45 years later, a Crazy Canucks tradition lives on at The Londoner bar in Kitzbuhel
English pub became hub for post-race celebration thanks to famed Canadian skiers of '80s
Not far from the Kitzbuhel finish line, in the shadows of the daunting Streif slope on Hahnenkamm Mountain, sits an English Pub that has for more than four decades been the home of champions – the men who tame skiing's most treacherous slope come to The Londoner to soak up the adoration of fans.
It's a tradition that was started by a group of Canadian skiers, the Crazy Canucks, who took Europe by storm beginning in 1980 when Ken Read won Kitzbuhel, triggering four years of Canadian wins. As the story goes, the owner of The Londoner, Rick Gunnell, promised free champagne to whoever won.
Read made good on the offer, cashing in on his champagne celebration. Little did Read and his Canadian teammates at the time know that they're champagne swilling, cigar smoking and beer chugging antics would lead to a tradition that lives on today.
"The previous owner has confirmed it was them who started all of this. It was the Crazy Canucks," says current Londoner owner, David Jamieson.
"Those boys liked to party."
WATCH | How Canadians helped make The Londoner a celebration epicentre:
And there was a lot to party about back then. Read won it in 1980, then Steve Podborski won back-to-back titles and finally Todd Brooker made it four straight Canadian wins at Kitz.
"If you've survived that thing, that slope, you deserve a beer as soon as you stop. They should have beers handed out at the bottom," Jamieson said.
"These guys have put their bodies on the line for our entertainment, just give them a beer. Let them enjoy themselves."
In the somewhat quaint confines of The Londoner, complete with tartan wallpaper throughout, the skiers are welcomed to the overcapacity crowd – about 275 people can cram into the confines.
"There are a lot of skiers who have finished 10th or 20th, they come earlier in the night and sit around and wait for the winners to come. After those boys have been to their gala dinners in their tuxedos they come here. We announce them one-by-one, third, second, first," Jamieson said.
"They're big boys but we have big doormen as well. On the shoulders through the crowd, everyone is high-fiving, phones out taking footage, bring them behind the bar and it just goes off in here. It goes crazy."
'If these walls could talk...'
Today inside The Londoner there's somewhat of a wall of fame that's been established in one corner of the bar – photos from those earliest celebrations and the skiers who won Kitzbuhel.
In one of the photos honouring Read's victory, skiers and party revelers are beside Read celebrating and showering the crowd in champagne. Podborski is on the wall to acknowledge his two wins – Brooker is raising a pint of beer in his photo, beside the first Londoner owner Rick Gunnell.
"If these walls could talk they would tell a story of craziness, a little bit of debauchery, just the kind of carnage that goes on here during the Hahnenkamm weekend, started by the Crazy Canucks," Jamieson said.
Then, just a couple of weekends ago, Toronto's Jack Crawford skied to victory at the famed Streif, a thrilling victory for Canada. His teammate, Cameron Alexander, finished third. It called for a massive celebration.
"I was there a number of years ago, maybe seven, and I remember the first time I went in there I was thinking I'm never doing that again because it was just so chaotic," Crawford said.
"I think one of the rules we made as a team was that when somebody gets a podium that's the time we go and celebrate and go back. When both of us got on the podium it wasn't just the teammates asking, it was the reporters too asking if we would see us at The Londoner."
Crawford and Alexander arrived late into the evening to a hero's welcome.
While previous parties have been epic, laced with drunken debauchery and dancing, Jamieson says Crawford's win matched with Alexander's third-place finish sparked a different level of excitement.
"We've had crazy parties here. But this one, this was a big one. That was a really big one. A lot of champagne," Jamieson said.
"I was watching the race on the Saturday, I knew Cam was doing well and when Jack came down, I turned to who I was watching the race with and said it's going to be one heck of a party tonight. To have a Canadian winner all over again, I think it's going to happen a few times now."
WATCH | The Crazy Canucks and 4 years of Kitzbuhel hegemony:
And Jamieson will be prepared. He still can't wrap his mind around how he's gotten to this place, having moved from Wales to Kitzbuhel years ago, worked as a doorman at the bar for a year before taking over as general manager in 2016.
He finally bought the place in 2020. They were going to close The Londoner during the pandemic. That's when Jamieson stepped in.
"I turned to the former owner Edith [Gunnell] and said," What about me taking over?" There were a lot of people offering to take it over, but Edith wanted her baby to be run by somebody who would continue it in the same way. The Londoner is not broken. It doesn't need to be fixed. It's stayed exactly the same as it was in the 1980s," Jamieson said.
"So if the Crazy Canucks ever come back, it'll be like walking home again."
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