The immense work to install over 16 kilometres of safety nets
At an altitude of 3,000 metres, there are no trees to delimit the slope, but the protective nets are in any case obligatory and indispensable for the safety of the athletes. And so it was that large teams of men climbed the Gran Becca between Zermatt and Breuil-Cervinia for days on end for the preparations required by the FIS protocol.
Preparing a downhill slope is not at all a simple task, starting with the length; because for the more than 3,800 metres of the slope straddling Switzerland and Italy, no less than 16 kilometres of B-nets are required, a type of installation that is absolutely temporary and does not involve any fixed infrastructure, as is the case with the A-nets, for example, which are not present on this slope.
In order to prepare the finish line and protect the TV towers and certain categories of insiders, 44 airpads covered with advertising coverage and another 30 of various sizes were provided for the TV operators. All material was supplied by Spm, an Italian company that has great experience in the field of sports set-ups and has been following the Alpine Ski World Cup for years. To this are added 200 World Cup gates to draw the course and 2 towers to support the finish line, where the traditional red arch is hung. At the finish line, which is large, structured like a big event and drawn in front of the Matterhorn, 1,000 delimiting barriers were also used to create transit corridors and set up the mixed zone, with a total of 3 kilometres of C and B/C nets used almost all over. The work of the slopes men has been immense these days, first for the initial set-up and then for the maintenance during the snowfall, involving the removal of the nets, the cleaning of the accumulations and a new installation. Always with professionalism, with a smile and the will to be ready for the race. Because even if we don't see the athletes on the slope, the work of the people in the shadows and behind the scenes never stops. All the more so when it snows.
