Dedicated to the safety of the athletes
The racecourse is almost ready, but the Safety Team surrounding Tom Voithofer will be hard at work until Sunday, installing and positioning all the safety nets, fences, mats and air fences.
“The stage is set,“ said Herbert Hauser on Monday morning, referring to his ‘baby’, the Streif. Thanks to the efforts of his Piste Team and the Bergbahn Kitzbühel Cable Car Co. combined with optimum weather conditions, the Downhill racecourse is in a practically race-ready condition one week before the first training run. There is still much to be done between now and Sunday on the sidelines of the racecourse though, where a team of no less than 66 people are busily working on the task in hand, 33 of whom belong to Tom Voithofer’s team.
It was a steep start to the week when H-fences needed to be erected on the Start Slope, as well as air fences mounted at the Mausefalle. A challenging task for which “crampons, strength and stable footing“ are required,“ as Tom Voithofer describes the prerequisites for his team. H-fences are used to mark where the spectator area ends and the racecourse begins for the viewing audience. Air fences, also known as air cushions, are employed for athlete safety. Each cushion consists of a front and rear chamber, as well as four spacers with air in the middle. Upon impact, the air fence cushions the skier and absorbs their kinetic energy, while gently dissipating their speed.
Each of these air cushions in the Lärchenschuss section weigh around130 kilograms, while those in the Mausefalle tip the scales at 50 kilos. Up to seven people are required for their complicated installation in precipitous terrain at this key section of the racecourse. “This job is one of the most arduous for our team,“ says Tom Voithofer. And there are all sorts of potential pitfalls to watch out for. Crampons may provide stability, but it goes without saying that their tips mustn’t get anywhere near the inflatable cushions!
The Safety Team will have completed all their scheduled tasks by Sunday. By then, 17 kilometres of safety netting with 10,000 PVC poles, 17 kilometres of spectator fencing with 8,500 supporting poles, 180 impact protection mats and 160 air fences will have been installed. Some A-nets are installed as early as autumn, before the first snow arrives.
And the work doesn’t end once the first training session starts – quite the contrary. If a net, mat or air-fence is damaged by a crash, the Safety Team swing immediately into action to mend or even sew it up, while the athlete goes on to finish the race, hopefully unscathed.
Photo © K.S.C./alpinguin
