Shortly before the start of the World Cup

New priorities! Resignation from the ÖSV team

Armin Höfl draws a line under it.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Resignation from the ÖSV team: a few weeks before the start of the World Cup, ski mountaineer Armin Höfl announced his departure on Friday! The father of two wants to spend more time with his family in future.

After almost 10 years in the World Cup circus, Styrian Armin Höfl is drawing a line under his career. The 35-year-old can look back on a thoroughly successful professional sports career, which began relatively late for the trained carpenter.

Armin Höfl(Bild: GEPA pictures)

As an amateur athlete, Höfl took part in his first races in 2013 and immediately attracted attention with his performances. Just one year later, he found himself in an ÖSV racing suit and competed in his first World Cup race in Mondole (ITA) in 2015, where he immediately finished in the points. He not only celebrated a victory at the legendary Mountain Attack in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, but also stood on the podium at the world's highest alpine ski touring race, the Trofeo Mezzalama. The Ski Austria athlete was also crowned two-time vertical and individual state champion. 

Low point 2020 and successful comeback
In addition to several top 10 finishes, Höfl also achieved his best World Cup result in the 2019/20 season with 4th place in the individual in China and 5th place in the overall World Cup. At the end of the 2020 season, he and team-mate Jakob Hermann took second place in one of the toughest long-distance races, the Transcavallo in Italy.

But after his most successful winter to date, the father of two also experienced his biggest setback. In the fall of 2020, the Styrian suffered a serious fall during a road bike ride. The result: a complicated femoral neck fracture. It would take around 14 months for the likeable Styrian to get back into the ÖSV racing suit and crown his comeback with victory in the international military classification at the legendary Patrouille de Glacier (SUI). 

Another setback 
Höfl went on to achieve several top placings in the World Cup. In January of this year, however, he suffered another setback. A pulmonary embolism in the middle of the World Cup season set Höfl back again and he had to end the season halfway through. Although the father of two is able to resume training in the spring and feels physically fit to compete again, "over the last few weeks I finally realized that my family and my health are simply more important to me. It's time to set new priorities," says the father of two. He still wants to compete in classics such as the Mountain Attack.