Reto, in March 2025, the World Championships in aerials, moguls, ski and snowboard cross as well as alpine snowboarding will take place here on Corviglia as part of the Freestyle World Championships. What are you personally looking forward to the most?
It's something different again - that's what makes it so exciting for me. Instead of an alpine competition, it's a freestyle event with completely different disciplines and challenges that we have to overcome. Corviglia has so far been known primarily for alpine snow sports. It's great to show the world with this event that we can also do freestyle. The format is exciting and will certainly attract many spectators - especially a new, younger audience.

Over the past two winters, the piste maintenance team was able to gain initial experience with the freestyle disciplines as part of the test events. To what extent does this trial run help you prepare for the big event in March 2025?
The test events were extremely valuable for us, as we were able to acquire the specific know-how for the various freestyle disciplines. We also had great support from the experienced Swiss Ski competence centers - we learned a lot from them too. We also measured all the disciplines with a 3D scanner and can reproduce them one-to-one in SNOWsat - the software in our snow groomers. This enables us to recreate the disciplines exactly as they were at the test events. With this technology, we can also map the slope height for slope preparation, display the slope in different layers and calculate how much snow we need to build the disciplines. Thanks to SNOWsat, we also always have control over the parallel disciplines to ensure that we are working exactly parallel. This is crucial for a fair competition.

What does it take in terms of slope preparation for these freestyle disciplines to take place on Corviglia?
We start the preparatory work for all disciplines in January and February: We produce the snow and design the jumps and landings, for example. For the aerials, we then build the wooden structure, which is filled with snow. Such preparatory work is necessary for every discipline. Once everything is optimally prepared, it is important to keep a close eye on the weather forecast. If there is snowfall during the events or the temperatures rise, things can of course get a little hectic. For example, in heavy snowfall, we may have to clear snow throughout the night to make sure everything is ready in time for the start of the race. Fortunately, we have a great, dedicated team and excellent cooperation - be it with the organizing committee, the volunteers or those responsible for the various disciplines. Together, we do everything we can to ensure that everything runs smoothly on day X.

Let's go into a little more detail: Which is the most challenging discipline for the slope preparation and why?
Let's start with the aerials: this discipline presents us with the particular challenge that we need a lot of snow. Both the inrun and the jump have to be completely modeled out of snow. Fortunately, no terrain adjustments are necessary. The FIS gives clear guidelines on how the angles of the approach and landing must be designed, for example. The wooden structure that serves as the base for the jump also plays an important role. The actual jump is built on this wooden structure, whereby the exact radius is also specified here. There are therefore many technical requirements that have to be met during construction, and we receive a great deal of support from Swiss Ski, more specifically from the competence center that specializes in aerials and moguls. They will also be at our side during the event. The location of the moguls is particularly prominent: the start is at support 9 of the Salastrains chairlift, so that the course is clearly visible. Here too, there are clear guidelines from the FIS. First, the slope is leveled to create an even, parallel plane with the right length and the required gradient. The jumps are already built in. Finally, the slope machine is used to form the humps at regular intervals. If necessary, these are further adjusted by skiing to perfect the course. As this is a parallel event, it is particularly important that the conditions on both courses are identical. We already have experience in snowboard parallel - both in slalom and giant slalom. This is because a team parallel event was held at the 2017 Alpine Ski World Championships, which was similar in terms of the course.

You manage the slope work for the freestyle disciplines in addition to the normal daily operations on the Corviglia. How does this affect resource planning?
We have increased our team a little for the Freestyle World Championships. In addition to the major event, the rest of the Corviglia ski area should continue to be available in the usual high quality. We have scheduled three to four additional, experienced snow groomer drivers for each freestyle discipline. The new or seasonal machine operators will take over the regular slope preparation during this time. After the Super-G World Cup in December and the intensive Christmas and New Year period, we will be starting preparations for the freestyle events at full speed in January. The resources are well planned in advance, but we definitely won't be bored. Because we also go the extra mile when it comes to snow production for the freestyle disciplines: Normally, snow production for the Corviglia ski area is completed in December. For the Freestyle World Championships, we will produce snow again in January. This means more planning and longer working hours for our employees. We started planning staffing levels after the end of the last winter season. We are now well prepared for the challenges ahead.

The ski and snowboard cross slope is a special feature, but will it remain in place beyond the Freestyle World Championships?
Yes, it is a special highlight. We invested a lot in the cross-country slope last year - for example, a snow pipe was installed especially for snowmaking for these disciplines. The cross-country slope will be used by World Cup athletes for training as well as being available to our guests. We look forward to hosting Ski and Snowboard Cross World Cup events on this unique run in the future. Thanks to our natural altitude, the slope is ready early in the season and is considered relatively snow-sure.