Skiing / Bob Lochner : After the Races Come Celebrations

This nation’s skiing heroes and heroines have returned to victory celebrations in their hometowns, and Crans-Montana, about 100 miles to the east, has retuned to normal in the wake of the World Alpine ski competition that ended last Sunday.

In the case of Maria Walliser, who won gold medals in the women’s downhill and super-G and took a bronze in the giant slalom, it meant a ride down the main street of the village of Mosnang in a flower-bedecked, horse-drawn carriage.

For Peter Mueller, the men’s downhill gold medalist, it meant a banquet thrown by his neighbors in Adliswil.

And similar festivities greeted Pirmin Zurbriggen, winner of two gold and two silver medals; Erika Hess, also a dual gold medalist; Vreni Schneider, the women’s giant slalom champion; Michela Figini, a double silver medalist, and Karl Alpiger, a bronze medalist.

For Crans-Montana, meanwhile, the conclusion of this biennial event meant the evacuation of several hundred police and soldiers who had been called in to make sure that the nightly partying in the streets didn’t get out of control, and it also produced an immediate reduction of prices by about 20%.

The Swiss franc, at about 1.5 to $1, already makes it slightly expensive for American skiers here, and the restaurants, hotels and shops in the twin villages on the high plateau above the Rhone River didn’t make it any cheaper with their freshly printed menus, etc., during the 15 days of ski racing.

The actual races were conducted with Swiss-movement precision, but the traffic in the narrow streets on the weekends bore more resemblance to an hourglass.

So now, the racers will pick up the World Cup schedule where they left off, with Zurbriggen holding an almost insurmountable lead in the men’s standings over second-place Markus Wasmeier of West Germany, 261 points to 166, and Walliser, with 229 points, heading a Swiss contingent in the top four spots of the women’s list. Schneider is second with 211, followed by Brigitte Oertli with 174 and Hess with 130 following Friday’s slalom at Megeve, France.

The men, including Felix McGrath of the United States, will compete in a slalom at Markstein, France, today and in a giant slalom at Todtnau, West Germany, Sunday. The women are at Megeve, France, for a giant slalom today, then will be at Flueli, Switzerland, for a slalom Sunday.

Tamara McKinney of the United States, who is sixth among the women on the World Cup circuit with 118 points, seemed to have recovered earlier this week from her distressing experience before and after the women’s slalom.

After being upset by former American racer Cindy Nelson’s comments about her “timid” run in the giant slalom last Friday night, McKinney failed to finish the first run of the slalom--her best event--and skied away in tears.

She came back that afternoon, though, while the second run was in progress, and made a point of seeking out a Swiss fan to give him a photo, showing the two of them kissing after her victory at Mellau, Austria, last month.

The fan, “Hausi” Fanhauser--his real last name--has attended just about every European World Cup race in recent years, wearing a sweater autographed by all of the competitors and carrying a composite flag of the various skiing nations.

As for McKinney, Nick Howe, who travels with the U.S. women, said: “She has a full life away from skiing, so although she may be momentarily devastated by something, she can quickly put it behind her and go on as if nothing had happened.”

One of McKinney’s interests is writing, and she said last week, “I already have a thick ledger containing my impressions of not only skiing, but also my other experiences in nine years of travel around the world. I am really interested in writing a book some day.”

Although McKinney’s bronze in the women’s combined was the only U.S. medal of the world championships, McGrath’s 10th place in the men’s slalom may have been even more significant. No kidding.

There have been some in American ski racing circles who have suggested, only half-jokingly, that maybe the United States should field just a women’s team, and forget about the men.

In other words, we should resign ourselves to our top male athletes going where the money is--into professional team sports--while women, without such a lure, are willing to make a greater commitment to ski racing.

McGrath, whose finish was the best by an American man in a major race this season, believes that the United States can field a strong men’s team by sending racers to Europe at a younger age, say 16.

“We have enough talent in this country,” he said. “But the good ones tend to stagnate because they reach a peak and then just race at home for too long. When they finally go to Europe, they find there are 500 kids equally as good, and they get discouraged easily.

“If our guys can ski against better skiers sooner, they’ll rise to the occasion and win some races.”

A few other impressions from Crans-Montana:

--Zurbriggen, who likes to say, “I want to be in the 1980s what (Jean-Claude) Killy was in the ‘60s and (Franz) Klammer was in the ‘70s, would be an active member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes if he were in this country. When asked about his beliefs last week, he said: “Religion is a subject I don’t like to discuss anymore, but I am glad that I am considered religious. It shows that my parents raised me properly.”

--All of the top Swiss racers have their groups of supporters. At the races, they wore matching jackets indicating their loyalties--”Erika Hess Fan Club,” etc.

--The daily briefing put out by the organizing committee reported one day that “Mr. Helmut Girardelli (father of Luxembourg racer Marc Girardelli) received a reprimand due to the fact that he went down the course a few minutes before the start of the first and second runs. He did not listen to the officials and was rude.”

--Bob Beattie, in more than 20 years on the international ski racing circuit as a coach and television commentator, said he has never learned any German or French, except, “I can order wine OK.”

--France and Canada, both proud skiing countries, were shut out of medals, although Canadian Rob Boyd, who will turn 21 Sunday, placed fifth in the men’s downhill--the only non-Swiss in the top six.

“I’ve got six good years ahead of me, too.” he said.

For the French, it was especially embarrassing because they had just been awarded the 1992 Winter Olympics. Their poor performance on the slopes occurred shortly after their idol, Killy, walked out as president of the Albertville organizing committee. It was not a good two weeks.