Summer Inspections For Bansko & Tremblant
Bansko's summer inspection took place on site and the resort looks set to host a weekend packed with technical races.
In Bulgaria, a team from the International Ski and Snowboard Federation and the companies responsible for running the races on the World Cup circuit, inspected the readiness of Bansko to host the races in February 2024.
Together with the Bulgarian Ski Federation team, these two days were important to ensure the smooth running of the event.
The inspection included the visit of the race slope where the giant slalom and slalom will be held next year. The cameras' positions were disscussed again as well as the pre-planning of the track preparation in order to make the show spectacular.
The two days were also devoted to the details of the event, such as hotel accommodation, transport, logistics, the organisation of ceremonies, press centres and other specific elements.
The men's races in Bansko will be held on February 10 and 11 and are expected to be the biggest sports event in Bulgaria for the winter.
The summer inspection of Tremblant was a success ahead of the first World Cup races in the history of the Canadian resort.
The objective of the June 13-14 inspection at Tremblant was for the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) to provide FIS leadership with a complete view of the planning progress towards hosting our first Audi FIS Alpine Women's World Cup event this December. It’s reviewed several technical planning aspects, including, among other things, track readiness, snowmaking and grooming strategies, team and athlete logistics, broadcast integration, ceremonies protocol, and more.
The main focus areas were the race track, finish area, warm-up slope, and athlete and team areas such as wax cabin areas and the athletes’ hotel. Not forgetting the media, broadcast, volunteer, and spectator areas.
In order to tackle these future World Cup races in the best possible way, the Nor-Am competitions were held last winter. The 2023 Nor-Am races at Tremblant aimed to test the LOC's capacity to host a top-level race beyond the standards of a typical Nor-Am event and approximate as closely as possible a World Cup experience. By all accounts, it was a success.
Having completed track safety works and homologation in the fall of 2022, hosting a successful Nor-Am event was the second criterion required by FIS for Tremblant to host a World Cup event in December. The focus of the efforts at the Nor-Am was on course preparation, track maintenance, and testing the on-hill volunteer workforce. As such, most of our efforts were directed at the athlete experience and less so towards the marketing and publicity to gather attendance.
As for the World Cup in December, the LOC is confident that based on the proximity to major markets, and the dense population of skiers and ski clubs in the immediate area around the resort, the Tremblant event will reach around 12,000 spectators on both race days.
This event is crucial for the resort to help promote the athletes, skiing and Tremblant internationally. The LOC is committed to delivering an event that excites Canadians by hosting an annual Women’s Alpine World Cup event at Tremblant that reaches multiple objectives like growing the sport and the fanbase, Delivering a fantastic experience for athletes and fans, being sustainable commercially and environmentally and supporting a solid legacy for the resort and ski racing community today and into the future.
