World Cup Adelboden
Isolation instead of saying goodbye: race director Hans Pieren tested positive for Corona
Hans Pieren was the race director of the Adelboden World Cup races for 28 years. Now the 60-year-old would have been bid farewell this weekend. But on Friday evening, the organizers announced that Pieren was infected with Corona.
Always on the go with the green helmet: Hans Pieren.
It is mainly due to Hans Pieren that meteorological situations in Adelboden are never hopeless. He has the reputation of having saved many a race despite disgusting conditions. He grew up a few meters away from the World Cup slope. He still lives there today with his family. He has been race director in Adelboden for 28 years. This weekend he would have been in action for the last time. A celebratory farewell was planned on Saturday followingnoon following the giant slalom. But now everything is different.
On Friday evening, the organizers announced that Hans Pieren had tested positive for Corona. “Hans Pieren’s PCR test turned out positive this followingnoon,” says a press release. Pieren is boosted and has no symptoms, it is said. His close World Cup environment had been tested negative. The adoption will thus be postponed for a year. Pieren is quoted in the message as follows: “The slope is in excellent condition and my successor, together with slope manager Toni Hari, Stefan von Känel and the entire slope team, is ensuring a super spectacular race.”
This week, Pieren was once once more asked a lot
The race director was really challenged once more until the track was in excellent condition. The weather conditions were chaotic. Because of the warm festive days, the slope consisted almost entirely of sulz snow, says Pieren. At the beginning of this week it was still too warm. Pieren and his team of 80 helpers would probably have made a pad suitable for competitions with the use of salt even under these conditions. But the rules of the game changed once more. On Wednesday there was a cold snap and fresh snow.
The cold was welcome, the fresh snow had to go. With the help of the cold, the upper section of the route might first be watered with the injection spray bar. The beam pumps water deep into the slope. The water then expands evenly towards the top and allows the slope to harden. On Thursday the lower part might finally be watered.
1992 on the podium in front of his doorstep
But Pieren not only knows every detail of the mountain, he also knows skiing and all its facets. He himself was once one of the world’s best giant slalom drivers. He made it onto the podium on the two most difficult slopes in this discipline. He finished third in Alta Badia in 1987. And he came second in his home race in Adelboden on January 22, 1992. During his active career, he set up an online shop for ski supplies. He later acted, among other things, as the Swiss women’s head coach and had various mandates at the FIS.
Pieren is not going to retire following this weekend. On January 24th, one day following his 60th birthday, he wants to fly to Beijing, where he will work as a consultant for the Olympic ski races. But first the two races are on his local mountain. Pieren will have to watch them on television.