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30 years of Hinterzarten: Q&A with Walter Hofer
Hinterzarten, in the German Black Forest, is the unchallenged cradle of summer Ski Jumping. The premiere of the summer events there took place in 1982 and since then, the world's best ski jumpers have returned every year for the FIS Grand Prix in the summertime.
Hinterzarten was also one of the founding venues for the FIS Grand Prix that launched in 1995. "For us, Hinterzarten and venues like Zakopane are essential, fixed parts of the summer calendar," stated FIS Race Director Walter Hofer. This year, 67 athletes from 17 nations competed on the "Adlerschanze" over the weekend.
With his victory in Sunday's individual competition, Thomas Morgenstern equaled the record of three HiZa wins previously held by his Austrian countryman Andreas Felder, who won in Hinterzarten in 1983, 1986 and 1991.
The spectators especially appreciate the possibility to be very close to the jumpers which is possible in Hinterzarten. During the heydays, when Germany's local hero Sven Hannawald dominated the scene, the number of spectators was enormous. That's not quite the case anymore, but the atmosphere, especially when the best Germans Severin Freund and Richard Freitag are jumping, is great.
For Hofer, Hinterzarten has served as a great trial run for the winter over the last 30 years. Various rule changes were tested there, in order to be amended appropriately and confirmed in the FIS Autumn Technical Meetings.
Walter Hofer took the time to answer some questions following the 30th edition of summer Ski Jumping in Hinterzarten.
Q: How was the 30the anniversary of the Hinterzarten Grand Prix - did you see nice competitions?
Walter Hofer: Yes, and I'm especially happy for the Organizers because it seemed to become difficult with the bad weather that was forecast along with the fact that Martin Schmitt is injured. But I think that the audience showed that Ski Jumping in Hinterzarten is still attractive enough for them to also come to the hill under these circumstances and that makes me happy for the Organizers.
Q: Towards the end of the first round, it seemed that the in-run might possibly be too long?
Walter Hofer: That's right, but that's what we have our Jury for. They are monitoring the conditions and, if necessary, is able to react. Apparently the Jury was able to assess the situation correctly. Thomas Morgenstern is in excellent form and had an extremely good jump close to the limits of the hill and seeing that, some fears may have been justified. But of course you always know more afterwards.
Q: Are you willing to take any risk in Ski Jumping?
Walter Hofer: Ski Jumping is a risky sport and we all know that. But we are also happy that we have enough control systems operating that provide us with the necessary data with which we can control the competition pretty well.
Q: What general impressions do you have of this weekend in Hinterzarten?
Walter Hofer: We again saw a positive development with some new faces stepping into the spotlight. We have some new countries, I am, for example, thinking about Bulgaria. This brings some movement and that's definitely good for the sport.
Q: The Youth Cup was won by a Romanian, whilst the Finns seem to be having problems. Somehow there's movement in the whole circuit?
Walter Hofer: Yes, and I think it is extremely important for a niche sport that we are broadly positioned, not only in our core countries. Although there are also some new athletes now in the German team who are among the best. There are also some new countries that are making progress: there are the Russians and the Kazakhs, and so on. I believe that our development is going in the right direction.
Contributed by fisskijumping.com