Kitzbuehel - where investors, party animals and modern gladiators meet

The 15th International Investor Conference in Kitzbuehel which has taken place the past few days and was organized by Markus’ employer UniCredit MIB was a great success again. During two days 56 investors had meetings with the most important and largest Austrian companies listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange and the main message they got was, that the trough in the economy is probably going to be for longer. Visibility for sales and earnings is very low and that makes it extremely difficult to judge when the recovery can kick in.

After the business part and the meetings both the Kitzbuehel slopes as well as the nightlife were visited - the Hahnenkamm race weekend turns the city every year into huge party-place. Friday night Markus and his clients dived into the crowds at the Weisswurst-Party in Going at the Stanglwirt, which is every year the hotspot for celebrities the night before the downhill race. Masses of people including A-, B- and C-celebrities squeezed through the stables of Balthasar Hauser’s huge complex eating the famous sausages alongside beer, champagne or stronger drinks and listening to the really impressive live act, the Sumpfkroeten. A mere disappointment was the main act, Bonnie Tyler who only performed 4 songs playback. Clearly her time is long over. The night was concluded at the A1 Kitz Night hosted by one of the main sponsors of the race weekend, mobile telecom provide A1 where Markus and his clients and colleagues danced away to cool soul & funk tunes alongside Austria’s beachvolleyball player Nik Berger and Judo Bejing Olympic silver medallist Ludwig Paischer.

Usually a horse stable. Once a year a stuffed party place - Stanglwirt's Weisswurstparty

Saturday Markus et al hit the slopes to watch the downhill race close to the Mausefalle near the top of the course, climbed up to the startin area to take a close look at the athletes (watch Patryk Jaerbin get on the way to the race) and enjoyed the slopes with perfect skiing weather. In the afternoon, when the race was over and the crowds were gone Markus, his boss Fritz and two clients decided to go down the Streif. They entered just above one of the key-areas, the Steilhang, and what they saw there was absolutely unbelieveable. Not only is the Steilhang extremely steep but also absolutely icy. The area where the racers make turns is not hard snow which allows grip (the kind of slope we as “normal” skiers like) but pure ice. Its not only the speed at which the racers ski down the hill but also the slope conditions which are stunning. For the four the only possibility to go down the Steilhang was with tight turns at the sides of the race-line. The middle-part of the Streif – between Brueckenschuss until Hausbergkante – were in perfect conditions and allowed normal skiing. One only needed to slow down ahead of jumps like at the Seidl-Alm. The bottom of the slope (Hausberg, Traverse & Zielschuss) showed a similar picture as the Steilhang: ice. One needs to be mental to ski this slope with up to 140km/h as the racers did a few hours earlier.

The racers can't enjoy this view as they have better things to do when they ski this turn

Saturday night the successful conference and great weekend were concluded at the official race party at the Kitz Race Night and after an early skiing day leaving the hotel on Sunday at 0900 again with sunshine and cold temperatures Markus left the town just before the slalom race ended and the crowds fled Kitzbuehel to reach Vienna in the late afternoon. And probably next year he will do all that again.

Kerstin & Markus