Carving powder: Austrian broadcaster ORF on the challenges of bringing the Alpine Ski World Cup on the Rettenbach Glacier to viewers By Heather McLean
Friday, October 11, 2024 - 09:31
Print This Story
ORF is the host broadcaster for the Alpine Ski World Cup 2024, S lden, Austria
The winter season is starting once again at S lden in Austria, where the F d ration Internationale de Ski et de Snowboard (FIS) Alpine Ski World Cup is set to take place for the 30th time on the Rettenbach Glacier for the Alpine Ski Championship Season Opener.
With the women's giant slalom set to take off down the glacier on Saturday 26 October and the men's competition on Sunday 27, the athletes will compete against the mountain, the clock and themselves.
Rettenbach Glacier with one of the steepest pitches on the tour is one of the select few on the World Cup circuit to hold both the ladies' and men's events. Austrian national public broadcaster, ORF, is the host broadcaster for FIS at the Alpine Ski World Cup.
The camera plan for S lden in Austria, where the F d ration Internationale de Ski et de Snowboard (FIS) Alpine Ski World Cup is set to take place for the 30th time on Rettenbach glacier for the Alpine Ski Championship Season Opener CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO SEE A LARGER VERSION
Moving targets
Unlike any other championship that ORF is the host broadcaster for, the glacier causes issues for the broadcast setup, as it is literally always on the move.
Says Michael K gler, ORF head of directors: It's a really demanding scene as it's a glacier and the glacier is always moving each year, so we have to adapt our set up there. We have to adapt the positions every year according to the new circumstances. I'm always going there in between to try and gauge what the situation is.
K gler comments on other challenges the glacier creates for the broadcast during set up: For us, the glacier is a real demanding situation for everybody because for the technical crew to build the setup, it can be foggy, it can be really bad circumstances. So it's always a challenge to be ready in time with all the setup and all the things, because it's a lot of stuff to bring up to the mountain, a lot of cabling.
K gler notes that unlike other mountainous ski events, because of Rettenbach and its annual movement, this is the only one ORF carries out where there is no cabling infrastructure ready to plug into.
He states: Compared to some other great races like Kitzb hel [the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup race, Hahnenkamm World Cup Races, Austria] where we have a lot of fibre lines already in the mountain, you cannot do that on the glacier.
Every single cable has to be brought to its position, and this is a lot of work to do, continues K gler. And it's also challenging because the racecourse is really slippery and icy, and so if the people are not able to walk and to work, especially under this circumstance, it's difficult. It's not like the soccer field. Soccer fields, you go in, it's a plain stadium. You have your outlet there, you have the pre-cabling. So skiing itself, like a biathlon or cross country, is one of those events which are really demanding for the technical staff, especially for the crew to set up. I give them a really big round of applause for what they're doing, because whatever the wish is, they try to make it possible. So this is the challenge we have there.
Rettenbach glacier causes issues for the broadcast setup for ORF, as the glacier moves every year so no permanent cabling can be put in place. Everything must be taken up the mountain in the two days prior to the Alpine Ski Championship Season Opener
Austrian enthusiasm
The technical crew will arrive on site for the setup on the Tuesday prior to the event, then they have Wednesday and Thursday to get everything up the mountain and set up on the glacier, with test day on Friday.
K gler adds: The positive thing there is that people are enthusiastic especially in Austria about these winter sports and alpine races. We have a complete arena in the finish area for the people to watch, which is integrated into the lift station. There are stands, there is a complete setup there; this is really packed and crowded with between 15,000 and 20,000 people in the finish area. And this finish area is on a parking lot, so there is concrete there which makes the situation easier for us to work in, and for fans to congregate in.
Although this season we have a complete change of the setup from the side where we put the cameras in the finish; we were previously on race's right side but this year we go back to the race's left side, which we were doing about 10 years ago, but then for the flow of the audience they had a different concept. But now we are back on the left side, which for us is a big advantage because using a crane camera, we can get a shot like in a soccer stadium with a big crowd in the back.
This is great for us because now we have the celebrating audience in the back and the athletes in the front, so this is giving another dynamic shot for the audience.
On site production
Solden is produced entirely on site, with OB 1, ORF's own truck. Says K gler. This has to be an OB event; it doesn't make sense in this case to say no, I would go with this or with that remote production, we can save money or whatever, because you always have to move and adapt on ski. The handheld positions, for example, I go down on each racecourse before the race and according to the setup of the racecourse, I decide where to put the handheld cameras. You always have to renew the plan and you always have to adapt, and actually the second challenge for cameras is also the safety challenge. You are not allowed to go in certain positions due to safety issues, even though you would have a better angle
North America Stories
04/06/2026
Sony Electronics is introducing the SRG-AS10, a 4K 60p-compatible PTZ auto-frami...
04/06/2026
This recent grad from Spring, TX, led creative-video output for the Aggies' men's basketball team last season and has been producing video and creating ...
04/06/2026
For the first time at a women's golf major, every player in the field will r...
04/06/2026
Three Panasonic PT-RQ45 40,000-lumen 3-Chip DLP projectors made their first live...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin and Akamai have announced a collaboration with NRJ Group, a French mult...
04/06/2026
Telestream will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N7952), demonstrating media work...
04/06/2026
Sony has announced the development of RIALTO 65, a 65mm format image sensor block for the VENICE 2 digital cinema camera, targeting release in the first half of...
04/06/2026
KOKUSAI DENKI Electric America will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N8025, June ...
04/06/2026
Bell Media's TSN and RDS are the exclusive Canadian broadcasters of FIFA Wor...
04/06/2026
The Challenge: Receiving Heavy Media Files From Road Games Quickly and ReliablyT...
04/06/2026
MASV, a managed file transfer platform used in broadcast and live sports product...
04/06/2026
NESN has announced the appointment of Fahad Haider as Vice President of Operations and Engineering. Haider returns to NESN, where he previously served as Vice P...
04/06/2026
David J. Halberstam, who spent almost 50 years in sports as a broadcaster and an executive, died June 2 after a years-long battle with brain cancer.
Over his l...
04/06/2026
Although collegiate production programs are tasked with delivering high-quality ...
04/06/2026
California studio, two production trucks, global distribution system are combine...
04/06/2026
New global program empowers and supports storytellers through scriptwriting course and access to industry experts
TikTok and Sundance Institute today announce...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming infrastructure, and Akamai, the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business onli...
04/06/2026
American Underground (AU), the Startup Hub of the South and a community of mor...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
NVIDIA and Microsoft Reinvent Windows PCs for the Age of Personal AI
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
RTX Spark - a 1-Petaflop Superchip, the Full...
04/06/2026
Inside the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Grade
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Simone Grattarola discusses shaping the look in DaVinci Resolve...
04/06/2026
Cine Gear Expo Announces 2026 Awards of Excellence Recipients
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Ed Lachman ASC, Caleb Deschanel ASC, and M. David M...
04/06/2026
St. Vincents Live with Orchestra Tour to Feature Berklee Alum Ruby Plume Berklee alumni St. Vincent and Ruby Plume will appear on the same bill across seven d...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
All the Truth in My Lies Coming to Netflix on August 28
Entertainment
04 June 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Download the imag...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
Larry Tanz, VP of Content, EMEA, Delivers a Keynote Speech at ...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
Turn Your Living Room into a Stadium With the New FIFA World ...
04/06/2026
Keeping conversations real on LinkedIn Published on Jun 4, 2026 Categories: Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Communications
Share
LinkedIn
Facebook ...
04/06/2026
June's forecast with GeForce NOW: 100% chance of gaming.
GeForce NOW is lining up new adventures for the month, from big-name blockbusters to quirky indies...
03/06/2026
SES and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, have launched multi-orbit satellite inflight connectivity on Viva's Airbus aircraft. A total of 60 A320s ...
03/06/2026
The College Football Playoff, ESPN, and TNT Sports have announced kick times and...
03/06/2026
RED Digital Cinema will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 (Booth 33, June 5-6, Universal Studios Lot), hosting three panels and hands-on product demonstrations.
P...
03/06/2026
Roku has announced the Soccer Zone, a dedicated hub for FIFA World Cup 2026 content available across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argent...
03/06/2026
Liverpool FC and Wasabi Technologies have announced a multi-year extension of their partnership, with Wasabi continuing as the club's official cloud storage...
03/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced that Australian News Channel (ANC), operator of Sky News Australia, has deployed Grass Valley AMPP as part of the relocation of its n...
03/06/2026
The Riedel Group has announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel Networks. She succeeds Michael Martens, who has led Riedel Networks since 201...
03/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced the deployment of its intercom solutions at Itaka Arena ...
03/06/2026
Scott Coker has announced six senior executive appointments for his new global MMA promotion, which launched earlier this year with $60 million in financing. Ad...
03/06/2026
Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the FIFA World Cup 2026, has announced its digital and social media programming for the tournament, running Ju...
03/06/2026
The Bundesliga has announced the launch of Captain, an AI assistant built into t...
03/06/2026
Anthony James Partners (AJP) is serving as technology consultant for a moderniza...
03/06/2026
Audio-Technica has announced the recipients of its annual sales rep firm awards for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The awards were presented by Jim Schanz, Executive ...
Carving powder: Austrian broadcaster ORF on the challenges of bringing the Alpine Ski World Cup on the Rettenbach Glacier to viewers By Heather McLean 
