Stairway to heaven: Skiers scale 223 steps to downhill start

Italian veteran Christof Innerhofer ascended at “the pace of a retiree.” Teammate Dominik Paris acted as if he had won a medal, raising his huge arms in celebration and letting out a scream when he reached the top.

The 223 steps required to get to the start house of the new men’s downhill course at the skiing world championships gave athletes who are more accustomed to descending mountains at breakneck speeds a new challenge.

“We train in summer normally just for going down but here it’s also for going up,” Germany’s Thomas Dreßen said after Sunday's race, which was won by Vincent Kriechmayr of Austria.

The start of the men's downhill course, at the alpine ski World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. To reach the start of the new men's downhill course in Cortina, skiers have to climb 223 steps at an altitude of 2,400 meters (8,000 feet). The course's name, Vertigine, translates to "vertigo." (AP PhotoGabriele Facciotti)

After riding the chairlift to the hospitality tent, the trek to the top starts with a narrow goat path cut into rock. After another 150 meters (yards) of uphill walking through the snow, the steps start in earnest.

It’s mostly a straight shot all the way up on the endless set of stairs set up on scaffolding. The final 15 steps are cut into the snow -- with no railing.

Organizers have shied away from installing a new chairlift to protect the environment so close to the mountain peaks.

Italy's Christof Innerhofer starts a men's downhill training, at the alpine ski World Championships, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. (AP PhotoGabriele Facciotti)

“I love climbing and being in the mountains and ski touring. It has that similar vibe. But hiking in race boots when it’s minus 20 degrees is really tough,” American downhiller Travis Ganong said.

While some racers swapped their ski boots for regular shoes, Ganong was not one of them.

“If I take my boots off when it’s this cold I can’t get them back on. They get too stiff,” he said. “So I don’t know how those guys were doing that.”

Austria's Vincent Kriechmayr waits to start a men's downhill training, at the alpine ski World Championships, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. (AP PhotoGabriele Facciotti)

Technicians had the worst of it, having to carry up multiple pairs of skis and other equipment for their racers.

Photographers carrying backpacks with 15 kilograms (more than 30 pounds) of equipment had a rough time, too.

The altitude at the top of the aptly named Vertigine course, which translates as “vertigo,” is 2,400 meters (nearly 8,000 feet).

Canada's Broderick Thompson speeds down the course during the men's downhill, at the alpine ski World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb.14, 2021. (AP PhotoGabriele Facciotti)

“It’s like you’re actually part of the mountain. You got to work for it a little bit,” said Bryce Bennett, another American competitor. “I kind of like that. And then you’re at the base of that super cliffed-out mountain. It’s just an incredible place.”

Known as the “Queen” of the Italian Dolomites, Cortina has rock outcroppings, scenery and spectacular panoramas.

The women’s downhill that runs next to the men’s course is famous for the Tofana Schuss, a chute between two cliffs.

Switzerland's Lara Gut-Behrami starts a women's downhill training, at the alpine ski World Championships, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. (AP PhotoGabriele Facciotti)

Nearby there's also the Cinque Torri, a small formation featuring five towers of rock.

“It’s probably top three of the most beautiful places I’ve ever skied,” said Norwegian veteran Kjetil Jansrud, a five-time Olympic medalist. “It’s an amazing mountain.”

The Vertigine course could be used for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics. While the men are currently slated to race in Bormio during the games, the International Ski Federation would like to have both men and women compete in Cortina.

The start of the men's downhill course, at the alpine ski World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. To reach the start of the new men's downhill course in Cortina, skiers have to climb 223 steps at an altitude of 2,400 meters (8,000 feet). The course's name, Vertigine, translates to "vertigo." (AP PhotoGabriele Facciotti)

Racers had to plan ahead to give themselves enough time to complete the hike.

“The race in a way starts from there,” Innerhofer said. “Yesterday I left hospitality one hour before my start and I reached the top 17 minutes before I started. So I had the pace of a retiree.”

“It’s definitely nicer to go down,” added the 36-year-old Innerhofer, who lives an hour away from Cortina. “I like climbing mountains but I don’t walk much because I’ve got a bad back and bad knees. I prefer using a bike.”

Jets of the "Frecce Tricolori" (Tri-Color Arrows) aerobatics team of the Italian Air Force fly over Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, prior to the men's downhill, at the alpine ski World Championships, Sunday, Feb.14, 2021. (AP PhotoGabriele Facciotti)

The 6-foot-7 Bennett took a rest every 30 steps.

“If you’re speeding it up you get a little bit of extra training,” Jansrud said. “So something in between without getting that lactic acid up too much.”

There was a similar setup for the start of the men’s downhill at the 2017 worlds in St. Moritz, Switzerland, but “this one is a much, much longer climb,” said Ganong.

The start of the men's downhill course, at the alpine ski World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. To reach the start of the new men's downhill course in Cortina, skiers have to climb 223 steps at an altitude of 2,400 meters (8,000 feet). The course's name, Vertigine, translates to "vertigo." (AP PhotoGabriele Facciotti)

The tight space at the top of the stairs made for a lot of people close together, which created some concern amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’re all athletes. It’s fine to hike a little bit. They just need to build a big platform up there,” Ganong said. “They kind of threw all the caution to the wind.”

Associated Press writer Eric Willemsen contributed.

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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Lamar Jackson thought it was over. That the Baltimore Ravens' unwieldy season would end up in a familiar spot: the playoffs.

Then, rookie kicker Tyler Loop's potential game-winning field goal from 44 yards out drifted a little right. And then a little further right. And then a little further right still.

By the time it fluttered well wide of the goalposts, the playoffs were gone. So was Jackson's certainty after a 26-24 loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday night sent the Ravens into what could be a turbulent offseason.

“I'm definitely stunned, man,” Jackson said. “I thought we had it in the bag. ... I don't know what else we can do.”

Jackson, who never really seemed fully healthy during his eighth season as he battled one thing after another, did his part. The two-time NFL MVP passed for 238 yards and three touchdowns, including two long connections with Zay Flowers in the fourth quarter that put the Ravens (8-9) in front.

It just wasn't enough. Baltimore's defense, which played most of the second half without star safety Kyle Hamilton after Hamilton entered the concussion protocol, wilted against 42-year-old Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers passed for a season-high 294 yards, including a 26-yard flip to a wide-open Calvin Austin with 55 seconds to go after a defender slipped, symbolic of a season in which Baltimore's defense only occasionally found its form.

Still, the Ravens had a chance when Jackson found Isaiah Likely for a 28-yard gain on fourth down from midfield. A couple of snaps later, the 24-year-old Loop walked on to try to lift Baltimore to its third straight division title.

Instead, the rookie said he “mishit” it. Whatever it was, it never threatened to sneak between the goalposts.

“It’s disappointing,” Loop said.

Loop was talking about the game. He might as well have been talking about his team's season.

The Ravens began 1-5 as Jackson dealt with injuries and the defense struggled to get stops. Baltimore found a way to briefly tie the Steelers for first in late November, only to then split its next four games, including a home loss to Pittsburgh.

Still, when Jackson and the Ravens walked onto the Acrisure Stadium turf on Sunday night in the 272nd and final game of the NFL regular season, Baltimore was confident. The Ravens drilled Pittsburgh in the opening round of the playoffs a year ago behind the ever-churning legs of running back Derrick Henry.

When Henry ripped off a gain of 40-plus yards on the game's first offensive snap, it looked like it was going to be more of the same. While Henry did rush for 126 yards and joined Hall of Famer Barry Sanders as the only running backs in NFL history to have five 1,500-yard seasons, he was less effective in the second half.

Even that first run was telling of what night it was going to be, as an illegal block by wide receiver Zay Flowers cost Baltimore some field position. The Ravens ended up scoring on the drive anyway, thanks to a 38-yard fourth-down flip from Jackson to a wide-open Devontez Walker, but it started a pattern that was hard to shake as several steps forward were met with one step back on a night the Ravens finished with nine penalties for 78 yards.

“We were having a lot of penalties, which kept stopping drives," Jackson said. “But I'm proud of my guys because we kept overcoming. We kept overcoming adversity and situations like this. Divisional games (can) be like that sometimes.”

Particularly when the Steelers are on the other side of the line of scrimmage. Pittsburgh has won 10 of the last 13 meetings. And while a handful of them have been in late-season matchups with the Ravens already assured of reaching the playoffs, the reality is the Steelers have been able to regularly do something that most others have not: found a way to beat Jackson.

“It comes down to situations like this,” Jackson said. “Two-point conversion one year. Field goal another year. And again this year. Just got to find a way to get that win here.”

And figure out who is going to be around to help get it.

Head coach John Harbaugh's 18th season in Baltimore ended with the Ravens missing the playoffs for just the second time in eight years. Jackson turns 29 this week and is still one of the most electric players in the league.

Yet Harbaugh and Jackson have yet to find a way to have that breakthrough season that Harbaugh enjoyed with Joe Flacco in 2013 when the Ravens won the Super Bowl.

There was hope when the season began that the roadblocks that have long been in the franchise's way — Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes chief among them — would be gone.

While the Ravens did get their way in a sense — the Chiefs will watch the playoffs from afar for the first time in a decade after a nightmarish season of their own — it never all came together.

Jackson declined to endorse Harbaugh returning for a 19th season, saying the loss was still too fresh to zoom out on what it might mean for the franchise going forward.

Harbaugh, for his part, certainly seems up for running it back in the fall.

“I love these guys,” he said afterward. “I love these guys.”

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, right, hands the ball off to running back Derrick Henry (22) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh talks with an offical during the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, left, greets Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) after an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Steelers safety Jabrill Peppers (40) reacts after Baltimore Ravens kicker Tyler Loop (33) missed a field goal attempt in the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)