The final of the Four Hills Tournament can take place as planned. The ski jump in Bischofshofen, which was badly damaged by an avalanche, is ready for use again.
The finale of the Four Hills Tournament had to be feared for a few days after an avalanche severely damaged the hill. Now it is clear: jumping from the Paul-Außerleitner-Schanze in Bischofshofen can take place as planned. Manfred Schützenhofer, the president of the Bischofhofen ski club, gave the green light on Friday. “The rough preparation has been done,” confirmed Schützenhofer in an interview with the Austrian TV station ORF on Friday (December 22nd).
Avalanche damaged ski jump
Due to the rain of the past few days, an avalanche broke out last Saturday (December 16th) and severely damaged the upper area of the jump slope. The nets that were supposed to stop the snow were too weak, explained Thomas Wallner from the Bischofshofen Ski Club on ORF on Monday (December 18th).
Repair is difficult
The tension straps that secured the nets to the concrete on the jump had torn off. The repair was difficult. “The problem is that the straps are mounted under the mat,” Wallner clarified. In the summer you could do something like that very well, but now the difficulty is “that it’s completely iced over” and accordingly “not ideal for working”. Mountain rescue was also in action, reports ski club president Manfred Schützenhofer in an interview with Sportschau on Tuesday.
Workers attached to ropes repair the slope of the damaged ski jump.
“You have to strap the workers in, so that’s very difficult,” Schützenhofer outlined the work. According to the president, the affected part of the jump has a gradient of 76 percent. The snow in the run-out of the ski jump also had to be removed with excavators and the boards had to be replaced. The snow in the run-out of the ski jump is “like concrete,” explains Schützenhofer. “It is now being pushed out and we are now putting new snow on the take-off hill.”
Excavators are used to remove the snow from the outlet of the ski jump.
Help from Klingenthal and Innsbruck
Help came from the World Cup locations of Klingenthal and Innsbruck. Three new safety nets were brought from Klingenthal in one transport, said Schützenhofer. The third tour stop, Innsbruck, provided ropes for attaching the snow nets. The Bischofshofen Ski Club expects additional costs in the six-figure range.
Four Hills Tournament can take place
Another avalanche could never be ruled out, Schützenhofer said on Tuesday, but it was on a prepared slope.Rather unlikely because the load distribution is completely different“. This has now happened, which means that nothing stands in the way of the final of the Four Hills Tournament on Epiphany and the qualification the day before.