The official FIS snow control conducted on Monday, 21 January, has given Åre 2019 the green light. This means that the 2019 medal events, beginning with the ladies’ super-G on 5 February, will be carried out as planned. There is plenty of snow in Åre; the snow measurements confirmed at least 80 cm of snow on the competition slopes, and more than 70 cm along the courses.
– We had no measurement with less than 80 centimeters of snow and there is likely much more than that in many places, said Anders Sundqvist, Åre 2019 Sport Director.
After few weeks of prime winter weather, with cold temperatures and at times heavy snowfall, the slopes in Åre are in great shape. All the planned snow-making activities and course preparations have been completed as planned.
– 99 percent of the planned snow has now been produced and moved to where it is needed, with a couple of minor adjustments still needed on the training slopes and glide track, stated Tom Johnston, who represented FIS at the snow control.
The challenging weather over Christmas and New Year’s, with temperatures above freezing and a lot of precipitation, were not ideal for holidaymakers but extremely beneficial for the base. Even the lowest parts of the competition slopes are now firm and robust.
– The rain helped firm up the base, and the dry snow that has fallen since then will become hard when we now add some water. The preparation is mostly finished; I would say we are race ready, stated Anders Sundqvist and continued:
– We will now add some finishing touches. With a great base we will ensure safe and fair conditions for all competitions.
On Sunday, the qualification slopes in Duved was injected with water using the so-called injection bar which will provide a hard surface. During the following week, the resort operator SkiStar’s groomer team and slope staff will break the top of the snow surface and inject the competition slopes in the National Arena.
– There is a positive forecast for the final preparations, said Tom Johnston.
– We are thrilled that we have so much snow here in Åre. Our partner SkiStar has done a marvelous job with the slopes’ base preparation and we will have excellent conditions when the world’s best racers arrive in two short weeks. Indeed, the entire resort will offer great skiing thanks to the excellent winter weather we have right now, said Niklas Carlsson, CEO of Åre 2019.
Good to know about injection and base preparation
For major championships lasting 14 days or more, the competition slopes are “injected” with water to ensure that they will remain in good condition and can handle the required number of training runs and the competition program. Injection means that water is inserted into the snow at high pressure and that water is added on the surface as well. Before that, the snow surface is broken with a snow cat. For the slopes to be able to meet the requirements for safe and fair conditions and the equipment used by ski racers especially in the speed events, the slopes will need to be extremely hard on the surface. Dry snow requires more water to be injected than wet snow.