Sport ·
1960s ski legends share stories of a very different sport in Werfenweng
Six former Austrian ski racers met again in Werfenweng in summer 2026. Their evening talk covered leather boots, lead vests and a trophy that went to a man.
World Championships, Olympic Games, podium finishes: in the 1960s, Christl Ditfurth, Traudl Eder, Brigitte Seiwald, Christl Staffner and the sisters Edith and Heidi Zimmermann were among Austria's most successful ski racers. The six are still friends. They used to write each other letters; today they have a WhatsApp group. Since 2001 they have met regularly, usually in the Arlberg region.
They came to Werfenweng through their friend Hans Müller, curator of the Salzburg FIS State Ski Museum. The first visit was in 2024, and they returned in summer 2026.
Racing without prize money or physio
Around 60 people came to the evening talk at the aja Campus Werfenweng. Many were amazed at how different ski racing used to be. There was no prize money, no physiotherapy after injuries, and safety nets or large support teams were far from standard.
- Traudl Eder described fitness training that involved running down the Dachstein in lead vests. In summer she worked in her sister's pastry shop.
- Christl Staffner once raced on Mount Etna in Sicily. The racers had to carry their own skis and boots up the volcano. They skied in leather boots that they reinforced themselves with straps.
- Christl Ditfurth, who grew up in Tenneck, set the fastest time of the day at the Zehnerkar in Obertauern, beating the men. The trophy still went to a man. Later, at a race in Argentina, she did receive the winner's trophy, but she was also crowned "Snow Queen". That trophy was bigger.
- Brigitte Seiwald remembered that in her first year on the team, racers were handed a schnapps at the finish.
The six hardly speak of rivalry today; travelling together bonded them. As Seiwald put it: "My opponent was always the clock."
A trip to the Eisriesenwelt
At the invitation of tourism director Josef Holzmann, the women also visited the Eisriesenwelt ice cave in Werfen. For Christl Ditfurth it was a return visit: as a girl of almost ten she had hiked up to the cave with her parents, as the cable car only started running in 1955.
Would they race again? All of them said yes, but only with modern ski boots and a proper support team.