Bischofshofen looks forward to the new take-off track

At the Paul-Außerleitner Hill in Bischofshofen, hard work is going on. But it is not skiers or Nordic combined athletes who train and sweat here as usual, but six men from Peter Riedel Sports Technology. For a week, they are installing a new take-off track at the final venue of the Four Hills Tournament according to the latest technical standards. The “World Champion Track,” as it is known in specialist circles, already has a small success story behind it. The track system, in which summer and winter tracks run parallel, is already installed at 61 international hill facilities.

Peter Riedel is particularly pleased that Bischofshofen will now also receive such a track system, the last tournament venue. “It’s wonderful and I’m very happy that I won the bid for the track in Bischofshofen. With that, we have now equipped the last tournament host venue as well. I am glad to contribute to making the events here fairer and safer in terms of feasibility. With the new ice track, it is also possible to start operating the hill even earlier in autumn and to give athletes an authentic training under winter-like conditions at an early stage.”

The 13.5 centimeter wide, standardized take-off track is built directly over the existing track. This changes the take-off height at the hill table by 24 centimeters, but the flight path remains unchanged. In summer, athletes have a hard-plastic track with ceramic studs and nozzles for irrigation. Directly parallel, the winter track runs, filled for operation with a seven-centimeter-thick layer of snow. A cooling system freezes the snow layer before a milling machine carves a three-centimeter-deep track. The take-off length of the track in Bischofshofen is 127 meters, exactly as long as the take-off of the ski flying hill at Kulm, which is also equipped with a Riedel track. Overall, the reconstruction takes about four weeks; by the end of May the hill complex should be ready for jumping with the new track.

This week, double world champion and ski flying world-record holder Stefan Kraft visited the hill in Bischofshofen to personally assess the new track on his home hill. His first impression of the flying star from Bischofshofen was consistently positive. “The new track in Bischofshofen looks very good. The feel will surely be a bit different, the hill will usually change a little because the track is about 20–30 cm higher than the old track, but it offers great conditions in summer and also in winter. These ‘ready-made tracks’ are now available at many hills, such as Vikersund’s ski jump, Trondheim and Innsbruck. I’m very glad that Bischofshofen has also decided to install such a track—it's very good for us athletes and certainly a real value add. We can train very well there and I’m already looking forward to the first jumps with the new track on my home hill,” said the star, who lives only a few minutes from the hill.

The president of the Bischofshofen Ski Club, Johann Pichler, echoes the sentiment. “This track is the Mercedes among the take-off tracks, and I am very happy that we, as the last hill of the tour, could switch to this track as well. A major plus point of the track is that the preparation work is considerably reduced. Previously we needed about 150 cubic meters of snow for track preparation, which amounted to 10–15 truckloads, along with 15 helpers who prepared the track for several days. Now two cubic meters of slushy snow and 2–3 people are enough to prepare the track in two days. The track is one of the most sensitive aspects in conducting the event. With the new track we minimize risk and have even more safety in the event execution. Even at above-zero temperatures, as we have had here in early January on occasion, fair jumping is still possible. As the final host of the Four Hills Tournament, every athlete should find similarly fair conditions, and with the new track facility we are much closer to that,” said Pichler.