DAIKIN and Peter Riedel: a “cool” combination
What do ski jumping hills and modern climate control have in common? More than you might think at first glance. For many years, DAIKIN, as a partner of Peter Riedel Sports Technology, has ensured that optimal ice conditions are created in the Mastertrack starting lanes.
For Gregor Wolf, the technical project manager at DAIKIN, such projects are something special. “It’s nice to see something different, something new. It’s fun to see something new and to travel the world,” he describes his work at the ski jumping hills.
The fact that DAIKIN develops cooling systems for ski jumping hills is more of an exception for the climate, cooling, and heat pump professional. “Of course these are not off-the-shelf products. The requirements of spur cooling are very specific, and for that we have developed our own solutions together with Peter,” Wolf explains. “We’ve become professionals at it by now. We can map any temperature range with the cooling system, depending on the requirement,” says the technician with a wink.
Exactly this technical flexibility is decisive. Because with a modern Mastertrack starting lane, it isn’t just about generating ice. The ice must be held precisely and continuously at a defined temperature. Normally the water is cooled to around -15 °C, with the cooling system continuously removing heat from the ice block. In this way, it forms the basis for a uniform and reliable ice track.
For DAIKIN is the collaboration with Peter Riedel therefore an extraordinary field of application, but at the same time also an exciting technical challenge. “I’ve never watched ski jumping live, but it would definitely interest me to see it sometime,” Gregor Wolf makes no secret that what interests him more is the technology behind it than the sport itself.
His career path at DAIKIN began in 2021 as a service technician. Soon after, he took on overall technical responsibility for the respective products as a Level-3 technician. Today he is also sought after and involved when new technical solutions are developed or when existing systems pose special challenges. “Then we are of course ready. It goes without saying that we provide perfect service you can rely on,”
Cooling, precision and elite sport – a combination that shows how versatile modern cooling technology can be.