Depot replaced by reinforced snowmaking infrastructure
Organizers of the January World Cup in Jasna are already using more sophisticated methods for track preparation.
Two years ago, they praised it, now they can easily do without it. Organizers of the Alpine Skiing World Cup in Jasna, which will take place under Chopok in the penultimate weekend of January 2024, no longer need any depot (large pre-storage of snow in advance - ed. note) for track preparation. "In comparison with the previous World Cup in our region, we really don't need to address it anymore. We made investments, that we are able to produce a sufficient amount of snow in a relatively short time," said the head of ski slopes Maroš Kupčo.
A great help in 2021
In 2021, when, unfortunately, due to the coronavirus pandemic, Jasna had to compete without the presence of spectators, the depot was still a great help. Organizers used the stored snow to prepare the finish straight. "Also thanks to the depot, the finish area was safer and more suitable for the finish," Kupčo informed after the race.
Jasna's winter resort experimented with snow storage as early as 2018. At that time, they managed to store 5,000 cubic meters of snow, of which about two-thirds lasted until winter. Two years later, Jasna planned to store twice as much snow. The snow was covered with geotextile and UV foil, which could maintain temperature and humidity.
The most homogeneous slope
Preparing ski slopes today is truly scientific. Organizers are preparing to showcase their art to the racers during the sold-out World Cup in Jasna on the training track as well. It is a complex hill snowmaking system, in which the snowmaking software controls the output pressure of each valve so that it can more comfortably inject water into the snow and interconnect individual layers to make the slope as homogeneous as possible. "It's true alchemy," admitted race director Jana Palovičová.
Positive news for the organizers was certainly the fact that snowmaking could start in Jasna in mid-November due to outside temperatures. Snowmaking began on the north and south sides of Chopok, at an altitude of about 1300 meters.
