Motoring
Watch Mattias Ekström take on one of the world’s steepest alpine ski runs
The two-time DTM champ tackles his biggest challenge yet – driving up an 85 percent incline slope.
Most people who tackle the world's steepest downhill ski track, The Streif, don’t attempt it on four wheels. They don’t attempt it travelling the wrong way, either. Then again, most people aren’t Mattias Ekström.
Two days after the 2019 Hahnenkamm World Cup race down Kitzbuhel’s world-famous (and near-vertical) ski slope, the double DTM champ, 2016 WRX champion and three-time winner of the Race of Champions was set the unenviable task of driving up its steepest section. The 85 percent incline called the Mausefalle (or the Mousetrap).
Skiing star Aksel Lund Svindal was on hand to give Ekström some handy pointers about a section feared by all downhill skiers. The Norwegian and Ekström toured the Mausefalle together using climbing irons. “It’s going to be crazy to see a car go up here,” said Svindal, out of earshot of the Swede.
Mattias Ekström
© Red Bull Media House
Ekström’s Audi E-Tron technology demonstrator was specially built with adjustable distribution and torque, and the powerful boost of Audi’s special Quattro drivetrain. It also came equipped with spiked 19-inch tyres to give the rally ace the best possible chance of making it to the summit.
To keep him safe, Ekström's car was kitted out with a roll cage, a racing seat with a six-point harness, and a belay, through which a safety cable was looped. The safety system was designed for the challenge to stop the car slipping without impacting on the performance of the car or the driver.
Ekström was clearly relieved to have conquered the vertiginous challenge. "The last 25 metres will always be lodged in my memory. We conquered even the steepest stretch,” he told us. "Reaching the Mousetrap wasn't actually on my 'bucket list'! However, I'm thrilled this was something I got to experience."
The Swedish ace is in good company. Red Bull Racing’s F1 star Max Verstappen and five-time MotoGP champion Marc Márquez have tackled The Streif before Ekström. The Swede’s achievement also makes it a hat-trick of epic, near-vertical alpine challenges for Audi’s iconic Quattros, after previous dares in 1978 and 2005.
Watch Ekström turn up the voltage and take on the stupidly steep Mausefalle in the player at the top of the page.
Watch Verstappen and Márquez tackle The Streif in the players below.
15 min
Max Verstappen’s F1 show run in the snow
Max Verstappen drives a Formula One car around an iconic ski hill in Austria.
2 min
Marc Márquez's showrun in the snow
MotoGP™ champion Marc Márquez takes on the snowy summit of Hahnenkamm mountain, Austria on his racing bike.
