The winner type from Karwendel

It all actually started with the forest, recalls the forester. After graduating from forestry school, the young man applied for the federal forestry district in Karwendel and moved into a small wooden house in Hinterriß. He admits with a smile today that he bit off more than he could chew at first: Since skiing in the steep Rißtal was nearly impossible, he had to find sporting alternatives. Eventually, he was inspired by Bavarian cross-country skiers to take up gliding on snow. At his time, no one in Austria was capable of keeping up with the world elite in cross-country skiing, emphasizes the ambitious recreational skier. It was an uninteresting niche sport, as the Alps were historically considered the territory of skiers. As a result, the young forester received his first equipment second-hand from the Bavarians. The rest is probably history now, grins Herbert Schafhuber.

At some point, no one in the house trails around Hinterriß ran faster than the forester, who had long sensed the competition. He had himself placed in the squad of the neighboring ski club and soon after started the Tyrolean Championships in Seefeld over 15 kilometers. Perhaps one or two are faster, have better equipment, he speculated. And he came in second to last. Where others would have probably given up, Herbert Schafhuber now burned with defiance for victory.

I remain a forest and meadow runner, the old forester admits with a grin. This fact won him the victory at the Ganghoferlauf in 1976. At the start, the runners were met with a dense snowstorm. Although the leading group was able to quickly distance themselves after the starting shot, the first runners had to laboriously press down the snowy track again. As the frontrunners gradually fell behind, the forest runner took the lead. The hard training in the Eng now paid off; he created a gap between himself and his followers, but eventually, even he ran out of strength.

To this day, Herbert Schafhuber still enjoys cross-country skiing. Less frequently and definitely not as fast as before, but he still likes to ski his favorite trails. Once he also had Arnold Schwarzenegger with him, who used to be a regular guest in his younger years. On a beautiful winter day, when Arnie wanted to try cross-country skiing, the experienced forester took him to the trail in Eng. In the end, the Styrian was so fascinated by the forester's gliding sport that he immediately booked his mentor for the next day. However, when Herbert Schafhuber arrived at the inn at the agreed time, there was no sign of Arnie anywhere.