Big Air in the stadium

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Wow! The ramp in the Wörthersee Stadium is 45 meters high and 100 meters long.

(Bild: f. pessentheiner)

The jump is ready! Preparations for the Big Air World Cup on January 4/5 in the Klagenfurt stadium are entering the final phase. Carinthia's snowboard star Anna Gasser is currently preparing on the Kreischberg.

Gigantic, truly impressive - the 45-metre-high ski jump even towers 15 meters above the roof of Klagenfurt's Wörthersee Stadium! On January 4/5, the best freeski and snowboard aces in the World Cup will go over the big-air kicker here. THE PHOTO COURSE:

The construction made of 350 tons of steel and wood with a length of 100 meters still has intensive weeks of construction work ahead of it. "The basic framework is in place, next come the safety nets - we still have a lot to do," explains organizer Patrick Riepl during the tour. Together with Thomas Morgenfurt and Pierre Fieger, he had the vision of the mega event two years ago - which also aims to impress with music acts Finch, Gabry Ponte, Culcha Candela and Bonez MC over two days.

40 trucks full of snow come from Nassfeld
But the most important thing will be delivered from December 27 - the snow! Up to 40 truckloads of artificial white for the ski jump and the outrun, i.e. 1500 cubic meters, will be brought directly from Nassfeld to the stadium. The first pile was tipped off this Thursday at the press conference to great media effect. Olympic ski champion Fritz Strobl came personally by tractor, followed by the first full truck. Morgenfurt: "Dumping all the snow ourselves would cost too much electricity and the stands would also be full of snow."

It's amazing what sport can do. Of course, we hope that our athletes will also perform.

Roswitha STADLOBER, ÖSV-Präsidentin

ÖSV President Roswitha Stadlober: "Spectacular! We hope that our athletes will perform." They have been preparing for the home World Cup double at Kreischberg since Thursday (after Klagenfurt it continues there).

Gasser: "The final is the goal
"We've been on pins and needles for two weeks and had no location to train due to a lack of snow," reports snowboarding figurehead Anna Gasser in a phone call to Krone.

Anna Gasser is already looking forward to the stadium spectacle.

(Bild: GEPA ,Krone KREATIV)

The two-time Olympic champion is certainly looking forward to Klagenfurt. "There's the same ramp as at the World Cup in Chur, it's always more difficult on a ramp like that than on a natural hill," says Gasser, who is aiming for her first win of the season. "I didn't even make it to the final in Chur this year - that's the clear goal in the stadium," says the 33-year-old, who isn't put off by the short outrun of just 30 m to the stands. "But the fact that the ramp is shorter makes it more difficult." Ski freestyler Matej Svancer (Sbg) also has good tickets - he won in Chur this year.

A total of 10,000 tickets have been sold so far - up to 20,000 spectators are expected per day. Ticket prices range from 49.90 euros to 65 euros. For kids they cost €53.90.