World Premiere: Vikersund ice track from 3D ice printing process

Before tomorrow, when the FIS inspection officially starts ski flying in Vikersund, we would like to introduce you to a technical innovation. We must not reveal too much yet, as it is still a prototype. But one thing can be said: it is something revolutionary that massively simplifies applying ice track for organizers and hill operators.

For the first time in history, this approach sets a new technological standard in ice preparation of the run-up tracks. The project's goal is to significantly reduce the manual and physically demanding work of the hill operators and to optimize the reproducibility and quality of ice buildup technologically.

Specifically: Until now, one had to tediously fill the track by hand for hours in a bent posture and on knees with snow slush. This snow-water-slush mixture is then cooled by the cooling system and finally freezes into a block of ice. For this “ice insertion,” as we call it, at least 2 to 3 people are needed for several hours, physically very demanding. In the future, this will be fully automated 3D ice printer to take over.

This “3D Ice Printing Process” enables the production of homogeneous, crystal-clear and transparent ice along the entire run-up track.

Now it gets technical: This clear ice provides a direct heat transfer (1:1) between the cooling unit and the ice surface, which ensures maximum thermal efficiency and keeps the track temperature more stable.

Over many years, different technical solutions for ice track preparation have been tested. With the now realized method, we are very close to making this technology industrially viable and reliably executable. The annual ice application can in the future be fully technically automated – without additional irrigation lines, manual setups to bring the slush onto the track. This increases both operational safety and the precision of the ice structure significantly.

If today were April Fools' Day, our 3D ice printer would probably be met with roaring laughter. To some extent, this is understandable, because imagining a 3D ice printer sounds like grabbing a bag of compressed air from a hardware store—pure nonsense.

But it is possible, as you can see here in Vikersund. Along a run-up length of 136 meters we have had the finest ice “printed.”

Your Peter Riedel