17.10.2008 - 16:51 h

Peter Fill believes in it!

The Italian feels confident about the new Atomic equipment and the ski man

With respect to the unsatisfactory results of last season, the 25 years old World Cup skier was looking for an answer to the question: “What I have to change in order to reach the podium again?”
That’s the reason why this summer Peter enjoyed a different training methodology. Between the single training sessions, he undertook longer breaks in order to recharge the batteries. Less strength training and more coordination and agility.
Despite the training, for Peter the time has come for the first change in his career concerning the manufacturer of his skis and ski boots. His choice could not be better, since he choose the brand that collected the most victories in the Alpine Ski World Cup during the last ten years: Atomic.
It’s taken a while for the Austrian company to convince the all-round skier to change over to their brand. Atomic succeeded because they were able to offer him a competitive integrated package for all four disciplines. For an athlete like Peter, who is aiming at the General World Cup, it’s a guarantee for gaining high performance.
Moreover the decision to change to Atomic comes along with the new collaboration with one of the most successful behind the scenes ‘ski men’ in the history of alpine ski racing. The man who contributes to the athlete’s success, working with file and slice, is the South-Tyrolean Sepp Kuppelwieser, who won, together with the Norwegian Kjetil André Aamodt, 10 medals in Olympic Games and World Championships (of which 6 were golden!).

“There were only few ‘ski men’ that can show a complete experience in all four disciplines. Sepp is without doubt a great professional and despite of all the important achievements, he is also a pleasant and nice person. From the beginning on there was a positive feeling, since we are both easygoing,“ – said Fill.

Kuppelwieser, who learnt how to become a blacksmith, started his career 20 years ago preparing the skis for the Italian National Team. Following this, he worked for the Austrian Ski Team and starting in 1996 he worked 10 seasons for the Norwegian National Team.
For the great ski man it’s the first experience in Atomic: ”I have worked with several ski manufacturers and I can say that the Atomic Unit for Research & Development is really active. They have several technical solutions at their disposal. Now we have to check what are the best ones for Peter.”

Since September, Peter and Sepp have able to check for the first time skis and boots under winter conditions. Peter trained for five weeks on the Argentinean snow of Las Lenas and could test the Atomic equipment in all disciplines. “It represents without doubt a big change, but I was able to find really soon, the right wavelength. I think that the characteristics of the Atomic’s are compatible with my way to ski.”


Three questions to Peter:

1. Peter, how much does it count having the right equipment in a sport like skiing?
“It’s much more important than the passionate could ever think about. I think it’s similar to Formula 1: there exist really few manufacturer that enable you to win on every slope, discipline and kind of snow. This matters especially for the speed disciplines.”

2. How was your summer?
“It was a good summer. From the athletic point of view, I feel really good and during the winter I will try to keep my batteries ”on charge”. During our ski training, I could achieve better results than last year, but the parameters registered during this summers tests have a relative worthiness, even though they helped me build up confidence in my potentials”.

3. What are your expectations for the coming ski season?
“It’s always difficult predicting what will happen, because we skiers don’t go head to head with the best of the world for more than six months. Certainly I hope I’ll win! To reach this goal my new ski man and the Atomic equipment will be a strong support.”


… and three questions to Sepp:

1. You prepared for ten years the skis of Aamodt, the most successful skier in Olympic Games and World Championships! What kind of person is Peter?
“Before we started our collaboration, I didn’t know him. After our first months together, I can say that it’s easy to get along with him and he knows how to work with people. I feel good with him and there is a good communication between us.”

2. How does Peter work on the equipment research?
“Peter puts strong attention on looking for the right setting and he never leaves a stone unturned. Aamodt was more instinctive, he was the one who was adapting to the equipment and not vice versa and he was not willing to invest time in trying to improve skis and boots. On the contrary, there were athletes that analyse the whole ski season through (maybe too much!). Peter represents the golden middle way.”

3. How do you feel working together with the Italian Federation, that had to deal with lot of problems?
“I was positively impressed. The five weeks we spent in South America were perfectly organised. I had to admit that we have all we need. With respect to the Norwegian team, the Italian one is much bigger and therefore heterogeneous”.



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