Hotel Tiefenbrunner Kitzbühel (AUT). Coming home.
By Svein Mundal
Norwegian alpine racers on the national level have an extreme amount of traveling days, especially during the competition season. In January there is rarely an opportunity to make a trip home to Norway. The homesickness will grow, and comfortable accommodations is important to be able to perform well.
Since the early 1970s the Norwegian alpine national team has always stayed in the family hotel Tiefenbrunner in Kitz (AUT). Situated the middle of the town centre, within walking distance to both the finish area and the gondola which brings the racers to the start of the Downhill. At the hotel, everything is set to make the team perform at their maximum capability during the stay. This includes their own room in the restaurant where they can eat and prepare themselves in calm and comfortable surroundings.
«For us, there has never been a question of housing a different team than the Norwegians, says the owner of the hotel Marie Brunner».
Erik Håker, Norway’s first World Cup alpine winner (1971), has remarkably good memories from Tiefenbrunner:
We always got a warm welcome, and after a few years I got to know the hosts quite well. It kind of felt like coming home. I was also invited by the hosts to go hunting early one autumn, and I accepted the invitation. The hotel’s standard the first few years wasn’t the best, but that became less important during my week-long stay. I returned again a few years ago, and the hotel now has really high standards.
The person who might have the highest number of nights on the Tiefenbrunner through his career, is Kjetil André Aamodt:
In addition to being a pleasant hotel with excellent service and food, it was very convenient with mostly everything within walking distance. However, there was some problems with noise in the hotel during weekend races. And particularly Kjuser’n was annoyed that the church bells weren’t placed far enough away from the hotel.
The Norwegian men alpine racers has performed very well in Kitz over the last 30 years. In sum there has been 17 victories: Lasse Kjus (5), Kjetil André Aamodt (4), Aksel Lund Svindal (3), Kjetil Jansrud (2), Henrik Kristoffersen (2) and Atle Skårdal (1, the first Norwegian, in 1990).
In the photo: The owner Maria Brunner and her son.
Photo: Stine Mundal
