A trace-building project in record time

An excerpt: Those who thought that with the World Cup final at Peter Riedel GmbH the shutters would come down and everyone would go on vacation until the new competition season begins should be told otherwise here. Ski jumping is not only for the athletes themselves but for the entire scene – officials, organizers, sponsors, suppliers, etc. – a year-round job. And there aren’t only Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Innsbruck, Oslo and Vikersund and other top destinations, but a whole series of somewhat less notable side stages.

In recent days Peter Riedel has been in Prémanon, where from Friday, March 31 to Sunday, April 1, the French championships in Nordic skiing disciplines—biathlon and cross-country skiing, ski jumping and nordic combined—are being held. The task set for Riedel was not an easy one: to install an inrun within a handful of days that would enable access (and thus the jump).

In 2020, Prémanon will host the Nordic events of the third Winter Youth Olympic Games (Host City: Lausanne); Riedel is on board with his technology. He and his team worked around the clock on the last days of March to lay a “Clubtrack” as a double lane, “as it is used in Chaux-Neuve” (Riedel). The summer track is already on the facility and is in operation; cooling lines and other components relevant to the winter track will be installed in early summer.

Since Thursday, 170 jumpers have been enjoying good and safe approaches, and the French authorities, led by the head of the organizing committee Sebastien Lacroix, are impressed by the work of the Saxon company.

After the interlude of the national championships, construction on the entire, rumored six-million-euro sports complex will continue. The most important Nordic center in France will be established (besides Chaux-Neuve). The international competition premiere is planned for the coming winter: a women’s World Cup ski jumping event in Prémanon. Peter Riedel: “We are looking forward to it!”