Fabio Wibmer: Fabio shoots "The Streif" - the new spectacular video from the Austrian

Fabio Wibmer - Austrian YouTube and mountain bike star - regularly leaves us open-mouthed in front of his videos. Sometimes he streetstyles through the city, sometimes he lets the police chase him through the mountains. Now there's a "tribute to the best skier in the world": Fabio doesn't just blast down the extremely steep Streif - World Cup downhill ski run - he and his team have also added a few kickers!

Mousetrap, steep slope and Hausbergkante - Fabio Wibmer gives it his all

The Streif places very high demands on ski stars, and even more so if you want to get down there on a mountain bike, like bike pro Wibmer. To realise this project, he once again pushed both his equipment and himself to the limit. With speeds of up to 107 km/h, drop jumps with a height difference of up to 14 metres and a maximum jump distance of 36 metres, he gave it his all. He says that the biggest challenges for him were building up enough speed quickly after a backflip from the start house, dealing with the steep mousetrap and finding reference points for his jumps and tricks without snow in winter in order to build up a feeling for speed.

Incidentally, mountain biking on the ski slopes is now to be officially included in the UCI race calendar: On 10 and 11 February, Chatel (France) will host the first UCI Snowbike World Championships instead.

Intensive preparation for man and bike

Fabio prepared intensively for this project. Not only was he physically pumped, he also needed to train his mental strength and find the perfect equipment.

Setting up the bike for these unusual conditions with snow, ice and cold involves many nuances such as suspension or the right tyre pressure. - Fabio Wibmer

"Together with ice speedway icon Franky Zorn, I created the perfect spikes for the bike in the summer in order to have enough grip on this unusual surface. At first glance, you don't realise how much work and how much teamwork goes into every detail to make a project like this a reality," says Fabio.

Ski piste + MTB = thrill - since the 90s

Yes, and then there's that awesome yellow and red bike paintwork (and of course the matching Nineyard clothing, Fabio's fashion label). For the editor, who has many years of modelling and life behind him, this somehow looks familiar. Fabio not only honours the ski stars, but also a certain Bengt Jönsson. He was actually also a Spee skier. But he tried to set a speed record on a downhill bike in 1995 and 1997. He did so on the ski slopes of Les Arcs in the French Alps. In the end, he smashed through the sound barrier at 208.7 km/h on his modified Research Dynamics Coyote downhill bike - in red and yellow paintwork! Coincidence?

Jönsson wasn't the only madman chasing records on the ski slopes for a long time: Éric Barone followed suit with a breathtaking 227.72 km/h in the French ski resort of Vars. And last but not least Markus Stöckl with 106 km/h over the Streifwhich Fabio Wibmer now has under the spikes of his Canyon Torque has taken.

The Streif myth - also for professional mountain bikers and Fabio

"I grew up with the Streif legend, the race has always been very important to me. My parents' house is only about an hour's drive from Kitzbühel," explains Fabio. "The idea of realising a project on the Streif had been in the back of my mind for some time. My team and I have been working for almost two years to make this dream a reality. Now it's a brilliant feeling after I've conquered the Streif, every jump has worked out and it's become a really cool video."

"When I think back to the Hahnenkamm races, one of the most memorable moments for me was Bode Miller's so-called 'wall ride' in the steep slope exit. It was precisely these unique moments that inspired me and I really wanted to incorporate them into my project "The Streif" - and of course I couldn't miss out on my personal Streif wallride on my bike."