SDS races
The SDS races were international alpine ski races for women, organized by the Swiss Women's Ski Club (SDS) and held in Grindelwald from 1932 . They were the most important international women's ski races over the next few decades and were integrated into the newly created World Cup in 1967 . From 1976 the races were also held in other places in Switzerland until the end of the Swiss Women's Ski Club in 1984 also meant the end of the SDS races.
history
Three years after the founding of the Swiss Women's Ski Club , the SDS launched the first “Combined downhill and slalom races for women skiers from all countries” on January 15, 1932 , on the initiative of the SDS and with the support of the Grindelwald spa town , in particular the then spa director Werner Grob the official name at the time - carried out. Twelve female riders took part in this first edition, with only one Czech and one British rider who spent their vacation in Grindelwald in addition to the SDS women. In the next few years the number of participants grew rapidly and the SDS race developed into the most important international women's ski race. While the winners initially only included SDS riders, such as Rösli Streiff - the winner of the first year - or Erna Steuri - the only Grindelwald woman to win this race - from 1937 the German Christl Cranz celebrated a total of seven victories in her former place of residence. From 1933 to 1935, when there was still no Swiss championship title for the women, this race was classified as the championship of the SDS.
From 1940 to 1946 no SDS races took place, but from 1947 (January 17 to 19) Grindelwald was the traditional date in early to mid-January re annual scene of this ladies' race, where in addition to downhill, slalom and combination now a giant slalom for The event came (from the elite runners, the sick Anneliese Schuh-Proxauf and the Thiollière sisters from France were missing ). The Austrians did not take part in the 1948 races (January 9th to 11th). The 1949 descent (January 14th) was held on a shortened route with the goal on the Bastillon of Itramen, the slalom on January 15th took place in heavy rain. A giant slalom was planned for January 16, but uninterrupted snowfall the previous night until morning had brought 62 cm of fresh snow. It would have been possible to repair the slope, but it was canceled because of the risk of accidents. In the afternoon a wonderfully successful obstacle course was organized for all participants. On January 15th there was also a 10-km cross-country ski run for women on a 5-km course with about 150 m incline to be mastered twice, with extremely difficult conditions. Kerttu Pehkonen from Finland took the win in 51:06 ahead of the two Swedes Märta Norberg (54:00) and Margit Asber-Albrechtson (54:04).
In view of the upcoming world championships, no nation had sent its elite drivers to the 1950 races. A sudden change in the weather (thick fog in the valley basin, the snow that had fallen did not bond with the ground) changed the situation from one day to the next, and the descent did not seem possible at first. It was held on the traditional route “First” to “Bort” with 17 drivers, with countless control gates adjusting the task to the class of the drivers, i.e. minimizing them. The slalom, on the other hand, had good weather. Only a few runs were shown that deserved the rating “good”, with the exception of the first three, none of the runners was up to the requirements. With a fierce heart, Marchelli managed to defend the combined lead he had gained in the descent. Gärtner did an excellent job with extremely bad ski equipment. The final giant slalom was driven from the “Egg” station to “Bort”; with 29 goals it wasn't too difficult. With Gärtner's equipment one had to be surprised that she could win with it.
Among the most successful participants in the 1950s and 1960s were the Italian Carla Marchelli , who was the only one who managed to win all four competitions in one year in 1957, and the Swiss Madeleine Berthod , who won a total of eight races from 1952 to 1960 and thus Record winner of the SDS race.
In the races from January 12th to 14th, 1951, there were problems with the timekeeping in the slalom on January 13th, because this showed a time of 42.2 seconds for Anneliese Schuh-Prox in the first run, that of the measurements by the Functionaries but 47.2 seconds. However, since the times of all runners only differed by up to 2 seconds in the second run (Schuh-Proxauf reached 49.1), the organizers asked the Innsbruck woman to repeat her run, which she refused and also for the giant slalom on Sunday, January 14th , no longer started.
During the slalom on January 5, 1956, the electrical timekeeping failed (again), initially Dorothea Hochleitner had already been celebrated as the winner. Then Minuzzo was declared the winner. Only a third list, which was drawn up on the basis of the times determined with manual stops, brought the final result; Accordingly, Hochleitner took 4th place 1.7 seconds behind.
In 1958, the organizers were initially faced with a cancellation or possible shortening of the program; the planned beginning of January 8th was postponed by one day; It started with a giant slalom, and instead of the special slalom, a second giant slalom (with more goals than the first, hence the difference in the winning times of 1: 29.5 for Frandl and 1: 40.4 for Dänzer) was held.
In 1967 the SDS races were integrated into the newly created World Cup . Due to the accumulation of races in the Bernese Oberland (in addition to Grindelwald, Wengen and Adelboden men's races), Grindelwald as a World Cup venue came under increasing pressure from outside, but also within Grindelwald there were increasingly critical voices due to steadily rising costs. In addition, the combination was not part of the World Cup program up to and including 1973/74, which also contradicted the former basic idea. When a television broadcast could no longer be secured for the races scheduled from January 7th to 9th, 1976 (the necessary traffic routes for TV color broadcasts were not available on the slope of the ridge), the SDS races were not held for the first time in 45 years held in Grindelwald, but awarded to Hasliberg . For the 50th anniversary of the SDS, the races were supposed to take place in Grindelwald again in 1979, but due to lack of snow they had to be returned to Hasliberg. Grindelwald was the venue for the SDS races only once, in 1982, before the Swiss Women's Ski Club dissolved in 1984 due to a lack of members. After the end of the SDS and thus the SDS races, Grindelwald hosted two more women's World Cup races in 1989 and 1992.
Podium placements
The first SDS races before World War II
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SDS races after the Second World War until before the introduction of the World Cup
World Cup races in Grindelwald
From 1976 the SDS races took place at various locations, in Grindelwald only once until the SDS was dissolved:
| year | discipline | 1st place | 2nd place | 3rd place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Departure 1 |
 Gerry Sorensen
|
 Marie-Cécile Gros-Gaudenier
|
Elisabeth Chaud
|
| Departure 2 |
Gerry Sorensen
|
 Irene Epple
|
 Cindy Nelson
|
|
| Combination (4) |
Irene Epple
|
 Erika Hess
|
Cindy Nelson
|
After the dissolution of the SDS in 1984, two more World Cup races were held in Grindelwald:
| year | discipline | 1st place | 2nd place | 3rd place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Departure 1 |
Michela Figini
|
Beatrice Gafner
|
Carole Merle
|
| Departure 2 |
Michela Figini
|
Carole Merle
|
Maria Walliser
|
|
| Super G |
Carole Merle
|
 Sigrid Wolf
|
Maria Walliser
|
|
| slalom |
Vreni Schneider
|
Tamara McKinney
|
Monika Maierhofer
|
|
| combination |
Brigitte Oertli
|
Karen Percy
|
Michela Figini
|
|
| 1992 | Departure |
Sabine Ginther
|
Miriam Vogt
|
Chantal Bournisse
|
| slalom |
Monika Maierhofer
|
 Pernilla Wiberg
|
 Annelise Coberger
|
|
| combination |
Sabine Ginther
|
Petra Kronberger
|
Miriam Vogt
|
Record winners
Six female drivers achieved five or more victories at the SDS races in Grindelwald:
- 8 wins:
- Madeleine Berthod (1952–1960: 3 runs, 1 slalom, 3 combinations, 1 giant slalom)
- 7 wins:
- Christl Cranz (1937–1939: 2 runs, 2 slaloms, 3 combinations)
- 5 wins:
- Heidi Biebl (1961–1965: 1 descent, 1 slalom, 3 combinations)
- Carla Marchelli (1957–1958: 2 runs, 1 slalom, 1 combination, 1 giant slalom)
- Annemarie Moser-Pröll (1972–1975: 3 runs, 1 combination, 1 giant slalom)
- Anny Rüegg (1934–1936: 1 descent, 2 slaloms, 2 combinations)
The "Big Bambi" for three times victory in the combination - the highest award given in the SDS races - was won by three drivers:
- Madeleine Berthod (combination wins 1955, 1956 and 1960)
- Heidi Biebl (combination wins 1961, 1962 and 1965)
- Christl Cranz (combined victories in 1937, 1938 and 1939)
literature
- Karl Erb : Fascination downhill. SV Internationale / Schweizer Verlagshaus, Zurich 1985, ISBN 3-7263-6389-0 , pp. 134-137.
- Rudolf Rubi : The summer and winter health resort: roads and railways, winter sports. (= In the valley of Grindelwald. Volume III). Verlag Sutter Druck, Grindelwald 1987, pp. 193-195.
- Helene M. Zingg : Women's skiing in Switzerland. In: Yearbook of the Swiss Ski Association, Volume XXXVII, 1941. P. 82.
- Hermann Nussbaumer: Victory on white slopes. Balance of alpine skiing. 9th expanded edition, Trauner Verlag, Linz 1977, ISBN 3-85320-176-8 , leaflet 6 (without page number).
Web links
- World Cup races in Grindelwald on the website of the International Ski Association
Individual evidence
- ↑ «The last reports from the Int. SDS race in Grindelwald »; “Sport Zürich”, No. 7 from January 17, 1947, page 5
- ↑ «9. International SDS races in Grindelwald »; “Sport Zürich”, No. 8 of January 20, 1947, pages 4 and 5
- ^ "SDS race in Grindelwald"; "Sport Zurich", No. 4 from 9.1. 1948, page 1
- ↑ Column 4: "Mahringer and Proxauf in Grindelwald superior" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 15, 1949, p. 4 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ↑ Column 4: “Mahringer combination winner in Grindelwald” . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 16, 1949, p. 7 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ^ "International women ski races in Grindelwald"; “Sport Zürich”, No. 7 from January 17, 1949, pages 2 to 3
- ^ "With all aces to Aspen"; Subtitle: «Young Italian women surprise» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 21, 1950, p. 7 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ↑ Column 1: "Zückert wins the Grindelwald slalom" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 22, 1950, p. 9 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ↑ «12. Boarding school Women's ski race in Grindelwald »; «Sport Zürich» No. 10 from January 23, 1950, pages 6 and 7
- ^ "Schneider also won the combination", subtitle: "The time measurement failed" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 16, 1951, p. 8 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ^ Thea Hochleitner Vierte in Grindelwald . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 6, 1956, p. 12 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ↑ The snow fell in time . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 9, 1958, p. 10 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ↑ The first skiing success of the new season . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 10, 1958, p. 10 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ↑ A second and a third place in Grindelwald . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 11, 1958, p. 10 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ^ Glossary "Taken at the grain" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 8, 1976, p. 8 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ^ Four ÖSV victories in the Bernese Oberland. In: Austria-Ski-Sport. ÖSV magazine. Issue 1/1965. P. 16.
Current World Cup races : Kitzbühel: Hahnenkamm Races | Kranjska Gora: Vitranc Cup | Lake Louise | Levi: Lapland Races | Madonna di Campiglio: 3-Tre race | Maribor: Golden Fox | Sölden: World Cup Opening | Val-d'Isère: first snow criterion | Wengen: Lauberhorn race | Zagreb: Snow Queen Trophy | Different locations: Arlberg-Kandahar race
Former World Cup races: Bad Gastein: Silver Jug Races | Grindelwald: SDS race | Oberstaufen: Staufen Cup | Schruns / Tschagguns: gold key race
Race before or outside of the World Cup: Davos: Parsenn Derby | Grabs: Gamperney Derby | Sugar Bowl: Silver Belt | Sun Valley: Harriman Cup
Children's race: Italy: FIS Children Cup | Canada: Whistler Cup