ÖSV slalom team wants to get back on the podium

It was December 22, 2023 and Marco Schwarz was in the night slalom after an intensive week in Val Gardena and Alta Badia Madonna di Campiglio Halftime sixth. In the second round he turned on the turbo and in the end not only won the day, but also took the lead in the overall World Cup. Six days later, the dream was shattered when Schwarz tore the cruciate ligament in his right knee on the descent from Bormio.

A season later, the Slalom classic in Madonna’s floodlights instead, this time in January. It’s the starting signal for a month full of classics before the World Cup in Saalbach from February 4th: Madonna followed by Adelboden, Wengen, Kitzbühel, Schladming and Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

In the slalom, the ÖSV men stayed away from the podium this season. That’s what the team wants Manuel Feller, Marco Schwarz, Fabio Gstrein, Michael Matt, Adrian Pertl, Dominik Raschner, Johannes Strolz and Joshua Sturm but change.

90.000 WM-Tickets

Meanwhile, in Saalbach, preparations are underway for the World Cup in full swing. “The winter started well and we are relatively far along with snowmaking. Our piste team is on the move at full speed, and the weather gods are also helping us,” said Bartl Gensbichler, sports director of Saalbach 2025 and President of the Salzburg State Ski Association on Tuesday at a media event at the Zwölferkogel, where all eleven races take place.

With the around so far 90,000 visitor tickets sold Of a total of 150,000, they are very well on track, said ÖSV General Secretary Christian Scherer at the presentation. “We are very satisfied.” He is optimistic that interest in the tickets will continue to increase.

They are also satisfied with the number of registered racers. There are 248 women and 382 men from 73 nations on the pre-entry list.

When asked what the outcome should be at the end of the World Cup, they said they wanted “a great, accident-free World Cup with a successful Austrian team, and a World Cup that sparks enthusiasm for skiing and winter tourism in Austria.” Of course, the ÖSV also wants to make money with it, and this wish could come true if there are enough spectators and good weather. Scherer assumes that the balance sheet will be balanced in any case. The World Cup event budget is 50 million euros.