WENGEN, Switzerland, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of fans swarmed in for the FIS World Cup Lauberhorn races, which started here on Friday, for an in-presence view of world-class skiers and one of the most famous races in the World Cup tour.

Friday's super-G race held in Wengen, a village of Jungfrau, attracted thousands of spectators although the way to get into the over-1,000-meter-high village is a railway connection.

All the hotels were crowded and a food gala was set up one day before the start of the World Cup as people already began to celebrate.

A steep, muddy and slippery mountain path is the only way from the center of Wengen to the finishing point of the races, but nothing can stop the passion of the fans.

Marti Fabjenne, a teacher from Schule Aare-Oenz, a school of Bern, brought two grade eight classes to the races.

"This is our first time to watch the Lauberhorn races. Me and another teacher brought up here over 40 students. We two organized this trip. We just asked the students who wants to come and they bought train tickets by their own," said Fabjenne.

"We came here because we love skiing," she added.

Swiss Olympic champions Beat Feuz and Marco Odermatt are also the reason for local fans to fill in the small audience stand at the finishing point. More people had to stand on the hills at both sides of the ski piste to watch the race.

Victor Schwab was lucky to get access to the stand with his three buddies, all in costume and uniform with Swiss national flag around them, to cheer for every racer and chanted songs like football fans in a stadium.

"This is the second time for us to come and watch the World Cup here. We all love skiing," Schwab said.

Since it was set up in 1929, the Internationale Lauberhornrennen celebrated its 93rd anniversary in 2023. It attracted an average of 50,000 audiences every year over the past decades, except in 2021 when the race was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Organizers' data shows that over one million people watched the World Cup races on television in German-speaking Switzerland last year, and the event is one of the most watched ones in Switzerland in the past 10 years.

"We Swiss are born to ski," said Janine Rogenmoser, who had the whole family with her for the event, including her four-month-old daughter.

Her boyfriend's 69-year-old mother carried her daughter all the way to a small hill beside the finishing area to watch the race.

"My daughter was on snow when she was only two months old. I'm planning to teach her to ski as soon as she can walk," Rogenmoser said.

Hundreds of children are among the audience of the Lauberhorn races, most of whom are with their families and schools.

"I think an important law of the development of the sport [of skiing] is to bring young people to ski," Jungfrau CEO Urs Kessler told Xinhua on Thursday.

The love for skiing has made Switzerland one of the best winter sports countries in the world as it won seven gold, two silver and six bronze medals at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

And it could be more successful in the future if the "born-to-ski" tradition is always cherished. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)