Big Air in Klagenfurt

This is how much the mega event in the stadium really costs

(Bild: f. pessentheiner)

At the mega spectacle in the Klagenfurt stadium, it's obviously high season for the grumblers again. The first "Big Air" events on the Schleppe Alm in Carinthia were once historic - maybe this time too? In any case, there are still plenty of tickets for the World Cup competitions. .

The forums are overflowing with negative reports about the "Big Air" World Cup event in the Wörthersee stadium, which starts on Saturday with the freeskiers. Why do 40 tons of snow have to be delivered by truck from Nassfeld? Who pays for all the fuss? It's high season again for the internet grumblers. .

Claudio Trevisan, head of sports at the "Kärntner Krone", sheds light on the "Big Air" event in Klagenfurt in this column.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com, Krone KREATIV)

And so the "Krone" gets to the bottom of it: So what does the event really cost?

• The organizers are planning to spend between 2 and 2.5 million euros.
• The state will provide €50,000 twice from sport - once from the 2024 budget and once from the 2025 budget.
• The same sums will be provided by the state's tourism department and Kärnten Werbung.
• The Klagenfurt Tourist Board is contributing €100,000.
• The city will also provide €100,000 from the budget for 2024, of which the stadium rent, fire department and road policing measures will be invoiced.
• The rest will be financed by sponsors and tickets. A total of €400,000 will therefore be funded.

Many negative reports about the event are flooding various online forums.

(Bild: Pessentheiner/f. pessentheiner)

10,000 tickets sold per day
However, ticket sales are a little slower than expected. The organizers had hoped for 20,000 fans per day, but it currently looks like 10,000. But that shouldn't be a disaster at all, as it should be a zero-sum game for the bosses of "Limited Events". "Of course, we would be completely satisfied with that for the premiere," says organizer Patrick Riepl.

Anna Gasser does not believe that the athletes are necessarily the stars of the event.

(Bild: Pessentheiner/f. pessentheiner)

However, sport is obviously less of a draw than expected - which is surprising in combination with the live acts featuring Culcha Candela, Gabry Ponte, Bonez MC & Co. "You'd probably have to focus much more on music and show - we're not the stars," Olympic champion Anna Gasser even said at the Carinthian Sports Gala in Villach.

The stars once jumped on the Schleppe Alm
But it has worked before! Because this is not the first "Big Air" World Cup in Carinthia. Back in 2004 and 2006, the world's best boarders jumped over the still visible jump on the now abandoned Schleppe Alm.

Back then, Franz Vallant was one of those who landed the event. And with a mini-budget of a good €250,000 - admittedly not comparable and with completely different dimensions. "But we also had the snow delivered - from Innerkrems," says 72-year-old Vallant from Villach. Hardly anyone got excited back then - social media didn't exist yet. And the enthusiasm was even greater: 15,000 and 20,000 fans came - each in one day! And they saw something historic:

Stefan Gimpl was the first Austrian to triumph in the "Big Air" World Cup.

(Bild: AP ( via APA) Austria Presse Agentur/AP)

In 2006, an Austrian celebrated for the first time
In 2006, Stefan Gimpl from Salzburg was crowned the first ever red-white-red "Big Air" World Cup winner. On Carinthian soil of all places. Perhaps with Anna Gasser we will even see the first Carinthian triumph on Carinthian soil? This would then go around the world with live pictures - and garnish the regional added value of between five and eight million euros calculated by the Chamber of Commerce. And probably also satisfy the eternal grumblers.

(Bild: f. pessentheiner)

Auf Gassers Spuren

Die Youngsters mit viel Respekt vor Klagenfurts Rampe

Here we go! After a long build-up phase in the Wörthersee Stadium, the qualifiers for the Big Air World Cups for freestyle skiers on Saturday and snowboarders on Sunday take place this Friday. In the wake of snowboard star Anna Gasser, two Carinthian talents will jump from the 45-meter-high ramp.

"Conditions are difficult"
Eric Dovjak from Ferlach already knows them. In 2022, he jumped to 32nd place on this very hill at his World Cup debut in Chur (Sz). "The ramp looks even bigger in the stadium," laughs the 20-year-old, who has already tried a few things in training. "The landing is very hard, the conditions are difficult."

Eric Dovjak (left) and Kristina Holzfeind.

(Bild: Pessentheiner/f. pessentheiner)

Final probably out of reach
However, the final seems just as out of reach for the physics student as it does for Kristina Holzfeind from Villach. The 17-year-old won gold in Big Air at the 2023 European Youth Games in Italy - and this is even her debut in the World Cup. She finished 17th in the slopestyle last year.

"The height on the tower is bad"
After her first training jumps, she had respect for the mega ramp. "I first jumped over it without any tricks to feel my way up. The jump is really icy - and the height on the tower is also really tough," says the pupil, who attends grammar school in Stams.