Hahnenkamm

The Hahnenkamm rises to about seventeen hundred metres directly above Kitzbühel, and the Streif runs down its north-east flank - three thousand three hundred metres with a vertical drop of around eight hundred and sixty, and a sequence of features that racers name individually: the Mausefalle, where the course drops away at eighty-five per cent gradient seconds after the start and skiers fly eighty metres; the Steilhang traverse; the Hausbergkante and the final compression into the stadium. The race has been run since 1931 and the winner's name carries more weight in downhill than an Olympic title. In summer the cable car runs for walkers, the course is walked on foot with markers explaining the sections, and there is a museum of the race in the Hahnenkamm station.

What you actually see

• The Streif - the course itself, walkable in summer with the sections marked.
• The Mausefalle - the eighty-five per cent drop seconds from the start.
• A race museum - the history of the Hahnenkamm in the mountain station.
• A cable car from town - running for walkers as well as skiers.

When to go

January for the race; June to September for walking the course. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Race weekend is packed and expensive and needs booking far ahead. Walking the course in summer does not convey the speed - the gradients read as steep hillside, not as what they are.

Nearby

Kitzbühel is at the foot; the Wilder Kaiser is north.