ON MONDAY THE FIRST JUMPS IN PREDAZZO FROM THE HS 143 AND HS 109 JUMPING HILLS

One of the most eagerly awaited moments in Val di Fiemme is now getting closer. Monday, July 14th (9 am), will see the return of ski jumping from the hills of the G. Dal Ben Ski Jumping Stadium of Predazzo in the company of the Italian national team’s ski jumping and Nordic combined athletes and in the presence of the provincial and local authorities. The first jump of the renovated facility will be yet another step for Val di Fiemme towards the ever-closer Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

At 9 am on Monday, the renovated Ski Jumping stadium will be put to the test, providing the best opportunity yet to give a detailed explanation of the interventions carried out on the structure by the Autonomous Province of Trento and the Municipality of Predazzo. The redesign of the profile of the Large Hill HS143 and the Normal Hill HS109, along with their subsequent reconstruction, has enabled the facility to boast two high-performance jumping ramps now equipped with refrigerated tracks and a suitable landing hill. Both longer than in the recent past and already approved by FIS technicians, the jumping hills will allow even more spectacular and longer jumps. In addition to the new ramps there is also a modernised judges' tower to ensure the correct evaluation of the athletes by the technicians and the smooth running of the competitions, and an adequate snow-making system for the stadium and a cooling one of the tracks to allow both winter and summer competitions to be held in the best possible conditions. A new heated hall will welcome ski jumpers and Nordic combined skiers waiting for their turn at the top of the hills, and a modern inclined lift will transport them from the stadium to the top of the structure. It should be emphasised that the inclined lift will also become accessible to the general public in the future, with the Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium becoming a tourist attraction during the periods when there are no competitive events or training sessions. In doing so, enthusiasts and anyone curious will be able to visit the facility up close, most likely remaining open-mouthed in front of the majesty of the ski jumping hills and the visual impact generated by the inclination and length of the ramps where the Olympic champions of Milano Cortina 2026 will compete and be crowned.

Now that the modernisation and improvement works have been completed on the facility named after Giuseppe Dal Ben, historic sports manager and trainer of entire generations of local Nordic combined skiers and ski jumpers who started the ski jumping movement in Val di Fiemme, the new sports venue in Stalimen is ready to welcome the top performers of the Nordic specialities back onto its hills. The honour and the burden of being the first to become familiar with the HS109 and HS143 in Val di Fiemme will unfailingly fall to the Italian athletes, with Annika Sieff leading the expedition directed by TD Ivo Pertile, flanked by ski jumping colleagues as Martina Ambrosi, Lara and Jessica Malsiner, Alex Insam and Giovanni Bresadola, and the Nordic combined skiers Daniela Dejori, Iacopo Bortolas, Alessandro Pittin, Samuel Costa, Aaron Kostner, Domenico Mariotti, Stefano Radovan, Eros Consolati and Bryan Venturini, as well as a large group of athletes from the youth sector.

Sieff and his companions will be welcomed and celebrated by the provincial and local authorities in the presence of, among others, the President of the Autonomous Province of Trento Maurizio Fugatti, the representatives of Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 and the organising committee Nordic Ski Val di Fiemme, and most likely by FISI President Flavio Roda.

After the institutional moment next Monday, the Ski Jumping Stadium in Predazzo will be the destination for training and tests by Italian and foreign interpreters of the Nordic disciplines, with the first international competitions to be those of the FIS Nordic Summer Festival scheduled from September 18 to 21 in Val di Fiemme, followed by the Italian OPEN ski jumping and Nordic combined Championships on December 23 and finally the most eagerly awaited, the Olympic ones next February.

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