In December 1973, a dramatic World Cup race was held for the first time on the icy and treacherous Planai downhill course in front of 25,000 spectators - there were many spectacular crashes and a young skier celebrated his first success on the tour. A star was born that day as Franz Klammer, wearing bib number 16, beat the Swiss favorites to win the first of his 25 competitions. The 1976 Olympic champion took impressive risks to achieve this performance on his way to become Austria's greatest ski hero of the 1970's and a new era began for downhill racing that day. Many other competitions were held on this slope including some of the 1982 FIS World Championships' races, but none was as remarkable as that 1973 downhill. After a long break, Schladming is back on the calendar with another exceptional event - a night slalom set on the final steep part of the downhill. It got an excellent start in 1997 as Alberto Tomba himself won it a few weeks before clinching bronze at the FIS World Championships at Sestriere. He won it again in 1998 but he had no luck at the Nagano Olympics that year. In 1999, a young skier, Benjamin Raich, who turned 21 in February, won his first World Cup race after clocking the 26th time in the first run. The crowd went crazy and celebrated as a their new star. So a tradition goes on at Schladming, one of the nicest ski resorts on the eastern part of Austria, only one hour drive south from Salzburg. The entire region has great ski facilities and good accommodations. Hans Knauss, the winner from Kitzbuhel, lives in Schladming as did Sepp Walcher, the 1978 Downhill World Champion who died in a ski accident in 1984.