Ski competitions, entertainment and charity went hand in hand this weekend in Kranjska Gora, attracting several thousand people under Vitranc for one of the highlights of the winter.
Saturday and Sunday were booked for the 57th Vitranc Cup, where the best skiers in giant slalom and slalom skied down the course. It was full of life there since Friday, when skiers gathered to pay tribute to the memory of the former Slovene national ski team member Drago Grubelnik.
There was a rich programme also on the music stage, featuring famous names. 4,500 people gathered at the Saturday concert in front of the Vitranc Hall. Parni valjak, the legendary Croatian pop-rock band, was the star of the evening.
Many found it difficult to wake up and set off to Podkoren, where the professional skiers took part in the World Cup event. There were 7,000 spectators in two days.
Most of the fans came from Slovenia, hoping for one of the Slovene skiers to reach a podium spot. We have been waiting for this for 16 years. But they waited in vain. The fastest Slovene was Žan Kranjec, who came in fifth in Saturday's giant slalom, while Štefan Hadalin finished 13th in Sunday's slalom.
Before the start of Saturday's second run, Andrej Šporn, who had announced in December that he was going to retire, skied down the Vitranc slope for the last time dressed in retro gear.
The results of the 57th Vitranc Cup were no surprise. "Who won today?" could be heard on Sunday afternoon. "Hirscher again, who else," was the answer. Austria’s Marcel Hirscher won both the giant slalom and slalom events, both times sweeping his competition by a whole second. He said after the competition that he was happy, for it had been in Kranjska Gora that he stepped on the podium for the first time ten years ago.
