Hahnenkamm Starthouse Gets A Facelift

The start house of the Hahnenkamm run is a popular meeting point for visitors from all over the world in summer and winter. Now it is necessary that major new adjustments are made. 

“The start house has been in use since 1946 and since then there have been smaller and larger renovations, the last one around 25 years ago,” reports KSC President Michael Huber.

The start house has always been used mainly in January for the HKR event and as a year-round warehouse. During the year it is a fixed point for visitors to Kitzbühel, and in summer the starting room is even open. But there are also various events such as the annual handover of the gondola to the HKR winner or meetings, such as the race track inspections with FIS and ORF.

The optimized infrastructure during the race week through the "Energy Station" as a lounge for the athletes and supervisors of the HKR sponsor Red Bull has shown an urgent need for the toilet and wet rooms on the ground floor over the years. Although this can be done in the existing structure, the lost lounge and service rooms will necessarily be replaced by an extension on the first floor.

It was important to the club management that the extended start house visually matched the overall ensemble on the Hahnenkamm and that the natural material "wood" was used. “The start house is a calling card for the Hahnenkamm races and Kitzbühel. It is therefore important that the landowners and ARGE Kitzbühel also support the project idea in a positive way.

On May 4, 2020, the Kitzbühel municipal council unanimously decided on the basis for this new adaptation of the start house. The further course of the official procedure will now show whether the chance of implementation in the expected “calmer” mountain summer 2020 will be realized. The Kitzbühel Ski Club thanks the municipality of Kitzbühel and Bergbahn AG as the landowner concerned for their trust and looks forward to the future with optimism.

History of the start house

• Until 1945 - A wooden shed there is used as an air force barracks
• From 1946 - The shed is used by the KSC for the Hahnenkamm  (material store)
• 1973 - First conversion, expansion of the shed into a starting room with a cellar
• 1986 - Extension of the clubhouse with service, bedrooms and sanitary rooms, a club room with a tiled stove, expansion of the material cellar
• 1996 - Extension of the starting room with a warm-up room, toilet, relocation of the bedroom