The 78th International Inferno Races in the Swiss resort of Mürren taking place on 19– 22 January 2022 is completely sold out. This year, well over 2,100 ski racers applied for a limited number of 1,850 entries for the competition which sees amateur and recreational skiers get the chance to line up alongside top racers and well known names.
One name missing from the women’s race this year is that of local Marianne Rubi who has announced her retirement after eight victories. The final line-up still includes some top-class names and those vying to beat Rubi’s record are two-time winner Nadine Züger-Mächler and the four-time winner Nicole Eiholzer-Bärtschi.
In the men’s race, former winners looking to repeat their triumphs include Ruedi Brawand from Grindelwald, three-time downhill winner Matthias Salzmann from Naters, and Flavio In-Albon.
A renewal of a long-standing clash also looks likely in the Inferno Super Combined, with six-time overall winner and defending champion Oliver Zurbrügg from Lauterbrunnen and four-time winner Matthias Salzmann going head-to-head again.
Two former Skicross World Cup athletes, Richard Spalinger, the 2008 World Cup podium racer in Flaine and Conradign Netzer and three-time podium placed in the Skicross World Cup and Swiss Skicross champion 2011, will be in action.
Philippe Steiner and his Deaf-Racer Team will also be lining up at the start. Steiner and his colleagues are competing in the downhill as hearing-impaired athletes.
The defending champions will face stiff competition from Austria’s Josef ‘Pepi’ Strobl who is taking part in his first Inferno Downhill.
He claimed seven World Cup victories and 22 podium places in his career, making him one of the most successful ski racers in Austria. Strobl is a three-time consecutive winner of the Inferno’s Austrian counterpart, the White Ring in Lech.
Top contenders in the main event include fellow team members Mathias Gorbach and Ricardo Rädler, two more serial winners of Austrian open-participation ski races.
The former Formula 1 world Champion and 22-time Formula 1 winner Damon Hill is likely to compete again in the upcoming edition, setting up a duel in the downhill with his former Formula 1 rival, the three-time Grand Prix winner Johnny Herbert.
In the current covid climate, the 78th International Inferno Races will need the go-ahead from the Bernese authorities. Major events require sanitary approval – in this case issued by the District Governor’s Office in Interlaken. The Organising Committee (OC) is in contact with the authorities and a final decision is pending. This means that participants cannot be informed until December 2021 about the exact procedure regarding the issue of race numbers, a potential Covid-19 test centre or full programme details.
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The Piz Gloria revolving restaurant on the Schilthorn in Murren provides a backdrop for part of the Inferno race
Categories: Racing, Switzerland