Abstract des Autors

Changing snow conditions are considered a potential key injury risk factor among World Cup (WC) Alpine ski racing stakeholders (Spörri, 2012). The change between aggressive and icy snow conditions within one run is especially problematic. This is caused by the ski preparation which has to provide proper grip on ice and should at the same time not to be over-grippy on other parts of the racing track. Moreover, variable snow conditions require a high level of recognition and adaptability by the athletes. The purpose of this study was to quantify snow conditions and their spatial and temporal variation within each monitored racing track as well as to detect differences between the seven analyzed WC races. The measured snow parameters were correlated with the rated attributes of the racing tracks as perceived by the athletes to see if a high piste quality is linked to certain snow physical properties.