This Thursday morning the inrun track at Bergisel in Innsbruck was set up for the four hills tournament. Peter Riedel gives an insight what it takes to prepare the inrun for competition and what steps are required.

“We are usually the first on the hill, today we started preparations at 8 a.m. Two of us remove the cover, which protects the track against precipitation and other external influences. The track is milled into an ice block that is 7.5 centimeters thick and 13.5 centimeters wide and has a length of 105 meters here at Bergisel. The basis for the ice block is a snow-ice mixture that is applied to the track and kept constant at minus 12 degrees by the cooling system. This freezes an ice block into which the track is milled. The International Ski Federation (FIS) requires that the track depth at a World Cup must be at least 3 centimeters. We adjust our milling machine and the track is milled until we have reached the required depth. Five slots are milled into each of the two track channels, which run longitudinally to the track. The slots are one centimeter deep and help draining the rain away when it rains or taking up the snow when it is snowing. This is particularly important to ensure that all athletes have the same conditions. After milling, the track is cleaned and the ice that has been milled away is swept out with a broom. Then the track is ready to jump. The entire procedure takes about an hour, ”says company founder Peter Riedel.

With Garmisch, Innsbruck and Bischofshofen, three tour locations are equipped with the Master Track ice inrun from Peter Riedel. The ice track in Garmisch has been in operation since 2007, followed by Innsbruck and Bischofshofen in 2016 and 2018. At these venues, the Peter Riedel GmbH as a service provider is also in charge of the track service during the Worldcup competitions.