STREIF – One Hell of a Ride

The fairy-tale Tyrolean town of Kitzbühel buzzes with energy as the 2013 Hahnenkamm Races end with a boisterous party. And for good reason: nowhere else are the elite World Cup skiers so happy to have gotten through a race in one piece. They see the Hahnenkamm Mountain’s downhill course, the Streif, as the ultimate challenge, which can be mastered only with perfect technique and extraordinary courage.

As the ski racers leave Kitzbühel for the next World Cup location, the members of the Kitzbüheler Ski Club (KSC) are already starting preparations for the following year’s race. “STREIF – One Hell of a Ride” documents this work – both the spectacular achievements and the unsung efforts – over the course of one year. At the same time, the film follows five international athletes – Aksel Lund Svindal, Erik Guay, Max Franz, Yuri Danilochkin and Hannes Reichelt – at home in their native countries, during their summer training and in their free time. As the 2014 Hahnenkamm approaches, these two narratives become more and more interwoven, interspersed with stories from the event’s past, until the athletes arrive back in Kitzbühel…