It’s Sunday, and the last day of the races. The slalom is won by another Norwegian, Henrik Kristoffersen. A clean sweep of all 3 races for Norway.
There was a British lad in the race called Dave Ryding. He did very well, finishing 15th. Not bad for a boy from Manchester.
Spectators and competitors walking back to the village.
Today’s the day. After yesterday’s combination race, today we have the blue ribbon event – the downhill race on the Lauberhorn.
We start with another airshow.
The Airbus A321 at the head of the formation was named ‘Wengen’ in a ceremony this morning.
Here’s the stadium. It’s at a hamlet called Innerwengen which is a little lower than Wengen. Most of what you can see will be removed after the races.
Wengen looking lovely in the morning sun.
And it doesn’t really matter whether you care about the skiing; you’ll never have a nicer walk to a major sporting event.
And we have a winner. Axel Svindal from Norway. His team-mate won the combination yesterday, so I expect there’s going to be a big party in the Caprice tonight.
So. Having skied from the Lauberhorn to Innerwengen in less than 2 minutes, how do our superstars get back to Wengen? Well, if you finish in the top 3, a helicopter will give you a lift. The rest have to walk back along with everyone else.
It snowed a lot last night, but this morning was clear so the race is on. People come from all over Europe for this event, but for us it’s just a 15 minute walk. We get a good spot just above the grandstand.
This morning’s race is a downhill. The results will be combined with the times from a slalom race this afternoon to determine the winner. You don’t see much skiing when you watch a downhill – the skiers hurtle down to the finish line and skid to a halt in a cloud of snow.
But you can watch the whole run on a big screen.
Enthusiastic French contingent.
After the downhill we are in the fortunate position of being able to walk home for lunch, which is nice as it’s minus 5 and we’re freezing.
Here is the top 10 from the downhill.
So you can see that Mr Goldberg from the USA needs to be at least 1.82 seconds faster than Svindal if he is to win the combination.
The Swiss Air Force put on an airshow at lunchtime, accompanied by a Swiss Airlines Airbus.
We walk back with the local kids who all have the afternoon off school. Back at the stadium the grandstand is packed for the slalom.
Slalom is popular because it moves along quickly. The course is short but technically very difficult.
In the end the Norwegians finished 1st and 2nd, with a Frenchman in 3rd. After the race everyone walks back to the village past our house.
The winner, Kjetil Jansrud.
Went up to Männlichen this morning and had coffee, then skied round to Scheidegg to watch the training runs for the race. The racer pops out of the start hut at top speed, with his mate in hot pursuit carrying all his belongings.
This evening in the village the racers go on stage to get their bibs for tomorrow’s Super combination race. They do a downhill in the morning and a slalom in the afternoon.
We have our bibs of course.
Central Sport are hosting a party. Colin and Steve are playing and there are lots of skiers signing autographs.
I cleared about 4 inches of fresh snow off our steps this morning. It’s cold! We headed across the valley to Winteregg where the skiing is not too high and the trees help the visibility. Quite gloomy at the top to begin with.
But things began to brighten up and we had some very good skiing.
We had a late lunch and caught the little train back to Grutschalp. The sun put in an appearance.
The weather’s changing today, it feels very wintry and we’re getting frequent snow showers. We went to Interlaken to get some shopping. Ibex peeping at the train on the way down. We bought hair clippers – they cost less than a single haircut does in Wengen.
When we got back to Lauterbrunnen the Austrian ski team were unloading their vans.
Wengen is in full race mode now.
The race teams stay in the hotels around the village. Each hotel flies the flag of its guests. The Caprice is hosting the Norwegian team.
Snowing hard tonight.
Weather was not great today, rain this morning and snow showers after lunch. But I didn’t care, because my piano arrived today!
Pleased to report that I can still play, even if those carols that I learned are going to have to wait for another 11 months!
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