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Atle Skaardal: "New technology on its way"
As part of its weekly interview series “Chat with the FIS Race Directors”, Chief Race Director of the ladies’ Alpine Ski World Cup Atle Skaardal shares his insights on the current season.
FIS Newsflash: The ladies' Alpine Skiing season is already well on its way. If you had to describe it in a maximum of five words, what would they be?
Atle: “Very interesting, Challenging, Results, Positive feeling, Professional level of organisation”
FIS Newsflash: Please elaborate on each of these words.
Atle: “I think the whole ski family finds it very interesting this year, because things have been really hard to predict, in terms of weather and snow conditions but also in terms of results. Each race has been different and this has been very challenging for us, especially regarding the weather. As for the results so far, it can be pointed out that some of the favourites haven’t reached their absolute top form yet while others have been stepping up and demonstrated their full skills. This promises a tough battle for the second half of the World Cup season.
With regard to the equipment change, there has been a positive feeling. We have been quite happy at the World Cup level so far as we haven’t seen many injuries. I’ve seen tricky situations in this year’s races where, in my opinion, the current equipment reacted better in comparison to last year, where the same situation could have led to an incident or an injury. There haven’t actually been a lot of discussions about the new equipment on the ladies’ World Cup side. Everybody seems to adapt. This positive feeling gives us even more motivation to continue to work hard in other deciding areas in order to keep decreasing the rate of injuries in our sport!
I finally would like to say that I’m amazed by the quality and the professional level of our World Cup Organisers. They are very experienced and really understand the values of World Cup skiing. Everybody is willing to take any necessary actions for continuous development and ensuring highly professional events.“
FIS Newsflash: What’s the most recent news from Alpine Skiing you would like us to know about?
Atle: “I would like to inform the whole skiing community that we are going to launch our new on-board camera technology soon, in order to furnish live footage from the racer’s perspective. We have been working on it in connection with the company Riedel that is already involved in Formula One. The camera, which is as big as a pen and has a very aerodynamic shape, will be installed on the side of the racer’s goggles. The large number of tests that have been carried out were very satisfying and demonstrated that there are no safety concerns. This new technology should be implemented for the first time before the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Schladming in February 2013. It will allow TV viewers to follow the races with a completely new dimension!”