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There is nothing bigger in the ski world than racing in the Streif.

Especially the self-accomplishment of

being able to attack that thing top to bottom.

It's the most treacherous downhill out there and,

it's ended careers, it's ended, you know, dreams,

it's crushed people in certain ways,

but it's also, like, elevated people to another level.

The one thing that really separates the Streif from any other race

is just what's at stake.

It's that win that everybody is searching for, trying to fight for

and mark yourself in history as one of the legends of the sport.

You're willing to die for it, almost.

Yeah, I mean, it's... The Streif is worth it all.

And so in the starting gate of the Streif,

it's all about kicking as hard as you can, saving nothing.

You know, just, you put everything you have into it.

That's the time that there's a race you live for.

You live for that moment where you're gonna be fully tested

and you have to fully commit and that's hard to do

with the consequences and the fact that,

you know, that things could, like, go wrong quick.

The first time in Kitzbuhel, you're not really confident.

And the first time I was at the start, I was really scared,

because all the guys are making joke in the evening and they say,

"Don't unpack too much your stuff.

I don't wanna pack for you tomorrow if you go to hospital."

The first time you cross the finish line,

it's good, you survived. But the second time, it's worse

because you know what you have to face.

The Streif is the most challenging race you have on the World Cup Tour.

The high level of risk and the thin line you have there

push you really back to...

give your best, to push your own limit so far.

To be...

really close to your best skiing.

That's maybe why I won five times there.

History was made.

First American downhiller to win on the Streif.

It was such an intense dream that I've had for a long time.

It was a great moment for me, the win in 2003.

But...

there was no Austrian on the podium.

Didier Cuche was second,

Kjetil Andre Aamodt, the Norwegian, was third.

And in the national paper,

front page, the next day in Austria,

had big letters.

And it said, "Black Saturday."

Thank you.

It's different. It's not like any other World Cup race.

If you just came out of there and you're still in one piece,

no damage done, that's how tough Kitzbuhel is.

It's how difficult that course is...

...that have made Kitzbuhel what it is, the Streif.

Kitzbuhel... Pure goosebumps.

You don't even have to win it. Just have to finish it.

And people will say, "You had the guts to ski that course?

Incredible."

And that's often, actually,

the feeling that I get in Kitzbuhel is encouragement.

I mean, they're there to see a show. They're there to see a champion.

They're there to see somebody risk it all. And I never feel like

the athletes come secondary to the show.

I feel like the athletes are the gladiators in the show.

So all eyes are on them.

Pumped!

You need the balls to ski down,

to take every turn head-on and to defeat the Streif.

Having the courage to do that

is difficult.

With speeds like 150 kilometers per hour,

the feeling, the adrenaline,

I feel special that I'm a downhill skier.

Max, it's extremely important

that we work on your core strengths.

We have to work a lot harder on your stability.

Everything, your abs, back muscles...

they all have to be trained much better.

No matter what cost

and whatever happens,

this winter you must be able to keep it up for two and a half minutes at full speed.

Only if you are strong enough and keep your head straight,

you will be able to follow your chosen line

totally controlled and close to the limit.

Yeah, Max, it's 50 kilos.

I want to see more stability in press form. Should be much higher.

Okay. Thank you. Very good.

Come on!

Keep at it.

Grit your teeth. Come on!

Ta-tow!

Core strength. Toss your opponent.

Sweating and working out in summer is all part of it.

If you crash or you hurt yourself,

you can't help thinking,

"If I trained more, it might not have happened."

The fitter you are, the safer you are on the course.

Yes! Once more!

Come on!

The Hahnenkamm is known worldwide. It's the biggest stage for ski racing.

It's not like a football field

where it's manicured, just, you know, a week before. It's an outdoor arena.

This is a year long project by the Kitzbuheler Ski Club.

I mean, there are so many factors.

Weather changes, the elements of the race hill.

It's a dirt surface.

I mean, the netting

which is all the fencing, the protection.

Those things we don't see as a racer.

To get your name on a gondola in Kitzbuhel,

it's like getting a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood.

Just better.

It's a big victory to win the Super in Kitzbuhel.

But, somehow, you want more.

It is a dream to win the Kitzbuhel Downhill.

And that's something that I still miss.

But I have my eyes on that race every single year.

Being at the Streif in summer is just great.

You know, in winter, when you get down to the finish,

all hell breaks loose.

Fifty thousand are cheering.

Even if you come in 20th,

they cheer for you because you made it down in one piece.

Off Hausberg, it's really important to

just get back into that full-tilt pin mode.

I mean, you're not thinking about anything else, but just attacking.

You think, "Don't be stupid."

At the same time, you think,

"You have to ride the risky line.

The safe one won't get you anywhere."

It's all or nothing here.

You have to, like, get everything going,

your trajectory just right, so you, like, take all the speed across the side-hill.

And just hang on. I mean, it's bumpy.

It's another, like, blind sector. You can't see the end of the turn.

And you're trying to let it go a little bit, so you can maximize the speed here.

Gonna have to fight too much to get back up to that last gate.

And once you see that you're clear, you're just letting it go

and shooting into the Zielschuss right there.

This is the fastest part of the course.

This is where you're tired,

but you're trying to be as smooth and relaxed as you can...

and still fighting against the forces.

And then it's, like, the home stretch coming up.

And then that moment of crossing the finish line...

You hear the crowd erupt and you've made it down the Streif.

It's just the most intense feeling

in the world of skiing that I've ever felt.

The Steilhang demands full commitment.

It's super icy, really bumpy,

it's dark. You don't have a chance to, like, relax for a second here.

The exit of the Steilhang decides how much speed you will have

in the flat section.

If you come in two kilometers per hour faster,

you gain two-tenths at the end of the flat part.

That makes the Steilhang exit and finding the killer-line very important.

And here it's really critical.

Exit Steilhang, but take the speed out of this basketball turn.

This is where you pretty much make or break your run.

The Mausefalle is a ghastly stretch

because you have to push it right to the limit.

A mistake is fatal.

What separates the Streif from any other World Cup track

is the top 30 seconds.

You have no chance to build into this race.

It's in your face from the moment you kick out of the start and it's game on.

You have no chance for fear.

You have no chance for fear to set in at all on the Streif.

Once you do that, you've already lost.

You're going for it. You're throwing yourself down the hill

and there is not a second thought about anything you're doing.

And you have to ski that way. You gotta ski to own it.

You gotta ski to take control.

I used to think downhill skiers

had to be heavy men, weighing about 100 kilos.

Hard-nosed daredevils.

But since I have seen Daron Rahlves,

a guy who weighs only 80 kilos,

I thought, "Okay, even a lightweight,

given a good technique can be a downhill racer."

The thing about downhill is,

the only way you can get really good downhill training

is in downhill races in the World Cup Tour,

because the training you do is never gonna be

as extreme as a downhill race.

I mean, for a downhill, you pretty much need to block out the whole mountain.

You have to ski in the summer and the fall.

There is not time for training in the winter.

There will be racing and traveling, because when the winter comes,

if you are not ready and you have to go training

then you will have to skip races. And if you wanna win titles,

you can't skip races because you're losing points.

Speed is not about how many kilometers per hour or miles per hour,

it's about how fast you can go through the challenges that are thrown at you.

You have to push yourself to go faster than what feels comfortable.

And that's exactly what you do when you're doing downhill.

It almost doesn't matter what kind of competition it is.

You immediately build up that feeling that, "I wanna try to win this."

In the racetrack, there is a lot of similarities

to downhill skiing. You have the speed.

A lot of the same skills

you need to have to win in order to pick your line, carry the speed.

Get the maximum grip.

You have the g-forces, you have a lot of the same feelings

that you do have in skiing.

But there's one part that we're missing in skiing.

And that's the part you're able to see your competitor

as you're racing against them.

Marcel Hirscher and I, we have a lot of fights going on

in the World Cup, but he slalom GS

and then I have my downhill Super Gs, the speed-runs.

It's kind of like a big fight happening on almost on separate arenas.

I mean, I know myself and I don't like to lose.

But from how I know Marcel,

I think that he's almost worse. I think he hates to lose.

It's the feeing of

controlling something that's uncontrollable.

It's going down something as crazy as Kitzbuhel

and going 140 kilometers an hour.

And the best feeling is thinking,

you know, "This isn't enough. I want more."

And when you get down to the bottom and you know you've done everything possible

and you're standing in the leader's box, nothing really compares to that.

That was sweet.

You know, I finished second in Kitzbuhel, I finished, a couple times, fifth.

But winning Kitzbuhel, I think, would be something else.

And I haven't experienced that yet, but,

I think, that's when I'd be truly proud of myself,

is when I can say that I won the Hahnenkamm.

So, it's difficult, you know, to sit on the sidelines

and not get anything out of it.

You have to be really patient and

ultimately trust yourself that it's gonna be all right at the end.

You know, you have to be very strong mentally

to be able to bounce back from those sort of injuries.

But ultimately, you know, if you love your sport

and you love being out there and you wanna compete,

and you're there for the right reasons, then

it's a no-brainer, you put in the effort.

You do everything you can to get up back on track and then you let it fly again.

Certainly, injuries are part of the career.

I think that I've had my fair share.

I hope this is the last of it and I won't have any more to deal with.

But, yeah, it is absolutely a roller-coaster ride.

I mean, you go through these ups, where you think everything is going so well,

You feel like you're building and progressing and you're, sort of, on a roll

and in that one little movement

you hurt yourself and you're out for the season, possibly even longer.

Some people don't even come back from those injuries, you know.

The Kitzbuhel Downhill is something I still watch like a little boy.

I mean, it is unbelievable and everyone of us knows that it is dangerous.

Ski racing is dangerous.

Well, Max is here because of our friendship.

During our school days, we were rivals.

The differences between us were clear even then.

When I did one back-flip on skis,

Max did two. He was always more willing to take risks.

More open to that.

But I had the slightly better technique,

so we parted company.

But Max still has no fear.

He doesn't even care if he is a daredevil.

In this way, a slalom racer trains with a downhiller.

It is a good way to see what my physical condition is,

what Max's physical condition is

and where the differences lie.

At least, for me, it is a lot more fun

than lifting weights by myself all day

and pursuing my activities alone.

Slalom skiing is wild. You must be fast and agile.

But now we are talking about negotiating gates nine meters,

a part which is pretty difficult to manage.

Additionally, you have to have

extra power to accelerate on your skis,

to be able to compete at an international level.

The only way to achieve this

is to keep your training as versatile as possible.

To train a slalom and a speed-skier together

is almost an experiment.

The skiing is completely different.

High-speed in downhill

and short dynamicrophone turns in slalom.

But at then end, both learn from each other.

I remember, three years ago, everyone thought,

"If Hirscher races he must win." It was awesome.

People expected this of me.

But then again, I thought, "Come on."

Just like the Streif has the prettiest legends,

so has the Kitzbuhel Slalom.

And I think the amount of energy there

definitely equals what you see in the downhill race.

Whoever wins at Kitzbuhel can be sure

of a certain place of honor.

So there is a lot of respect and fear to fail.

If we feel pressure, you must be able to deal with it,

or it is all in vain.

There are 50,000 people on the slopes, supporting you

and two million in front of the TV in Austria alone.

There is no holding back.

You can only push forward.

I don't really know how,

but I seem to be able to beat gravity again and again.

Later, I think, "How the hell did I do that?"

It gives me chills because, I have to admit,

I don't know, I really don't.

The Kitzbuhel Slalom, just like the Downhill,

has produced legends of our sport.

Names like Ingemar Stenmark, Tomba La Bomba

Marc Girardelli. You don't see this happening today

where someone wins the slalom and the downhill.

But back in the 60s, Jean-Claude Killy won 'em both.

One of the most impressive ski races of all time.

Wins the Streif Downhill and the Slalom.

It'd be incredible to see that happen again.

In 1937,

the Streif, as we know it, kicked off.

The first race.

But back then, with the equipment,

it was an unprepared course,

with grass growing out of the snow,

rocks, so much terrain and no gates.

It was just racing down the mountain, top to bottom.

And back then there was even tonnes of spectators checking out the race to see

who had the balls to go for it.

Ski racing in the 1950s was dominated by the Kitzbuhel Wunderteam.

Six racers from Kitzbuhel that consisted of two standouts,

Anderl Molterer and Toni Sailer.

The men's downhill event at the Streif, the climax

of the Hahnenkamm races. That's the heavily favorite Anderl Molterer from Kitz.

And like a bolt of lightning,

the Blitz speeds down the final slope to cross the finish line

with a time that will hold up for quite a while.

He can almost smell victory.

And now, Toni Sailer!

He flies through the Mouse Trap,

only 3,900 meters left, part of the icy routes.

At first, slower than Molterer on the bottom half, however,

the three-time Olympic winner overtakes him with the precision of a Swiss watch.

A top speed of over 100 kilometers an hour,

Toni Sailer wins the downhill race at the Streif in Kitzbuhel,

in two minutes and 47.1 seconds.

In the 1960s,

things started really evolving for Kitzbuhel,

with the rich and famous and there's girls and parties,

fast cars. It was the place to be.

And it hasn't changed till this day.

The next hero was Karl Schranz.

He managed to win the Streif four times.

And that held on for a long time.

In the 1970s,

a new kid in town showed up in the Streif, Franz Klammer.

This guy brought his wild style to the Streif

and everybody had to watch out, 'cause he just ended up racking up wins.

In 1975, he won his first win

and that was the start of a three-year streak.

I was thinking about Kitzbuhel a lot

and I was there, standing, I couldn't believe. I was shocked

because it was unbelievable,

this Mausefalle, Steilhang.

And it was so brutal.

It's the best downhill in the world, for me.

It's throwing yourself down the mountain with no fear.

You have to fully commit and that's hard to do,

with the consequences and the risk.

And then I had won it a third time in a row.

After that it was a big gap.

For seven years, I couldn't believe, but then

back in 1984, I knew I will win it.

And I was going for it. I was really attacking like the first victory.

It just came back. I skied

like I had to ski and then I succeeded again.

This was beside my Olympic win,

my most memorable moment in my downhill career.

And a win like that at Kitzbuhel, it's just...It's unbelievable.

The crowd, the spectators,

grabbing, just wanting a piece of him.

Just holding on to him. Pushing him around the finish line. It was...

The pride of Austria was riding high at that moment when

Franz Klammer won in 1984.

I just wanted to ski,

but, obviously, my way of skiing

inspired many people and so I became a star.

Fritz "The Cat" Strobl, to this day,

has the record time down the Streif.

It all came together in 1997.

There was a little straighter set under the Hausberg.

I think it's four or five seconds faster than any time after.

It's gonna be untouchable. It's gonna stand the test of time.

Hermann Maier, he was the next...

hero of the Streif.

This guy was the best skier during this time in the early 2000s.

It was an emotional time for him

because he was at the top of his game, he was the guy to beat.

With several wins under his belt, from the Super G to Hahnenkamm,

he finally won his first downhill victory on the Streif.

Hermann Maier, I mean, caged animal.

He had a horrible accident.

No one knew if he could ever come back, he never knew if he could walk again.

But he came back in 2003, under a lot of pain

and he surprised all of us.

I think he surprised himself.

He came back and won a Hahnenkamm Super G race.

It was an exceptional achievement.

Hats off to Hermann Maier.

Another thing to note in 2003...

was... History was made.

First American

downhiller to win in the Streif.

I was feeling I was destined to win that day.

I was just living for that moment.

Daron Rahlves, from the United States of America.

I had a little scary moment across the traverse,

where I hit this, like, bump I couldn't see and almost

made the splits right there, but pulled it back and...

I came across the line and I was leading.

Just so pumped and, kind of,

felling, like, out of this world that moment, but that was

the greatest day of my life as a skier.

USA! USA!

2004 was...

It was probably my best week in Kitzbuhel.

I came in there

on top of my game with a Super G win, the day before.

It was my time to do it again. I came down

with so much determination and confidence and skied really well.

Came down with the lead and I thought, "Here it is."

You know, but, there was this other guy, Stephan Eberharter.

He came out of the gate with everything he had.

I mean, just full-tilt, so precise

with, like, the timing, the rhythm of how he was skiing.

And he was so aggressive and everything was just clicking.

It was just happening just right for him.

The split comes up and he's so far ahead and just thinking,

"Man, slow down somewhere, please."

You know, "I want this repeat of a downhill win here."

I think he records, like, the best run, top to bottom, of all time.

Stephan, hats off to you. That was one hell of a ride.

Looking back in history, with Karl Schranz's four wins on the Streif,

Franz Klammer, four wins on the Streif,

no one could ever imagine somebody surpassing those victories.

But this one guy from Switzerland, Didier Cuche,

he made that happen and squashed the record with five wins on the Streif.

The first time I was at the start in Kitzbuhel, I was really scared.

From the first top five guy,

four crashed, three had to go to the hospital.

And I said to myself,

"How can I reach the finish line if the best guy are crashing?"

I actually wanted to go backwards

out of the start house and going down with the gondola.

The first time I reached that line,

it was for me like a victory, my arm went just up,

like, I would have win the race.

1998, that was my first victory ever.

And that's why it was really emotional.

And I never expect myself to ski so fast on that hill.

But I had to wait ten years, 2008, to win again.

Two years later, 2010,

it was the double victory.

I won the Super G the day before and I won the downhill.

2011, the day was perfect, the sun was there

and I won with almost one second ahead.

I was really happy with myself.

And I finally slept like a baby.

It was my perfect run.

A long series of success,

as long as she is, you approach the end of that series.

And when you realize in Kitzbuhel

so many guys crashed really hard, like

Macartney, like Albrecht, Grugger.

Those guy

had to quit their career after that.

And I realized next time could be myself.

And 2012,

it was the last race

in Kitzbuhel for me and two days before the race,

I announced my retirement at the end of the season.

I put myself, maybe, under pressure with that.

And finally winning again by the last time I raced there,

I was really thankful to the hill

and to the whole region of Kitzbuhel.

My name is Yuri Danilochkin.

I'm a Belarusian skier.

The way to Kitzbuhel, for me, starts here in Minsk,

where we don't have mountains,

where we don't have snow.

This is strangely,

but this is truth.

Everything started when I saw Hermann Maier and Stephan Eberharter

skiing down the Streif in Kitzbuhel.

And I believe that one day

I'll become one of the legends like them.

I wanna find out about myself.

And alpine skiing is giving me the chance,

especially downhill.

And in a few days

we will go back to winter, we will go back to Alps

and we'll go back to ski and for the downhill.

I am driver my car.

Tractor.

Yeah, I'm very motivated for the next season

because I want to come back to the World Cup circuit.

We don't have a possibility to go Canada

or America because it's too expensive.

But we can travel in Europe.

I don't have any possibility to train downhill before Val Gardena.

This is the beginning for me.

This is big problem for result.

Not money go to Canada and America.

Very expensive Flugzeug.

I am said my Weissrussland Federation, "Please, help me."

No possible.

When the season starts, the pressure mounts.

The question is, "How good are you?"

You won't know until the first race.

The way to the World Cup is long.

My first time on skis was at 18 months.

I first took part in kids races at five.

Started FIS races at 15.

And then raced in the European Cup and the World Cup,

where things get really serious.

You have to face the world's best skiers.

Yeah, every time difficult.

Every time, kalt.

No time eating, no time...

I wash my hair.

We're only two in our team.

Me and my mother, Natali.

To survive on the tour, we're asking our friends

to give us accommodation sometimes.

To give us the money for the fuel, because we don't have the money

to continue our trip between the World Cup stages.

I'm trying to think about that it's very difficult job,

that it's tough for both of us.

Any mistake is like nuclear bomb.

Sometimes it's pretty difficult

to talk with her.

I cannot stand that.

But I love her, anyway.

My son very, very talent.

My son...

I think, best downhill man.

Being among the best is about much more.

About training technical skills and testing skis.

So you know which skis to use, which finish,

which wax is the best, boots, hard ones or soft ones?

These are all very important things if you want to compete with the best.

My konkurrent have a lot of ski and ski and ski and ski and maybe 20 ski.

My son have small ski.

I am preparing ski every day.

I no sleep, my legs stress every day.

It's really tough to prepare the skis all night long.

I am Terminator woman.

Yes, Terminator.

The air is thin at the top.

It's about hundreds of seconds... centimeters.

Without a professional team, you don't stand a chance.

We have to change something.

We need more money and a good result in Kitzbuhel can help us.

Streif gives me the chance

to show something better, be better, ski faster.

It's been five weeks of really warm weather. And it's taken away

all the snow from the Hausbergkante through the traverse.

The result of the Fern, which is the warm wind from the south.

And it's unbelievable, I mean, to have this kind of weather.

It's a shame, because,

you know, the course is prepared 90% to race perfect conditions.

I mean, all we need is two cold nights

to make sure the snow sets up, so we can have the race to the bottom.

Behind the scenes, we don't know, as a racer,

what's going on at the mountain. And what the Kitzbuhel Ski Club does is

building out the entire race course to have the Hahnenkamm.

It's an unbelievable challenge every year.

Hi, wife.

Hi, Lenny.

So, six weeks until you get to see me again.

I know.

They confirmed Kitzbuhel today.

Good. Even with the snow?

Yeah, it was a bit of a question mark because it was quite green,

but I guess they confirmed that it's gonna happen today, so,

you know Kitzbuhel, they'll do everything for it to happen.

Helicopter snow in and bring truck-loads.

So, in Europe, they're, kind of,

playing up the battle between Aksel and me.

Because right now it's one and two in the standings.

Good thing you guys are such good friends.

Well, yeah. We're friends off the hill, but enemies on the hill.

The battle is on.

So these next races are gonna be important, you know.

Wengen and then right into Kitzbuhel.

I'm excited, I'm really looking forward to it.

Challenge accepted.

Erik on.

I think I have a fair chance this year of winning it.

I think it's all in your head when you get there, you know.

At the beginning of the year, I wasn't even sure how my knee was gonna react.

Now I know that my knee is solid and in a good place.

When you go to Kitzbuhel, you have to decide

whether the reward is worth the risk.

And that, sort of, depends on how much risk you wanna take.

Aksel Svindal is probably the number one challenger.

Bode Miller, who's coming back this year,

you know, they're looking to win just like me.

Go watch some GS and then go do some GS.

Yeah.

Say, "Bye."

Bye, Lenny. Bye, Logan.

-Kisses. -Bye.

Okay, I love you, guys.

-Love you. -Talk soon.

Love you.

-All right. Bye-bye. -Bye.

I don't remember why I fell.

I just saw it once quickly on TV.

And it looked about the same as I feel now.

I have a headache and a knot in my back.

I hurt my knee again a little bit too,

but I don't think it's a real big problem.

The question if the risk is too high or not

is something I didn't think of before the accident.

Of course, I saw what happened to Daniel Albrecht

and hoped he was all right.

But as soon as you hear Danny has woken up from his coma and he's all right,

it's no longer an issue for an active skier.

You try to get it out of your mind...

...as quickly as possible.

Only then you can continue with the sport.

But looking back, you do start asking yourself

whether it was all worth it.

The first few years at the Streif, I didn't really feel true of myself.

And I never had good results.

Two years after Hans' crash,

we went to the Streif again.

And it was my first time up there.

I remember when we were standing at the Mausefalle

I was speechless. It was...

Yeah, it is such a demanding and very, very difficult course.

Of course, for Hans, the crash was a big turning point.

It changed his life and it changed everything.

If you look at the initial images from the CT scan,

he was at great risk of dying,

or at least of being severely disabled for the rest of his life.

The first seven days are just about surviving.

The first few hours after Hans' crash were extremely critical,

so were the first few days.

And we didn't know if he would make it.

One of the problems is he had damage, a tear to the artery in the neck

and the problem is that if you get a thrombus or embolus,

then you will have a stroke which can have dramatic consequences.

Nobody, after a severe head injury...

...will be the same.

Every patient shows some change in character and behavior.

If he had taken Hans just ten minutes longer to get to the hospital,

he certainly wouldn't have survived.

Of course there were thoughts like what if Hans stays dependent on care.

You know, I just made sure to support him,

to dedicate all my energy on him,

arrange things for him.

When my memory came back,

my therapist came to me and I tried to stand up.

And this was the moment I would never ever forget.

It really made me very sad.

It was the first time... I realized

what had happened to me.

My biggest concern during therapy

was if my mind could ever return to normal again.

The first time I looked at the images was eight or nine months after the crash.

I was terrified before I hit the play button.

I didn't really recognize myself in the film.

To me, it was just some person who crashed.

That's what I felt when watching the whole thing.

Before the crash we were equals.

And after it,

we suddenly no longer were.

And you have to get back to that situation as a couple.

And that's not easy and it doesn't happen overnight.

I think that the best result was that he was able to recognize

that it's better to stop and not continue his racing activity.

That was very important that Mr. Grugger was able to recognize his limits.

I gave up my plans for a comeback

once I realized that my foot wouldn't work properly again.

I trained very hard for months,

but I just couldn't get control over my foot.

And that was the main reason I had to admit to myself

that it wouldn't work out at a professional level.

To return to be a top athlete it's not a good idea

because we know that downhill skiing is a quite dangerous sport.

After all that happened, my life is good

because I'm thankful that the Streif let me live.

That I'm still able to ski the course,

certainly not at racing speeds, but still on skis.

So, as far as that's concerned, what I have is the Streif

is more like friendship and not at all a sad relationship.

Well, with all this hard work,

the Kitzbuhel Ski Club trying to pull this race off,

the FIS has decided to take the alternate route.

To not go over traditional Hausbergkante traverse

and for safety reasons, it's not gonna happen.

But the good thing is

there's an alternate route, it's a new challenge,

it's still really difficult to win on the Streif today.

And that's the way it goes. Mother nature has the upper hand.

We, as racers, have to deal with it.

Kitzbuhel, for me, is the ultimate test

...of strength and courage in ski racing.

It's not only that you have to be physically fit

and skiing technically well,

it's also that you have to find a lot of courage.

And I think that's what downhill is really about.

Yeah, of course, you have to be a good skier,

but you also have to be willing to risk it all

and, you know, maybe end up in the fence, but maybe winning.

I think Kitzbuhel is really the pinnacle

because it's a race that we go back to year after year,

it's a race that people know.

If we go to someplace like Russia or China for the Olympics,

you don't really know what to expect,

you haven't had a lot of experience on the track

and sometimes, it's a little bit of luck.

You know, if you win Kitzbuhel, you're not lucky, you're the best.

It's tough though, 'cause all year you get ready for Kitzbuhel

and these big races and then you hurt yourself right before.

It's like...

You know, the moment you're hesitant

the moment you're a bit back, it's the Streif that takes control.

So, on the contrary, over the years, the more you ski it,

the more you become aware

that it's you that has to take control, it's you that has to attach it,

and just on the edge of disaster, but being able to push it anyway.

And I think that's the reason that the victories are that much more special.

Because you can see the kind of destruction that happens

if you mistime something by only a fraction of a second.

So, you know the kind of fine line that you're playing with.

Even though every year the Streif has the same starting house...

...and the same finish area, doesn't mean the course is the same.

Like you... I mean, we're skiing on snow.

Overnight, there's a couple of degrees different temperature,

and it's a total different game the next day.

So, you inspection and looking at the surface that you're gonna ski on,

that's where you lay out your game plan.

One turn that will be really easy one year,

can be the toughest turn on the course the next year

just because you have that much more speed coming in there

and that's always the first thing you look for,

how fast is this going to be?

There's no limits to how much forces, how many Gs you can pull.

Like, it's... your body's gonna collapse before that snow's gonna break away.

Listen to that. Always impressive.

Even for me, now... Really.

Three years, not skiing, I'm almost scared to...

Yeah? ...to go down there.

No way!

Not really, but...

it's really still impressive.

Yeah, absolutely.

If you mess up a turn, you have two options.

You either improvise and return to the ideal line

by drifting a little bit,

or you can go for it and hold the line.

It's something you have to decide instinctively.

But you only have a fraction of a second to do so.

I suppose it's a matter of feeling,

it's the years of experience that makes the difference.

During the inspection you look at what changes from day to day.

At this gate, it's a bit bumpy.

That mountain there, is a bit more aggressive.

The more often you check, the more secure you feel.

Basically, you take all the lines you ran best over the years

and turn them into a run.

I ski best when I trust my instincts.

If you start thinking, you're past the turn

and off the course.

There's no time to think, only to act.

If you manage to do just that, you can ski your best race.

D Money!

Erik, what's up, buddy? How you doing?

How are you feeling? Heard your back's a little tweaked.

No, it's the knee. Really?

I fucked my knee up when I banged in there.

Man, you're skiing so strong this season.

You still think you can do it today? And win it?

I'm not gonna do the downhill though.

It's tough, but that's how it is.

...four ninety-three. Unbelievable!

I mean, we only have one training run this year here,

so, I felt like I had to go out

and really try to push the line and see what I could do.

and you know, I've been waiting a long time to try to win this race.

It's still a great course. I mean, there's no question

Hausberg adds something to the sell because it is so demanding.

So, to ski that hill like that, be as aggressive,

I wouldn't have wasted it. I wouldn't have backed off today

because it would have been an absolute travesty in my mind

to waste that opportunity to ski that hill the way I could.

Yeah, it's a little bit too full, obviously.

I am disappointed that I can't race Kitzbuhel.

I mean, I prepare all year for this, and last year I came so close to victory.

But on the other hand, I mean my knee is in no place ready to race.

Kitzbuhel's not the kind of place you want to push out of the start

if you're, you know, even 90 percent.

So, it makes the decision easy and easier to deal with.

And there's always next year, you know.

I'm confident that I have a couple of years in front of me,

so, I know I'll be back.

Bode Miller, a sensational training run.

You have to push like he does to win the race.

This is not the problem for me, my back is the real one.

During summer training, at the Stelvio Pass,

I hit the single bump,

and I had back catches for the rest of the season.

Until Kitzbuhel, it was all under control.

I really hope and pray I will fit again in time.

I can't let anything stop me. I just have to ski.

As an Austrian, I have to ski the Streif.

...and say thank you and a huge, huge compliment

to this guy with his crew, chief of course.

They've worked hard. We have an excellent race course...

The only thing we have to deal with is the weather.

The atmosphere in Kitzbuhel is really special

because you feel that a lot of people, volunteers, workers,

have prepared the course to have a big show.

Thousands of spectators are coming just to watch that show.

And you know that you are part of that big show

you have to show yourself for two minutes and that makes you really proud.

Welcome to the Hahnenkamm race.

For me as a racer, I always use that,

that crowd energy to get me a little more there at Kitzbuhel.

And it helps me go for it a little bit harder on the Streif.

You go up to the start, and when you get there

that's when the concentration phase begins.

There are people everywhere,

you have to ignore them and everything around you.

You have to be focused.

Keeping a cool head, that's the trick in Kitzbuhel.

Even on the year when it's not as crazy as the worst year,

everyone is pushing as hard as they can,

little bit faster than they really want to go.

because they're trying to win it.

Kitzbuhel is not just because

of all the many crashes, that it's a big challenge.

It is a major technical cross.

Everyone is nervous and tense,

not just the racers.

The whole team is on the edge.

Everything you do is targeted at getting into your race mode.

The power I have to build up inside to be in a mental state of mind

where I can try to win something that I'm actually afraid of.

For me that's Streif...

That's what makes Streif different from any other course.

When you're out racing,

you're doing all through... You're racing against yourself.

It's a pretty singular battle, there's no other athletes

in your mind at that point.

When you're skiing, you're basically skiing against the course.

When you hurl yourself into the race...

...you are on a real thin line.

You have to find just the right balance to ski at the limit.

That's what it takes.

Downhillers are fighting against themselves.

We fight against the course and our mental problems to be faster.

To show the best line...

We don't fight with each other

We don't look like, I got to beat this guy.

No, we just need to be faster. That's the main goal for us.

I'm have a lot of nervous,

before for strength, I'm drink whiskey in bar. Understand?

Kitzbuhel is the last race this season.

And I need to push the limit forward

to help me and Natali out of this situation.

It's challenging, it's the real thing, you know.

But there is risk, you know,

so you feel every emotion, you're scared but you're excited

and challenged.

You know, I go in there looking to bring out my best.

If you doubt yourself even a bit, you better take your skies and go home.

Ready to go?

It's all you.

You know, you have to attack it or it can beat you down pretty bad,

You're better of being aggressive and straight forward and yeah, try to win.

Try to go out there and win,

not to ski for third place and fifth place and be safe.

In Kitzbuhel, so much has happened, you have to show respect.

When you're too passive for a single moment,

you're out of the race.

You have to know what you are doing, that's the most important thing out there.

When you're at the start gate, you feel like you're in a tunnel.

You hear the beep, you put the poles over the edge

and hammer it down.

To build yourself up to that moment where you're in the start gate

and you're looking at probably

the toughest parts of any downhill in the world cup

The moment you're able to tell yourself, this is true, I've got this.

And I'm going to risk it and I'm going to win this.

I think the Streif is one of the places where it's the hardest to find that level,

you know, what's risking enough and what risking too much.

There are no lucky winners in Streif,

you need years to master the course.

Racers want to be number one. That's my goal too.

You pick your line and then it's all about survival,

kinda like the line you have picked is gonna be the line you get.

You can't change that.

The bumps are so brutal when they come up that your head starts to bounce

then it's hard to see, it's hard to focus on your line.

The king of downhill racing!

At the start I did feel pain.

Half a minute earlier,

I was hanging over my poles and it was the only position

in which nothing deterred.

I thought, "Right...

I will just ski as far as the pain allows."

The deal was, if I get through the compression

without pain getting to bad

then I will go for it.

You must never lose the momentum you gained at the start.

There's just no way back.

A single bump that may be hits your ski in a bad way

and the next two meters

nothing else will be on your mind other than,

I only hope this turns out all right at the end.

Too much line, or turning too wide,

a little bit of drift, as a racer you feel immediately

when you are losing speed.

Then there is the moment you have to decide.

I have to take the killer line,

which means, I'm not going to end up a meter away from the net,

but only ten centimeters.

At the end, it is courage and trust in your ability at the same time.

The moment I took off my skis I thought,

it hurts so much you should be happy.

Everybody is cheering and you have this immense pain.

I thought, no, don't show anyone your pain.

Our sport isn't like that, our sport is so beautiful.

Not what I was feeling at that moment.

It looks like you need years to learn more about Streif.

At the Alte Schneise, I tried to risk,

that's why I made a big mistake there and almost slowed down.

Maybe I was kinda lucky.

I'm from Belarus and I wont give up.

I will come back

and I will do my best to reach top ten.

This is the result I am dreaming about.

All the pain is worth it.

Your winner Kitzbuhel champion 2014...

Representing Austria...

Hannes Reichelt!

Winning Kitzbuhel, Hahnenkamm downhill

and walking out in front of twenty-five thousand crazy fans

and hearing those words Hahnenkamm sieger.

Those words, that's the best.

Winning the Hahnenkamm downhill

and within hours

I was free of pain,

I knew there was something wrong.

Well, I mean, this past year at Kitzbuhel,

you know, I was unbelievably frustrated after the race.

I think I was clearly the best there and just made the wrong mistakes.

You know, I won't change much,

I'll just go back in there again and stay really aggressive,

but, you know, it's one of the races you really want to win

before you end your career.

The Glockner is really cool to come down from it all.

The long hike gives you time to think.

And when you are sitting up there looking down on everything

you start setting new goals.

Kitzbuhel is a goal I absolutely want to reach.

You need to have patience, the day will come

when everything fits together.

That's what I am waiting for, I hope so.

To get the cable car named after you

in the place where Eberharter and Maier stood.

This is an achievement of a childhood dream.

So, now, I am in the company of legends.

This is really awesome.

Hello, are you Aksel Lund Svindal?

Yes, and who are you?

I'm Enoch, and one day I would like to race down the Streif just like you.

I want to race down the Streif again, but next time I want to win it.

Hey, Didier, welcome back.

This is one hell of a ride?

Okay, let's get this baby hill done.

Let's go.

Four, three, two, one, go.