500 meters downhill - Jil Lehnert: "I was too careful"

Jil Lehnert is fourth at the Freeride World Championships and is annoyed about the missed bronze medal

Wartenberg / Verbier - What the Wembley Stadium is to footballers, the slopes of Verbier are to freeriders.

Once the birthplace of this spectacular sport, the final of the Freeride World Tour (FWT) always takes place here.

The only German qualified at this year's Freeride Junior World Championship: Jil Lehner.

The 18-year-old woman from Wartenberg is about to jump off a 3000 meter.

On skis.

Bringing it down - the word would be too beautiful to fit perfectly.

Because when it comes to freeriding, it's not just speed that counts.

After all, each driver looks for her own lane, which she then flies and drives as spectacularly and smoothly as possible.

A jury evaluates every ride.

The weather in Verbier is a dream these days - but almost a little too warm for freeriders.

There is still powder snow on the steep north slope of a side summit of Mont Gelee (3000 m).

This is an advantage when it comes down 500 meters in altitude.

Some have already fallen (luckily without serious injuries), but Lehnert is not afraid of the steep slopes of up to 60 degrees.

120 days of skiing this season

It has long since arrived in the scene.

Two years ago she won the bronze medal at the World Cup.

A lot has happened since then.

She is now studying mechatronics in her third semester - conveniently in Innsbruck, where it is never far to the next ski slope.

She was able to train even this Corona winter.

“The lifts were closed from October to Christmas, and she had to make do with many ski tours,” says her father Michael.

With these tours you will get your stamina.

“She was only on the Wildspitze last week.” At 3768 meters, this is Austria's number two behind the Großglockner.

All in all, his daughter has been on skis for 120 days this winter.

However, competitions were in short supply due to Corona.

"Jil could only take part in one contest in Verbier, so she had no comparison to her opponents."

The qualification for the World Cup was based on the results of the previous year, when they won in Kappel / Paznaun and came second in Fieberbrunn and Alpbachtal.

In addition, the aforementioned World Cup bronze from 2019 - the student is one of the expanded favorites.

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She was the only German participant to land in fourth place at the World Juniors in Switzerland.

She annoys it a bit because she drove a little too carefully “and couldn't show what I'm really capable of”.

The 18-year-old wants to be the first German to qualify for the World Tour.

© Kästle GmbH / Andreas Vig

And then let's go.

500 meters in altitude without elevator, but similarly straight downhill.

Jil Lehnert jumps over rocks.

Five spectacular sentences.

She finds her trail in the narrow gullies.

But the ride is not as smooth and fast as usual.

Shortly before, an Italian woman fell directly at the entrance to the first steep slope.

The terrain is also rockier and harder to drive than expected.

“That's why I wanted to drive a little safer,” she will say afterwards.

She noticed too late that “the hesitation was totally unfounded and I could have given more without any problems”.

That annoyed her a bit, "because I couldn't show what I really could have done."

"This time she acted too cautiously on the very steep terrain," says her father, and the jury agrees.

The first runners are close together in the overall standings.

Ultimately, the French Astrid Cheylus, Delila Quinn (USA) and Claire Mc Pherson (Canada) land on the podium.

The skier from SC Auerbach is only eight points short of bronze.

For a better classification: she has 41 points ahead of fifth.

"Every year the level of the Juniors gets higher and is in no way inferior to the level of the adults on the World Tour", says Michael Lehnert.

Jil wants to qualify for this in the next few years - she would be the first German ever.