Alpine Skiingworld cup 2022/23
Matterhorn Cervino Speed Open.
The first cross-border races in the history of the World Cup in Zermatt / Cervinia will take place on 29-30 October with the men's descents and on 5-6 November with the women's ones. Announce the free sale of tickets from August 30th and from the arrival of the "Gran Becca" there will be a ... unique view. All the official passages of the brand new track designed by Didier Defago.
Thursday 14 July 2022 11 minutes reading time
The Grand Hotel Cervino hosted the official presentation, just over 100 days before the big event, of the four World Cup races called “Matterhorn Cervino Speed Opening”.
In Cervinia, this morning, the official launch of the two men's descents that will open the speed season, one week after the classic giants of Soelden, Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 October, as well as the women's ones for the following weekend (5-6 November). The first important note: from 18.00 on 30 August 2022, the different categories of tickets for the historic events on the Matterhorn will be available on www.speedopening.com, given that it will be the first cross-border tests (first third of the race on Swiss snow, the other two thirds on the Italian ones) in the history of the greatest circuit of the white circus.
Based on the range of the lifts and the capacity of the finish area, the maximum number of spectators was limited to 6000 for each race. The seats will be available in online presale with a view to "first come, first served". For the first time in a World Cup race, spectators will be able to see two thirds of the descent from the finish area, including crossing the border. The first part of the race, which goes from the start located between the arrivals of the two Plateau Rosà ski lifts to the Italian border, can be followed by the ski slope.
In addition, there is a Gray Head Public Viewing Zone. On the Italian side, the races will be watched from the finish area.
THE GREAT JACK TAKES SHAPE
The limited snowfall in winter and the high temperatures of recent months have also left their marks on the Theodul glacier. Despite this, the summer ski area is regularly in operation and the ski teams can take advantage of optimal conditions for their training. On the Swiss side, half of the “Gran Becca” route is already prepared for competitions and can be used for the training of athletes. Work on the glacier, on the crossroads leading to the border and on the Italian stretch will continue unabated in the coming weeks.
For the lower section of the route, which does not develop on the glacier, deposits of mainly natural snow have been prepared. Furthermore, with temperatures below freezing, this section can be artificially snowed in a maximum of 72 hours. “Until mid-October we need 3-4 cold nights and snowfall on the glacier. A meteorological scenario that in autumn, at altitudes above 3000 meters, is absolutely realistic. We are confident that the appointments of the first edition of the "Matterhorn Cervino Speed Opening" can regularly take place according to the planned plans, aware of the fact that in outdoor sports nature and the weather still have the last word ", so Franz Julen looks to the future. , President of the Organizing Committee, spoke today at the conference.
Now the names of the key passages of the “Gran Becca” are also known, which take inspiration from nature and the surrounding environment. The three jumps are called "Matterhorn", "Furggen" and "Cime Bianche", the latter just before the arrival at an altitude of 2815 meters, while "Traversa Sérac" (towards the Swiss / Italian border), the Wall del Ventina, “Spalla di Rollin” and “Schuss Plateau Rosa” are the names given to the main passages. Already at the start the athletes who will compete in the "Matterhorn Cervino Speed Opening" will find an innovation. For the first time in the history of the Alpine Ski World Cup, in fact, the starting gate will be housed in a light and pneumatic shell, produced without the use of fossil fuels: a temporary "ephemeral" structure, equipped with a photovoltaic system , which can be assembled and disassembled within a few hours.
Given that, unlike most of the races scheduled in the World Cup calendar, the race track and above all the finish area are located more than 1000 meters upstream of the villages of Zermatt and Cervinia, a logistical masterpiece is required of the organizers. . The men's teams will stay overnight in Zermatt while the women's teams will stay in Cervinia. The bib draw and the award ceremony will take place on Friday and Saturday evening alternately in Zermatt and Cervinia: the first weekend the stage will be hosted by the Swiss town, with live connection in Cervinia, in the second weekend it will be the turn of the Aosta Valley center.
TV PRODUCTION AND MORE
The Swiss Radio and Television Society (SSR), under the direction of Beat Zumstein (producer) and Beni Giger (director), will handle the television production of the World Cup show at the foot of the Matterhorn. All the alpine skiing competitions at the Olympic Games, starting from Turin 2006, have been successfully followed by this duo. Despite the tight schedule, the Organizing Committee of the “Matterhorn Cervino Speed Opening” is absolutely optimistic: “The preparatory work is in full swing. The responsibilities and tasks are divided between different figures, the collaboration between the stakeholders, in particular with the two Federations of Swiss-Ski and FISI, is proceeding optimally and all those involved are motivated and enthusiastic at work ", says Franz Julen. .
The FIS has already carried out four inspections and is very satisfied with how the preparations are proceeding: “They have only suggested some improvements that will be promptly implemented”, comments Julen again.
"The work that the organizing committee, led by Franz Julen, has been able to accomplish in such a short time is truly incredible - added the president of FISI Flavio Roda, present in Cervinia as well as Pirmin Zurbriggen, ambassador of this event, Kristian Ghedina , the vice president of the organizing committee, Marco Mosso, the CEO Christian Zioerjen and the mayor of Valtournenche, Jean Antoine Maquignaz - Generally it takes a long time to create a race of this type: in this case it was all done very quickly. For this I give many compliments to the organization.
The Federation immediately embraced the project, both because it is an opportunity for sport and for tourism. It is important to have fast races at the beginning of the season, with the opportunity for the athletes to train. And it is equally important for young people, who are less and less approaching fast disciplines due to the lack of adequate structures. I also hope that our athletes can do well in competitions and beat the Swiss ... ”.
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