Outstanding performance by Tina Fischl, who wins bronze in the Verical Up on the “Streif”
Almost 1,000 professional and amateur athletes from 27 nations took on the ultimate challenge of “Vertical Up Kitzbühel”, in which the “Streif” is to be conquered from bottom to top as quickly as possible.
Instead of racing down into the valley on skis at breakneck speed, the route goes up to the maintain with studs, touring skis or snowshoes – and that’s more than 3.312 kilometers and 860 meters of altitude. The steepest sections have a gradient of 85 percent – and in addition it’s all happening at night.
Mountain running specialist Tina Fischl and her husband Alex also traveled to Kitzbühel. The two of them are very familiar with steep mountain races: Tina has already won the Schattenberg race, part of the Mountain Attack in Saalbach twice and just a few weeks ago she became Masters World Champion in ski mountaineering.
Metron eging GmbH, a long-standing sponsor of Tina Fischl, has specially made 25mm studs for this race so that Tina is perfectly equipped.
The starting signal was fired and the approximately 1,000 athletes rushed off as fast as they could towards the first steep slope.
On the steep slope of the traverse, Tina was immediately in her element. She instantly noticed that the specially made studs had the right grip and that the long nails gripped the ice perfectly.
On this extremely demanding route, every step had to be perfect to avoid falling. There was no time for tactical games, and in the dark, you could only see the lights of the other headlamps anyway.
Fischl mastered the so-called “alte Schneise” with a maximum incline of 85% well and was able to keep up the pace.
The final ascent via the “Mausefalle” was very exhausting and extremely difficult. The finish was right in the starting house of the World Cup downhill at 1,665 meters above sea level. At this point some athletes slid down the slope and faced major problems. Tina Fischl, however, made it through unscathed and was cheered on by hundreds of spectators at the top of the mountain. She crossed the finish line overjoyed as third-placed woman overall.
You can find many more pictures and information at: https://www.vertical-up.com/de/
www.tina-fischl.de
Photo documentation: © Alex Fischl & JACKSCORNER Thomas Griesbeck & Vertikal Up