Alpine skiing World Cup in Bad Kleinkirchheim

[primoz]

Hi everyone.

My winter finally started for real... even if there's still almost no snow around here. I'm back from 2 days of moderate cold and wind, cloudy weather, and so icy track that even athletes were complaining about it, so you can imagine how it was for me to ski down there with all equipment in hands and in backpack. But on the other side, it was great after almost half of year of heat and sun, to meet all friends from skiing World Cup again.

And here's few results from 2 days of skiing.


http://www.photo.si/img/sport/s_skiing_20071209nwm_0228.jpg

Carlo Janka of Switzerland skiing in first run of men slalom race of Audi FIS Men Alpine skiing World Cup in Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria.

http://www.photo.si/img/sport/s_skiing_20071209nw_0045.jpg

Kalle Palander of Finland crashing in steepest part of first run.

http://www.photo.si/img/sport/s_skiing_20071209nw_0015.jpg

Winner Benjamin Raich of Austria skiing in first run

Since skiers I needed went out in first run already, and having another shooter with me, second run gave me chance to try something different.

http://www.photo.si/img/sport/s_skiing_20071209nw_0426.jpg

11th placed Felix Neureuther of Germany skiing in second run

http://www.photo.si/img/sport/s_skiing_20071209nw_0345.jpg

5th placed Cristian Deville of Italy

And few from giant slalom race.

http://www.photo.si/img/sport/s_skiing_20071208nw_0328.jpg

9th placed Ales Gorza of Slovenia skiing in second run of men giant slalom race of Audi FIS Men Alpine skiing World Cup in Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria

http://www.photo.si/img/sport/s_skiing_20071208nw_0027.jpg

Benjamin Raich of Austria skiing in first run of men giant slalom

http://www.photo.si/img/sport/s_skiing_20071208nw_0032.jpg

Kalle Palander of Finland skiing in first run of men giant slalom.

That would be all for today. Now I'm gone for another really crazy week with at least 5 skiing and biathlon World cups, one basketball Euroleague and one volleyball Champions league match.
Have fun,
Primoz

PS: And as always... sorry for watermark : D

[ChefDave]

SWEEET!!!!

[tomd]

Primoz,
As always, your shots are simply amazing. I could go on and on about the color, composition and exposure, but we can all see how spectacular these are. Great work. I look forward to seeing many more of your images here. Thanks for posting.

[JSJR4]

Those are some awesome shots you have there

[royv]

Superb skiing shots! well done

I love the extreme angle of the horizon on the first picture, it really emphasizes the speed in which he takes the corner.

[Sauk]

great shots I must say.

Never been to one of those races, but how steep are those passes they are going down?

[SRF34]

Primoz-

AWESOME Shots! Keep 'em coming!!

[superdiver]

I was wondering when we would be graced by your magic! Great stuff as usual, looking forward to more of it this winter!

[AdamLewis]

I have trouble going down the bunny slopes :x

Awesome pictures for sure.

Not a huge fan of the gondola in the middle of a couple of them but I love the rest.

[primoz]

Never been to one of those races, but how steep are those passes they are going down?
With men races it's normally pretty bad. On top of extreme steepness, courses are normally really icy. Most of times crampons are obligatory for photographers, and those few times when they are not obligatory, they are highly recommended, so you can imagine how bad it is. For this particular track in Bad Kleinkirchheim I found data, that in 2600m of lenght it goes down for about 700 height meters, so average grade is around 26%.
Women races on the other hand are easier. They are normally not so steep, and normally (that doesn't mean always) course is not so icy either. But it's still not really Sunday skiing :)

[primoz]

Thanks for your opinion Adam. I was hoping gondola shoots with end up better, but I'm not really happy with them either. Oh well... maybe more luck next time :)

[namasste]

Primoz, I was anxious to see when you'd start posting shots for this season and you started it out with a bang. Great images. The composition in 2,3, and the last two is just outstanding. Looking forward to seeing more of your winter work in the months to come!

[PhotosGuy]

Those are just excellent work!

[ak_powder_monkey]

awesome

[surfer_chicky]

Great pics, please keep them coming.
I am so jealous, I only get to go 1 week a year :(

[gcppix]

Great photos Primoz!! Love the composition and colours in your photos! Keep them coming! I'm looking forward for more...

[lakiluno]

Great photos!

I was skiing in BKK a few years ago - interesting to see it again, especially with all the world champion skiers there!

Did you go in the hot springs?

I wish I could go skiing now :(... >_>

[primoz]

Did you go in the hot springs?
No spa for me :) This was not holiday trip for me, but work. Since it's was less then 1 hour drive from home, I didn't bother to stay there overnight, so one hour after race, when I was done with photos, I was in car driving home already. And on top of that, I don't like spa, I love cold not hot water :mrgreen:

[AB8ND]

Great shots

Jack

[DDA]

Beautiful shots Primoz, as usual! What were your lens and settings for those shots (lets say the second one..)?

[primoz]

Second one was shoot with 300/2.8 and 1.4x converter. Settings were f4.0, 1/1250s and iso250, dialed into manual of course, with custom wb and ai servo.

[DDA]

Thanks!

[Croasdail]

Love it when you share - wish you would do it more.