Ski Sunday - the Swiss do it at last

Last week the death was announced of David Vine, the veteran English sports broadcaster who was familiar to so many UK listeners and viewers. Sadly missed by me for one, especially in an age now dominated by player-pundits.

He was the face and voice of Ski Sunday, and if he had still been broadcasting last Saturday it would have been from Kitzbühel, Austria for the annual Hahnenkamm race. The previous week he would have been in Wengen, Switzerland for the Lauberhorn. These two races are regarded as the double blue riband of the downhill skiing season. The two most challenging and spectacular races of the year.

The Swiss had waited 17 years, watching as the Austrians and Americans dominated, but finally it happened and Didier Defago won first at home in Wengen and then in front of the Austrians in Kitzbühel. His compatriots went into hyperbole especially as Dominique Gisin had accomplished the same feat in the women's downhill on the same weekends (different venues).

Overshadowing things a little was the bad accident sustained by Daniel Albrecht in training for the Hahnenkamm. The usual concerns were raised about the dangers of the sport. Some of the complaints I heard were that the Lauberhorn wasn't dangerous enough since the final jump had been trimmed in previous years. I wasn't clear whether people wanted the Hahnenkamm Zielschuss cut down to size, or the Lauberhorn restored to it's former perilous grandeur

The hope now is that Swiss skiing has at last turned the corner. We shall see. Lets hope that the snow sticks around for a few more years as well. This year the snow conditions have been excellent.

It's not surprising that the Swiss and Austrians are good at skiing. After all, they have it slotted into their primary school curriculum. However they do quite well in a lot of sports, certainly overshadowing my own, similarly sized country of Scotland. I wonder if it is education, facilities or culture that makes the difference. The Swiss are all generally pretty fit which helps of course, and there are good facilities everywhere. For the men there is maybe also the factor of military service. Although only a few weeks every year between the ages of 18 and 41, I'm sure it encourages people not to get out of shape. Otherwise you know your life is going to be a misery during those weeks.