The Streif: A Dream Maker & A Knee Breaker.

An eventful and exciting skiing weekend.

Of course it was the weather that put a damper on it. The whole week leading up to the Kitzbühel racing weekend, the pistes were perfectly lit by a divine sunshine and appropriate amounts of snow. Naturally on the morning of the main and highly anticipated race, the weather changed, the fog set in and winds upped their ante.

In retrospect, a few skiers might have wished for the race to be cancelled instead of being held an hour later. Yes, the run was extremely dangerous, icy, pitted with bumps and required endless courage.

Somehow it resembled a roman gladiator spectacle and I am sure that most of the skiers at the start looked around and wondered who would take a fall, and be offered to the hungry Streif piste.

This time three offerings were made to the piste and it makes me so sad to know that these top skiers are now out of commission for the better part of a year. A year doesn't seem a lot to us ordinary mortals but for Olypmians it seems forever. A year spent rehabilitating knees and training to be ready for the next Streif...

Before the race, the camera panned in on the other spectacle of the day. The who's who of the celebrity zoo. Gosh, Arnie brought an entourage including Gwyneth Paltrow and Jason Statham. Might be fun to have been a fly on the dining room wall, because she doesn't eat a lot of the yummy stuff, does she? Did she succumb to the lure of a Weiss Wurst, Bretzen and a Mass of Bier that was on offer at one of the society events?

Please, I do hope she didn't fly into our part of the world kitted out with a range of vegan filled Tupperware... but on second thoughts, Arnie surely found a way to persuade her to taste the local specialties.

It was great to see Arnie being interviewed and sparkling with his love of and for Austria. He was praising the local cuisine, ambiance and people and it was absolutely fabulous the way he enthused about the country he grew up in. Albeit speaking German with an American accent, which is allowed after living in America for the better part of 40 years.

Biggi