Tour de Ski to kick off in 2 days

The 9th edition of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski by Craft Sportswear gets underway in just two days. After a week of cold weather and snowfall, the FIS Tour de Ski venues are ready for the first season highlight.

Oberstdorf, GER
Only one week ago there was almost no snow in the Allgäu region. However, the weather gods smiled on the first-ever FIS Tour de Ski opener in Oberstdorf.

Almost 50 centimeters of natural snow has arrived in Oberstdorf and more is expected to come. On top of that, the Local Organizing Committee left nothing to chance and brought 1.500m³ of snow from surrounding areas and can produce additionally 800m³ with Finnish snow-making technology. Organizers will prepare the well-known 2,5 km course, which was used also in 2012 when the FIS Tour de Ski was in Oberstdorf the last time.

Val Muestair, SUI
The home town of the Cologna brothers will host a sprint free in the FIS Tour de Ski 2015, and the Organizers are reporting great snow conditions. In addition to the man-made snow for the competition course, natural snow has covered the valley in white.
The competition course will be finished on Saturday and will open thereafter. Only 20 minutes away from Tschierv, there is a 7 km lap prepared both for skating and classic.

Toblach, ITA
The Nordic arena in Dobbiaco/Toblach is also reporting good snow conditions. Unfortunately, Toblach has not received any natural snow and competition course has been prepared only with 30.000 cubic meters of man-made snow. The lack of natural snow forced the famous Cortina-Toblach point-to-point competition to be replaced with competitions in Toblach. The 5 km competition course was finished on Dec. 30.

Val di Fiemme, ITA
Val di Fiemme, the traditional host of the final Tour de Ski stages, has also had to deal with lack of natural snow. However, the LOC has produced sufficient amount of snow to prepare the competition courses. In Lago di Tesero a 2.5 km lap will be used for Saturday’s competitions. The Final Climb on Alpe Cermis is already covered with snow as well the Marcialonga course that is connecting the cross-country stadium and the bottom of the monster hill.

Release courtesy of FIS