FIS Race Directors Waldner and Trinkl inspect the Saslong in midsummer

Markus Waldner (FIS) and Hannes Trinkl (FIS) visited Val Gardena to talk about the World Cup races to be held on December 20th and 21st. Together with the president of the organizing committee Rainer Senoner and the chief of race Horst Demetz, they took the opportunity to discuss the previous edition and talk about the innovations planned for the upcoming races.

Summer time is precisely the moment when the next World Cup races have to be planned and discussed in detail. The meeting began with a in depth analysis of the last edition by the FIS chief race director Markus Waldner, who has made a positive summary of the past  track situation and the quality of the snow, underlining the excellent work done by the organizing committee despite the high temperatures they found in December "It is always very nice to meet the Gardena colleagues-- not only because I feel at home, but also because I find a lot of seriousness and professionalism in the work they have been doing for more than 50 years now,''says Waldner.

The FIS representatives also expressed their gratitude for the rescue of the Swiss athlete Marc Gisin, who took a hard fall on the Camel Humps during the downhill race "The rescue service was handled impeccably and can be described as a model case," said Waldner.

Rainer Senoner, President of the Saslong Classic Club, presented all the improvements planned for the 2019 World Cup with the Super-G on Friday 20 December and the downhill on Saturday 21 December.

The Super-G start will be relocated to the West, in the direction of Sassolungo, a change that the FIS approved today. "The start will be even faster and more technical, the TV pictures will be much better  offering an optimal view to the Dolomites. Moreover, this new starting position could also be interesting for a future sprint downhill", Senoner explained the advantages of this change.

Horst Demetz, chief of race, lists the investments made between snow-making systems and new safety systems: "The new snow-making system created by Saslong Spa will allow us to produce up to 30 percent more snow in the same period of time -- It's fantastic being able to guarantee perfect snow coverage even in early season as December. Furthermore, we can guarantee even more safety for the athletes thanks to the renewal of all A-nets and air fences on the entire slope."

Safety has been a crucial topic for the FIS inspection: "Together with the Alta Badia organizing committee, we have arranged to enter into a new agreement with Aiut Alpin. This year there will be a second helicopter rescue team purely reserved for World Cup races, providing services without compromising relief efforts throughout the region or having to interrupt the races", says the president Senoner.

It was a very positive day, In the coming months, the Organizing Committee will prepare heavily for the race before the snowmaking of the track can begin in November.

Release courtesy Val Gardena Ski World Cup