Kandahar as seen by French skiers

"I can't wait to get on la verte !"

"I can't wait to be in Chamonix, it's going to be a great week and a great show. I remember some legendary places like the Rocher Blanc bend! And that's where I did my first combined World Cup in 2016!

It's a beautiful, fairly complete run, and at the top you pick up quite a bit of speed before the first big jump at the break and then the famous Rocher Blanc bend before plunging into the trou du goulet, a jump that was pretty impressive in 2016. There are then some technical sliding bends to negotiate before the road jump, which is quite fun! And this new finish that I don't know, which was made especially for us, and which I'm going to discover!"

Cyprien Sarrazin,
winner of 4 world cups this season.

Chamonix's Blaise Giezendanner explains the downhill slope

A SPECIAL EDITION

“I know La Verte very, very well, I grew up in Les Houches, it's my garden. So obviously this meeting is symbolic, very symbolic. This piste is the origin of the downhill, it has a real history.
It's marked with a red cross in my diary, not just because it's in France and we downhillers don't often get the chance to be at home, but also for everything it represents this year in the valley.

The 100th anniversary of the Olympics that everyone is talking about, the 100th anniversary of the FIS and also the return of the Kandahar with its two historic disciplines. I think that the other nations will realise just how much enthusiasm there is for this year's event, because once they're here, it's going to be the big event of the season.

A LEGENDARY TRACK

For me, apart from the history, it's the view from the start that's iconic, with a 360° panorama of the whole Mont Blanc massif and the valley. It's a breathtaking setting, rivalled only by Wengen with its view of the Eiger. The piste isn't the most complicated on the circuit, but when I talk about it with the other racers, many of them are delighted to be skiing it.
It's divided into 2 parts, a technical section at the top and a sliding section at the bottom. After the spectacular start, you arrive at the break where the jump can be quite impressive in length, then follows the Rocher Blanc bend which you have to negotiate technically well and which brings a lot of speed into the gully. This one doesn't look like much, but you arrive with a lot of speed and it creates a kind of compression with an almost 90-degree turn that imposes real physical demands on the skier and also on the equipment, especially as it's often very icy at this point!
Then comes the most legendary jump of the downhill, the Goulet, which has certainly been modified a little because of the increasing speed, but which remains spectacular for spectators and riders alike because the track is narrow, which has a psychological impact. It's also a place where you need to optimise your speed. Then the two bumps follow with the S at Pessy before the FIS flat. If you haven't built up enough speed, the race can be lost at this point. Cuche knew how to negotiate it to perfection. Then there's the jump over the road and the last two bends with a quick right foot support to negotiate before arriving in the arena of the village of Les Houches. I love this finish in the heart of the resort too!"

Blaise Giezendanner,
specialist in speed events (downhill and super G).