's World Cup since its inception in the 1967 season. The races were originally held in March, and sometimes in early February. Beginning in 1953, the races at Kitzbühel have been held in mid to late January, often the week following the Lauberhorn in Wengen, Switzerland, another classic downhill.
Since 1959, the race has been broadcast on Austrian television.
In 2009, as well as in 2008, the total prize money was €550,000.
The Hahnenkamm races are currently held in the following disciplines:
Traditionally, the winner of the Hahnenkamm race was determined by the combined results of the downhill and slalom competitions. During the World Cup era, the man most likely to be referred to as Hahnenkammsieger is the winner of the prestigious downhill race.
The Super-G made its debut at Kitzbühel in 1995, and returned as a regular event in 2000, scheduled the day before the downhill.
Because of challenging weather conditions in January at the top of the mountain, the downhill course is often not run in its entirety. In the decade of 2000–09, the Streif full course was run in only four of the ten years. Unfortunately, this often eliminates one of the most exciting jumps in ski racing, the Mausefalle, seconds from the top of the course. The competitors reach high speeds quickly out of the starting gate on the Startschuss and fly up to off the steep jump. Upon landing the racers experience a severe compression immediately followed by a sharp left turn, often negotiated unsuccessfully. Speeds entering the turn are.
In 2006, morning fog at the top of the course forced race organizers to lower the start to the middle of the Karusell, below the Mausefalle. This shortened the length of the course by. The downhill race was cancelled in 2005 and 2007.
In 2008, strong upwinds at the Mausefalle caused race officials to lower the start, shortening the course by. This eliminated most of the Startschuss and its instantaneous speed; the Mausefalle was accordingly altered to a speed-inducing pitch, rather than a formidable jump and compression. Though Didier Cuche won the race, the 2008 edition is likely best remembered for the high-speed crash of Scott Macartney on the Zielsprung, seconds before the finish, as well as Bode Miller tying for second with Mario Scheiber after riding the safety fencing in the Steilhang section.
The full course returned in 2009, for the first time in five years, with Didier Défago of Switzerland winning the race. In addition to having the fastest time, he also had the highest speed on the Zielschuss at. It was the second consecutive downhill victory for Défago; he won the Lauberhorn downhill the previous week at Wengen to join a handful of skiers to win both classic races in consecutive weeks. It was last accomplished by Stephan Eberharter of Austria in 2002 and had been 17 years since a Swiss racer won both. The final training run on Thursday saw the serious crash of Swiss racer Daniel Albrecht, again at the Zielsprung. It resulted in a three-week coma and Albrecht's absence from the World Cup circuit for the remainder of the 2009 season and the entire 2010 season.
The full course was run in 2010 under clear skies and again won by Didier Cuche, who had also won the Super-G the previous day. The only significant crash was by former champion Michael Walchhofer, who twisted into the net fence at the final left turn, less than 20 seconds from the finish; he was quickly back on his feet. Cuche's downhill victory was his third on the Streif, his first was in 1998 on a Friday "extra" race. The Zielsprung was significantly moderated in 2010 due to the serious accidents the previous two years.
In 2011, Didier Cuche won the Hahnenkamm downhill for the fourth time to tie the record with Franz Klammer. A year later, and two days after announcing his retirement at the end of the season, Cuche claimed his third consecutive downhill victory at Kitzbühel and a record fifth total.
Dominik Paris claimed the title in 2013 to become the second winner from Italy and the first in fifteen years.
Due to lack of snow in 2014, the lower course was altered. The dramatic Querfahrt sidehill traverse and speed-inducing Zielschuss were bypassed; the racers detoured toward the Ganslern slalom slope, then rejoined the course for the final Rasmusleitn. This extended the overall length by to and reduced the finishing speed. Hannes Reichelt was the first winner from Austria in eight years.
Upper mountain fog in 2015 forced the start to the Seidlalm jump, the lowest in history. Kjetil Jansrud of Norway won in less than a minute on the lower 50% of the course.
High winds in 2016 lowered the start 40 m to the top of Mausefalle. On the full course in 2017, Paris became a two-time winner.

Course sections

Sections of the Streif downhill course include:
the Streif vertically descends to the finish at.
The following is a list of Hahnenkamm downhill winners, with their winning times:
YearDateWinnerNat.TimeNotes
2020January 25Matthias Mayer1:55.59
2019January 25Dominik Paris 1:56.82' - moved from Saturday due to bad weather forecasts
2018January 20Thomas Dressen1:56.15
2017January 21Dominik Paris 1:55.01
2016January 23Peter Fill1:52.37high winds - start lowered 40 m to top of Mausefalle, length reduced 100 m
2015January 24Kjetil Jansrud0:58.16fog - shortened to lower 50% of course - 1.6 km
2014January 25Hannes Reichelt2:03.38lack of snow, Querfahrt and Zielschuss bypassed, course length extended
2013January 26Dominik Paris 1:57.56
2012January 21Didier Cuche 1:13.28snowing - shortened to lower 60% of course - 2.0 km
2011January 22Didier Cuche 1:57.72
2010January 23Didier Cuche 1:53.74
2009January 24Didier Défago 1:56.09
2008January 19Didier Cuche 1:52.75start lowered 50 m to top of Mausefalle, due to upwinds
2007 no downhill or Super G races held - lack of snow, warm temperatures
2006January 21Michael Walchhofer1:46.75start moved to the bottom of the Mausefalle due to fog/safety
2005 no downhill race held - snow/rain - safety
2004January 24Stephan Eberharter 1:55.48
2004January 22Lasse Kjus 1:58.78'
2003January 25Daron Rahlves1:09.63shortened due to fog - lower 60% of course - 2.0 km
2002January 19Stephan Eberharter 1:54.21
2001January 20Hermann Maier1:56.84
2000January 22Fritz Strobl 1:46.54shortened
1999January 23Hans Knauß1:54.18
1999January 22Lasse Kjus 2:14.13'
1998January 24Kristian Ghedina2:05.49
1998January 23Didier Cuche 2:31.55two shortened runs
1997January 25Fritz Strobl 1:51.58record time for full course, set
1997January 24Luc Alphand 2:12.55'
1996January 13Günther Mader1:54.29record: held for 1 year
1995January 14Luc Alphand 1:40.97shortened
1995January 13Luc Alphand 1:40.33' shortened
1994January 15Patrick Ortlieb2:00.12
1993 no races held - lack of snow - snowmaking added that summer
1992January 18Franz Heinzer 1:56.63
1992January 17Franz Heinzer 1:56.04' record: held for 4 years
1991January 12Franz Heinzer 1:58.71
1990January 20Atle Skårdal2:26.20
1989January 13Marc Girardelli2:01.25'
1989January 14Daniel Mahrer 1:58.42
1988 no races held
1987January 25Pirmin Zurbriggen 1:58.06
1986January 18Peter Wirnsberger 2:02.04
1986January 17Peter Wirnsberger 2:01.77'
1985January 12Pirmin Zurbriggen 2:08.65
1985January 11Pirmin Zurbriggen 2:06.95'
1984January 21Franz Klammer 2:02.82
1983January 22Todd Brooker2:01.96
1983January 21Bruno Kernen 2:06.68'
1982January 16Steve Podborski 1:57.24
1982January 15Harti Weirather1:57.20' record: held for 10 years
1981January 17Steve Podborski 2:03.46
1980January 12Ken Read2:04.93
1979January 20Sepp Ferstl 2:04.48
1978January 21Josef Walcher
& Sepp Ferstl
2:07.81tie
1978January 20Josef Walcher 2:06.90'
1977January 15Franz Klammer 2:09.71
1976January 25Franz Klammer 2:03.79
1975January 18Franz Klammer 2:03.22record: held for 7 years
1974January 26Roland Collombin 2:03.29record: held for 1 year
1973January 27Roland Collombin 2:13.32
1972January 15Karl Schranz 2:24.36
1972January 14Karl Schranz 2:23.70'
1971 no downhill race held
1970 no downhill race held
1969January 18Karl Schranz 2:18.80
1968January 20Gerhard Nenning2:14.49
1967January 21Jean-Claude Killy2:11.82record: held for 7 years
1966*Karl Schranz 2:16.6record: held for 1 year
1965Ludwig Leitner2:30.8
1964 no races - lack of snow
1963Egon Zimmermann2:20.7record: held for 3 years
1962Willi Forrer 2:37.6
1961Guy Périllat2:29.2
1960Adrien Duvillard2:26.1record: held for 3 years
1959Buddy Werner2:33.4record: held for 1 year
1958Anderl Molterer 2:40.7record: held for 1 year
1957Toni Sailer 2:47.1
1956Toni Sailer 2:57.8
1955Anderl Molterer 2:46.2record: held for 3 years
1954Christian Pravda 2:47.9record: held for 1 year
1953January 17Bernhard Perren 2:54.5record: held for 1 year
1952 no races
1951February 7Christian Pravda 2:57.1
1950March 11Fritz Huber3:04.3
1949February 5Egon Schöpf3:03.0
1948March 13Helmut Lantschner3:16.3
1947March 7Karl Feix3:36.0
1946March 2Thaddäus Schwabl 3:04.3
1945 no races
1944 no races
1943 no races
1942 no races
1941 no races
1940 no races
1939 no races
1938 no races
1937March 19Thaddäus Schwabl 3:53.1first on Streif course'
1936March 7Freidl Pfeifer5:03.2
1935March 23Siegfried Engl4:38.8
1934 no races
1933 no races
1932March 19Walter Prager 7:56.4
1931March 28Ferdl Friedensbacher4:34.2

* pre-World Cup era
Each downhill champion's name is affixed to a gondola car on the Hahnenkammbahn'' lift,
which extends from the Kitzbühel base to the top of the Hahnenkamm mountain.

Vertical Up

In the open Streif VerticalUp event, first held in 2011, participants race the Streif upwards to the start booth of the ski race, with free choice of equipment.

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