It's one of those things with the inspections of the international ski federation. That's what happened last week when FIS officials finally showed up in Pöhla and checked the facility as part of an extension of the FIS hill certificate.

Various FIS Cups and Alpencups have been held for years here Pöhla, which is less than two kilometers and therefore only a stone's throw away from my home. They are the only international ski jumping events in the entire region, so they enjoy a correspondingly high status in the Schwarzenberg region. This makes it all the more explosive that some weak points - due to its age - were criticized during the inspection of the facility. Two of them are relevant to safety and must be repaired immediately - at the latest before the next FIS competitions.

What a pity that a FIS Cup is already scheduled for August 10th! The responsible people were also more then surprised when they studied the list of things that must be repaired at short notice by then!

Among other things, the elements of the old inrun track don’t meet the required minimum sidewall height of 3 centimeters. Furthermore, the carpet in the safety area to the left and right of the track has to be completely replaced, as it is too old to guarantee safe jumping conditions.

Track and carpet renewal in less than 8 days - that sounds like an almost impossible undertaking!

The city of Schwarzenberg, the responsible people of the SV Fortuna Pöhla and myself immediately sat down and made up a plan. A plan that is really demanding in terms of time. But that is exactly when the people from the ore mountains stay together! If there is a need for action or help, we are there for each other - that's a point of honor in our region!

My team and I postponed another project by a month and immediately got to work on the production and construction of the new track. At the same time, the guys from SV Pöhla worked day and night shifts to completely renew the substructure of the track. With the support of the city of Schwarzenberg, we are now on „track“ to complete the project by Friday. If that isn't real teamwork!

In conclusion, I can say: A really great project in which all partners stood together and hopefully make the FIS Cup in Pöhla next week a great success! Next time, please, with a little less stress :-)

Yours sincerely, Peter Riedel