The tracks of the next Beijing Winter Olympics will be signed by Prinoth. The South Tyrolean company of the HTI Group has provided the Olympic Organizing Committee with a fleet of over 50 snow groomers that will be used in preparing the slopes for ski races and other disciplines, beating the competition from a German supplier. On the other hand, a software platform, also supplied by Prinoth, is making its debut at the Games, which measures the height of the snowpack, manages the fleet of vehicles in real time and helps to create tracks that offer the best racing conditions. The company boasts a rich palmares of supplies to the Winter Games and has been a supplier to various Committees since 1994.
Supply of 25 million
At the Beijing competitions, snow groomers will be used to prepare the alpine ski slopes in the National Alpine Ski Center in Xiaohaituo, about 74 kilometers north-west of the capital, for the Genting slopes where the freestyle competitions will be held, by Aoti where the Nordic disciplines will be staged and in Beijing, where the main Big Air event is scheduled, the acrobatic competitions with snowboard. The more than 50 made in Italy vehicles supplied include Leitwolf, the most powerful machine on the market in the sector, the Bison snow groomer, used to create snow parks and the Husky for setting up Nordic skiing events. The total value of the supply is around 25 million euros and, in terms of volumes, represents one tenth of Prinoth’s annual production.
A software that measures the height of the snow
«Being present at the most important competitions and having the responsibility of preparing the slopes on which the world elite will compete is once again a source of great pride for our company – said Horst Haller, CEO of Prinoth Snow Grooming -. We are aware that we have done everything possible to guarantee athletes the best chance of setting new records ». For the first time, software developed in collaboration with Leica Geosystems will be used in the preparation of the competition fields, which makes the activity much more precise and efficient. The system measures the height of the snow using data from the satellite system and is adapted to the specific needs of the snow and slopes. At the basis of this solution is the 3D model of the terrain which serves as a reference for the exact measurement of the snow height with almost millimeter accuracy. Thus the operator on board knows in real time the terrain on which he is working and the snow conditions. Among other things, the system allows you to know the position of the vehicles and accurately program maintenance interventions to avoid unexpected machine stops.
At the end of the games, the vehicles will remain in China
At the end of the games, the vehicles will remain in China used in the various mountain areas also created by the company from Vipiteno. In the big country 15 years ago Michael Seeber, patron of the High technology industries (HTI) Group, with a team of South Tyrolean entrepreneurs created the “Dolomiti Ski Mountain Resort” in the Sabei mountains not only to export the model of holidays on the snow but above all to bring millions of Chinese in winter sports. The High technology industries Group is a pocket-sized multinational, world leader in ropeways (Leitner and Poma), snow groomers and tracked vehicles (Prinoth), artificial snowmaking (Demaclenko) and wind energy (Leitwind). Before the pandemic, turnover had exceeded one billion while 2020 saw revenues of 887 million with 26.9 million invested in research and development and another 23.8 million in capital goods. Finally, those in Beijing will be the first winter games broadcast in 8K. In fact, the China Media Group broadcaster, after launching the 8K CCTV channel, the first in ultra high resolution, will broadcast the races on large screens.