Marco Odermatt fans travel to Adelboden on the wrong day

The trip to Adelboden is one of the absolute highlights of the official fan club of ski star Marco Odermatt. This, which now has around 3,500 supporters from more than 20 countries, also offers car trips to Sölden, Wengen, Kitzbühel or the World Cup. But nowhere is the rush as big as on the trip to the legendary Chuenisbärgli. Maybe also because Marco Odermatt spontaneously drove home in one of the cars on Saturday evening after his victories in the giant slalom for the past two years.

At least that definitely won’t happen this weekend. Because Odermatt’s appearance was postponed by the organizers on Wednesday from Saturday to Sunday due to the difficult weather forecast. Instead of the giant slalom as planned, the first day of racing is now reserved for the slalom artists.

1,050 members of the Odi fan club have purchased discounted tickets for Saturday, around 700 of whom will travel to the Bernese Oberland in 16 cars from Gössi-Reisen at one of the seven boarding points in central Switzerland. According to the fan club, the highlight of the Odermatt fans’ calendar year has been completely sold out for a long time. A total of 25,000 tickets were sold for the giant slalom in Adelboden. Advance sales began in mid-October and all tickets were gone by November. In the style of a pop star concert, the main stand was even reported to be sold out within a few minutes.

Odermatt addresses the fans

Now the vast majority of Marco Odermatt’s supporters leave Beckenried early on Saturday morning, for example at 5:20 a.m., to see Daniel Yule and the other Swiss slalom riders instead of their idol. Not everyone finds it really casual or at least shows understanding. Emotions are running high in the comment columns on social media – especially among Odi fans.

Marco Odermatt reacted to the disappointment of his followers, addressed them via Instagram message and once again confirmed his reputation as a team player. “Unfortunately one or two of them won’t be able to take part in the giant slalom this year. My slalom colleagues will give it their all on Saturday,” wrote the 27-year-old.

Marco Gössi, managing director of the travel company of the same name from Horw, was also confronted with numerous feedback from Odermatt fans. At first they didn’t understand why the whole trip couldn’t be rescheduled from Saturday to Sunday. “The decision from Adelboden also caused a huge administrative effort for us,” says Gössi, “at least the fans have shown great understanding that we have no opportunity to act and, fortunately, there have only been a few cancellations so far.”

On Sunday, 25,000 fans would lead to a collapse

The fact that the organizers of Adelboden did not simply change the validity of the tickets has to do with logistics. For the slalom, only half as many spectators are expected on site as for Odermatt’s appearance in the giant slalom. At the slalom, the capacity is limited to a maximum of 15,000 spectators. All logistical planning for Sunday is based on this number.

Christian Haueter, member of the management of the Adelboden World Cup races, explains why the event concept on Saturday and Sunday is completely different. The 25,000 fans on Saturday will be taken back to the Park+Ride at the airfield in Reichenbach by 130 shuttle buses. After the race, these transports are divided into around eight hours. In addition, a parking lot for a maximum of 100 fan cars has been set up on site. Last year these places were also completely booked.

On Sunday, however, after the second round, people all wanted to leave Adelboden within two to a maximum of three hours, given the upcoming working day. In addition, all teams leave with their vehicles and most of the hotel guests in the village. “Every guest bed in Adelboden is occupied this weekend,” says Haueter. Down in the valley in Frutigen there is also return traffic from Lötschberg. “The transport system would simply collapse on Sunday afternoon with 10,000 more spectators,” said Haueter.

After the race swap was announced, around 2,000 tickets for the giant slalom on Sunday went on sale on Wednesday. These were gone quickly. In addition, Haueter sought contact with the various fan clubs – first with the Odermatt fan club. As of Thursday evening, no solution had yet been found, for example for exchanging tickets within the fan clubs, says Christian Haueter. But behind the scenes the wires are still running hot.

So it’s quite possible that some lucky Odi fans will still be able to secure Sunday tickets in exchange from the fan club contingent of Daniel Yule or Ramon Zenhäuser. The trip to Chuenisbärgli is also the highlight of the season for Yule’s supporters. But there are just a few fewer than teammate Odermatt.