The winter sports industry has suffered in recent years from the effects of climate change but this year’s big snowfall arrived in time for last Saturday’s 86th running of the Lauberhorn, another of the classic races of the downhill season. And around the world, more than a few people had discovered a cure for the midwinter blues. On the leaderboard, the No15 displaced the No3. As the Austrian crossed the line, his time came up. When Klammer’s red helmet rocketed into the view of the spectators at the finish, Russi noted that his rival was taking the last turn at an angle no one had tried before. But then, waiting at the bottom of the mountain, Russi heard the roar of 60,000 Austrian spectators and, in his own words, felt the mountain start to shake. Still, though, he trailed by a few hundredths of a second at the first and second intermediate time-checks. Old-timers, taught to lock their skis together in neat parallel turns, recoiled at the way all the rules of style and balance were abandoned in one man’s juddering, flailing battle with gravity and centrifugal force.
The course was being attacked head-on and it responded by biting back, forcing Klammer into lurid feats of last-ditch recovery. Within the first 15 seconds it became apparent to anyone watching from the warmth and safety of their front room that here was a man willing to go beyond the limits of control.
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