Heroes behind the scenes: This is how the Ski World Cup in Saalbach works!

Heroes behind the scenes: This is how the Ski World Cup in Saalbach works!

In the Saalbach ski circus, where the Ski World Championships take place, emotions and high concentration face each other. While the cheering fans cheer on the athletes, Vorarlberg experts in the background ensure that everything runs smoothly. Patrick Bechter and Kilian Gross, both former ski athletes, are there as a ski boot service member to adapt perfectly suitable ski boots to the stars like Vincent Kriechmayr and Lara Gut-Behrami. Bechter explains that he and his team are working all year round in all World Cup races to offer the athlete optimal comfort. "We have athletes who come up to 56 pairs of shoes in one season," says Bechter, and adds that every athlete usually needs between five and ten pairs of ski boots.

The variety of equipment

But not only the ski boots have to be carefully selected. The skis are also crucial. The Mellau World Cup driver Lukas Feurstein has about 40 to 45 pairs of different skis for different disciplines. Alex Martin, his service man, explains that it often takes up to 15 different ski per discipline to find the optimal model. All materials from test drivers are tried out before the start of a competition. A team of Vorarlbergers, including the Skitester Lukas Matt, keeps an overview of the best ski by taking test drives on specially prepared routes.