For maintaining the perfect track
SNOWsat and PistenBully 600 E+ are essential resources for a sustainable WM in Oberstdorf
For many years, PistenBully has been on board as an official outfitter of Nordic ski championships. From February 23 to March 7, 2021 – in Oberstdorf for the third time. This time with outstanding sustainability and a fleet made up of PistenBully 600 E+, PistenBully 600, PistenBully 100 and SNOWsat.
An entire fleet of PistenBully vehicles is preparing the cross-country ski tracks and slopes to ensure professional conditions for the athletes competing at the Nordic Ski World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany. Guaranteed professionalism in the form of efficiency and sustainability. Cutting-edge technology from Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG is being used for this purpose.
In good hands
All relevant vehicles of the World Championships fleet are equipped with the SNOWsat solutions of snow depth measurement and fleet management. Miguel Mosquera from SNOWsat Technical Services continuously follows the vehicles on his screen and provides support as necessary. Initial training took place in December, shortly after delivery of the vehicles. This was followed by more training in January. The purpose was to train the entire team of drivers and answer the questions that had come up since December. Now they can all complete their tasks optimally and access the data they need to compare the actual state with the planned state.
All questions answered
The systems function without a hitch and are used intensively. Klaus Klotz, responsible for SNOWsat at Sportstätten Oberstdorf, appreciates the easy and clear user interface of the office software. "The user interface is designed in a very intuitive way, and the information on the grooming vehicles makes planning much easier for me. Consequently, we have the opportunity of scheduling the vehicles and the machine-made snow on the individual sections of the tracks optimally and to deploy them efficiently."
Fine tuning for maximum efficiency
The SNOWsat snow management ensures that continuous comparison between actual and target values is guaranteed, which is always important—whether you have too much snow or not enough! The construction of tracks for professionals at the World Championships presents unique challenges. "On the finishing straight, a perfectly smooth surface is very important. Any unevenness is visible on TV," explains Klaus Klotz. This is one more reason why Mosquera completely revised the topography and used a mathematical model calculation to add a constant elevation of the finishing straight to his model along the whole length of the finish line. On the screen in the cockpit, the operator sees, indicated clearly and in color, how much snow needs to be removed. After that, the entire surface appears in blue, and the area around the finish line is absolutely level.
Maximum planning reliability
Depending on the event, specific sections of the course must be groomed. For example, a part of the skiathlon course will be used for the relay a few days later, for the marathon at the end, etc. Therefore surface models for the entire areas are now available, which allows the various courses to be groomed selectively and with a high degree of precision. This makes it possible to adapt the sections of the courses to the requirements of the respective competition effectively and efficiently.
Unbeatable as a team: PistenBully 600 E+ and SNOWsat
Using two PistenBully 600 E+ vehicles that are far more fuel-efficient as a result of their unique diesel-electric drive – and thanks to the extremely efficient planning of the course preparation using SNOWsat, without unnecessary deployments, etc. – means that, no matter what, the world championships are bound to be entertaining and, above all, environmentally friendly!
