There’s no winter sports world cup without snow! But too much of the white stuff is also a problem – and at the IBU Biathlon World Cup in Oberhof, both of these extremes happened! Two Arocs got stuck right in and worked around the clock to save the competitions.
Transport Magazine
Giving their all.
Biathlon World Cup 2022: a stress test.
Extreme weather.
The IBU Biathlon World Cup in Oberhof: every year, sportsmen and women come together here to take part in elite‑level rifle shooting and cross‑country skiing. Oberhof is one of the three legendary competition venues for the World Cup, along with Ruhpolding and Antholz. But what if, like this year, the weather doesn’t play ball?
“For a whole week, it was almost like spring.”
From December, preparations were in full swing and everything was looking good. The pistes were prepared; the competitions were ready to begin! But then came a shock: “For a whole week, it was almost like spring!” says Christian Schleicher from Daimler Truck AG, who has been working as a volunteer for the World Cup for years. “We had a lot of rain and temperatures were often in the double digits, and the wind was blasting away the snow like a giant hair dryer hovering over the pistes! All the pistes which had been so lovingly prepared had thawed.”
A 48‑hour non‑stop operation.
The result: the competition had to be postponed by one day – and some hard graft was in order! The Biathlon organisers had to find their own snow. Christian Schleicher made an impromptu phone call to CharterWay Nuremberg. On the end of the phone was Mario Gottwald who, on the spur of the moment, arranged for a second Arocs. But the question was: who was going to drive it? Mario Gottwald’s solution was simple: “I’ll drive, I’ll come along right away!”
20000
cubic metres of snow were moved in two days.
Together with the other helpers and trucks, a true marathon task was underway. In pursuit of emergency snow, the helpers started to plunder the ski hall and the depots, carefully preserved under tarpaulins for occasions just like these. After working non‑stop for 48 hours, the pistes were ready for action again, covered in around 20,000 cubic metres of snow. “We started on Tuesday evening and by Wednesday afternoon, the athletes were able to use at least one training piste. By Thursday evening, it was clear: we’d done it, the World Cup could take place,” says Christian Schleicher.
“The operation got underway on Tuesday evening and by Wednesday, the athletes had a training piste at their disposal once more.”
But ironically: “During the event, winter came back! Then we had the complete opposite problem and we had to bring back the army of tipper trucks to remove snow again!”
Photos: Daimler