Lenzerheide notebook: Is it farewell, Hermann?

By Published On: March 14th, 2007Comments Off on Lenzerheide notebook: Is it farewell, Hermann?

Sum up Hermann Maier’s race season: not so fast.
    Sum up rumors swirling around the Swiss Alps that the Herminator is set to call it a career: not so fast.
    Maier, tied for fifth in the World Cup Finals downhill, did not confirm nor deny that he is retiring following Saturday’s giant slalom. He did hint that a switch in ski brands and a physical rejuvenation might influence his future.
LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland — Sum up Hermann Maier’s race season: not so fast.
    Sum up rumors swirling around the Swiss Alps that the Herminator is set to call it a career: not so fast.
    Maier, tied for fifth in the World Cup Finals downhill, did not confirm nor deny that he is retiring following Saturday’s giant slalom. He did hint that a switch in ski brands and a physical rejuvenation might influence his future.
    “Saturday, maybe we’ll talk about that,” Maier said in the finish corral after receiving a warm ovation from a Swiss crowd that topped 4,000. “There are two more races.”
    Maier, 34, is third on the all-time World Cup men’s wins list behind Ingemar Stenmark and Marc Girardelli.
    Maier, like most of the Austrian men’s speed racers, has been a stalwart on Atomic skis for the last few years. Like the retirement rumors, there is talk that Maier may switch equipment.
    “When you’ve had a lot of success, you get a lot of offers, for sure,” he said. “But I’m very satisfied. I’ve had great success with Atomic, so we’ll see when I am skiing in the springtime, and maybe I will test.”
    Will he test Head skis, which lured Bode Miller from Atomic after last season, and other contending brands?
    “Not all,” he said. “I will see.”
    Maier is expected to compete in the super G and Saturday’s GS, but does not ski slalom, which is set for Sunday as the season wraps up in Lenzerheide.
    Wednesday, Maier had to deal with soft snow and lengthy course holds after two major crashes.
    “Yeah, maybe that’s the reason I didn’t risk so much in the lower section,” he said of Bruno Kernen’s crash. “I tried to reach the finish line for the last downhill [of the season].”
    When asked if he’ll return next winter to Beaver Creek’s Birds of Prey course, site of some of his greatest triumphs, Maier was elusive. “Hopefully. Hopefully … I can have the performances that I’ve had there in past years. Like in 2001 and 2000. That would be interesting. This would be my goal. It’s a nice downhill there and I will try to have the same form.
    “The last years I [have been] always too much on the back side,” he added. “Maybe if I have the power, then Beaver Creek is the perfect downhill.”
WHAT’S WITH FRITZ? Fritz Strobl, another aging Austrian, was 20th Wednesday and was in the start house when Kernen darted through the fencing after losing control off a jump. He was forced to wait perhaps 45 minutes to start.
    “It was not nice to be in the start after the accident with Bruno Kernern,” Strobl said. “But that’s downhill sport. It’s a difficult course and a difficult hill. Anything can happen. I’m happy to be down and be healthy, that’s the most important thing today.”
    Strobl said he has not decided whether he will continue racing on the World Cup tour.
“I don’t now know, because tomorrow is a race again and I am focused on the race tomorrow. I will decide after.”
TESTING FOR TED: Ted Ligety has not been home — Park City, Utah — since Dec. 29. After Lenzerheide, he’ll stay in the Alps for some equipment testing, then head home for a few days before going to Alaska for alpine nationals. With FIS regulations for boot and ski dimensions changing for next season, Ligety will spend four days testing different slalom skis. They’ll all be wider than this year’s skis, and will have different sidecuts.
    “Next year it will definitely be harder arcing the top of the turn,” Ligety said.
    “I’ll test my ski setup for next year,” Ligety said. “Everything is changing so much [with new FIS regulations]. I definitely don’t want to be in New Zealand sitting there testing ski setups the entire time.”

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About the Author: Pete Rugh