
NEP Norway takes the Holmenkollen Ski Festival to new heights and extremes By Heather McLean
Friday, March 17, 2023 - 09:49
Print This Story
NRK camera capturing a climb in front of large crowds in Saturday's Men's 50km Cross Country race
The FIS World Cup Cross Country Skiing, Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined at the Holmenkollen Ski Festival in Norway took place last weekend from 9 to 12 March.
This event was a huge effort by host broadcaster, NRK of Norway, which used its own OB units as well as being supported by technical provider, NEP Norway.
The Holmenkollen Ski Festival is wildly popular in Norway, where people are born with skis on the their feet an inherent love of winter sports. This is one of the biggest OBs of the year in Norway, with cameras spread over a wide area to cover the 8.3 killometre lap Cross Country course and also the Holmenkollen ski jumping hill, which provides extremely impressive coverage.
We have such great experiences doing these kind of productions, that whatever challenge we face, we always manage to deliver the wow . It's just a big, beautiful event to make the unity of the country. That's what Norwegians are. We love our ski stuff. We're born with it. I'm born with it!
This event also had the first-ever FIS Women's 50 kilometre Cross Country race on Sunday racing the same distance as Saturday's Men's race and saw a popular home Norwegian winner in Ragnhild Haga.
The FIS Ski-Jumping is also the first leg of the Raw Air' tournament, covering three hills in Norway this month. This Holmenkollen 134 metre hill was rebuilt and reopened in 2010 and staged the World Championships in 2011.
Tossief Jafri, head of sales at NEP Norway and project manager for the Holmenkollen Ski Festival, spoke to SVG Europe about the broadcast of the event, but first commented: Any ski event is a huge event in Norway, [but combine] ski jumping, and cross country and it's a really big day for Norway. A big, beautiful event which unites the nation.
There's passion and love for the sport and respect for the people behind the sport. It makes it amazing to watch on TV and is beautiful.
Camera capturing a long shot of the Holmenkollen ski-jump
Capturing juicy pictures
NEP had three OB trucks on site and NRK had a further two trucks of its own, Host and National, on location. Adds Jafri: Our client has their own trucks, because it's a national broadcaster in Norway, so we had a wide of range of trucks to be able to cover such a big event.
Tossief Jafri, head of sales at NEP Norway
He comments on the cameras used for the Festival: We used EVS to get all the footage recorded. We had five EVS's in total, with three of them supported by NEP. We also had two super slow motion cameras. The slow mo cameras were capturing those really juicy pictures that we like! So you're really in there and capturing the moment in slow motion, especially on the ski jump; you want to see that in slow mo, especially when they're in the air.
Then we used four of the big, large lenses, called 90x lenses. They were capturing those beautiful close ups of the cross country guys and the women and the people jumping, and giving you those beautiful amazing shots.
And then we used one wireless camera. Wireless cameras capture literally in the moment where the audience is. We also used it to interview the [athletes] who were skiing, and also the cross country. We had a lot of famous reporters that were working on this event.
NEP Norway also used a Polecam to capture the up close action at the top of the ski jumps, where the space available is narrow, but the facial expressions of the athletes are a must see as they prepare to jump.
On the ski jump, we used around 15 cameras, and on the cross-country event, we have around 30 cameras. So it's quite a large amount of cameras to be able to cover such a big event, adds Jafri.
Steep climb in the Women's Nordic Combined 5km Cross Country
Avoiding shaky shots
There are a myriad of challenges for this event, but the temperature is the main one says Jafri: So the challenge we face is the cold weather, which is somewhere around -10 degrees Celsius. It's very cold, especially in the morning, so our camera crew uses heating pads inside their gloves and actually on the feet as well, on the inside of their shoes, because they're standing there for hours and hours working and getting those beautiful shots; they have to keep themselves warm. It doesn't matter how well dressed you are, the part that gets cold first is the fingers and the toes.
So we're making sure that the people who are working there are, first of all, not freezing because as soon as they freeze, they're starting to get shaky shots; it's absolutely amazing how hard the camera people work.
Then we do the same thing with the cameras. To protect our cameras, we use something called arctic rain covers, for rain and snow. As soon as the sun comes, then obviously all the covers goes away, but it's just a way to protect the equipment because overnight they are outside.
The reason why they stay outside is so they are declimatised. If you take [a camera indoors and outdoors] it will be a big temperature difference for the equipment, and we would then face challenges with the camera not working. So you just protect in such a way and it's ready to go in the morning.
Camera with independent viewfinder for rapid pan and tilt
Sound of powder
On the audio, Jafri notes that NEP Norway does and has historically used sampler effects for this event. He explains: The sampler effects give the audience a very unique experience, because it's very challenging to record [certain sounds on the slopes], especially when the ski jumper jumps; that swoosh sound. And then when they land, it
Most recent headlines
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
11/05/2025
Berklee Honors Andr 3000 and Sara Bareilles at 2025 Commencement This years honorary doctorate recipients were recognized for their profound influence as art...
10/05/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
10/05/2025
NEW YORK During the IAB NewFronts 2025, Samsung Ads announced the debut of STN, the Samsung Television Network, a FAST channel with live content that will be av...
10/05/2025
SEATTLE T-Mobile has announced that it set a new uplink speed record of 550 Mbps in sub-6 GHz spectrum using cutting-edge 5G Advanced tech....
10/05/2025
WASHINGTON Twenty-two U.S. Senators have sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr urging him to modernize ownership caps that are...
10/05/2025
Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2025 Members of this years graduating class reflect on their proudest moments at Berklee and look ahead to whats next.
...
09/05/2025
At the Frontline Club in London, a venue long associated with media freedom and ...
09/05/2025
As excitement builds for the annual Eurovision Song Contest, Spotify data offers...
09/05/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
09/05/2025
In our latest blog, Laura Rognoni dives into the shifting currents of change in the digital entertainment landscape, revealing the trends that will keep viewers...
09/05/2025
LOS GATOS, Calif. Netflix has announced that starting May 19 it will begin rolling out a major upgrade to its user interface and the TV experience it offers str...
09/05/2025
The Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger told analysts the direct-to-consumer ESPN app often referred to as ESPN Flagship will be available to the linear channel'...
09/05/2025
Berklee Online Signs Transfer Articulation with Conservatorio Nacional de M sica The new agreement allows CNM students in the Dominican Republic to transfer i...
09/05/2025
Wooden Camera, a leading innovator in camera accessories, is proud to announce the launch of a new line of products for the Blackmagic URSA Cine Cameras. These ...
09/05/2025
LYNX Technik, provider of modular signal processing solutions is expanding its popular Series 5000 platform with three new 12G-SDI cards. The new cards provide ...
09/05/2025
Pebble, the leading automation, content management and integrated channel specialist, has completed a project to migrate ON TV, the major independent broadcaste...
09/05/2025
NUGEN Audio launches its new speech intelligibility plug-in, DialogCheck. A mono, stereo and multichannel dialog clarity meter, the software provides an objecti...
09/05/2025
Disguise the technology platform and solutions provider that powered MDL Beast Soundstorm 2024, Dubai Expo's Al Wasl Dome and visual displays at the Burj ...
09/05/2025
CVP has announced it will demonstrate its cutting-edge broadcast, live production and studio solutions at MPTS 2025. Taking place at Olympia London from 14th - ...
09/05/2025
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, and White Peaks Solutions, the prominent e...
09/05/2025
SportsEngine Play, the first-of-its-kind streaming service for youth sports, has agreed to a multi-year extension with AI-automated sports content leader, Pixel...
09/05/2025
Friend MTS, a leading global provider of content protection services, today announced that TOD, the premier sports and entertainment OTT subscription service fo...
09/05/2025
ZEISS announces that it is in development on a new virtual lens technology that will allow visual effects and compositing artists to apply an authentic lens loo...
09/05/2025
At the 2025 Media Production & Technology Show (MPTS), Cerberus Tech will showcase the latest major enhancement to its Livelink IP video delivery platform the...
09/05/2025
Capitol Broadcasting Company welcomed Warren Thomas as the new Vice President an...
09/05/2025
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Studio Technologies said the Harvard University athletics department has integrated Dante-enabled equipment from the vendor into its broadcast ...
09/05/2025
NEW YORK ITN, a provider of a local linear supply side platform, and Magnite, a independent sell-side advertising company, have announced that they working toge...
09/05/2025
LEEDS, U.K. Nugen Audio has launched a new speech intelligibility plug-in, DialogCheck and offered up quotes from technologists working at places like Netflix p...
09/05/2025
AJA I/O Gear: The Heart of Broadcast Solutions' VEGO Mobile Editing Solution
Brie Clayton May 8, 2025
0 Comments
When working remotely on broadcas...
09/05/2025
What do they teach in an Advanced Adobe After Effects Course?
Roland Kahlenberg May 8, 2025
0 Comments
There aren't many advanced After Effects co...
09/05/2025
Larry Jordan Sits with Trevor Morgan of OpenDrives at NAB 2025
Brie Clayton May 8, 2025
0 Comments
Trevor Morgan, COO of OpenDrives, shares how the co...
09/05/2025
Berklee Popular Music Institute Announces UK Festival Debut and Tour Dates For the first time, BPMI will bring Berklee-affiliated artists and students to the ...
09/05/2025
MLB Sunday Leadoff' 2025: MLB Local Media Pulls the Production, Operational ...
09/05/2025
LTN, Pro Volleyball Federation To Wrap Second Season With Championship Weekend PVF's broadcast coverage has risen 350% from its debut season By Mark J Burn...
09/05/2025
Evertz's Ray Kasprzyk on Meeting the Unique Technological Needs of Massive L...
09/05/2025
With Real Madrid-FC Barcelona, ESPN Preps for Most Ambitious LaLiga Match Covera...
09/05/2025
Friday 9 May 2025
Download images HERE
Episodes are available on Sky Media Vil...
09/05/2025
Back to All News
SO JI-SUB Returns With Cold and Intense Noir Action Series Me...
09/05/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Announces Our First-Ever Nordic Medical Drama Starring...
09/05/2025
New beta programme for Avid Pro Tools users provides versioned backup/archive
M...
09/05/2025
Further to the comments from RT Director-General, Kevin Bakhurst on Wednesday 7th May included below in which he asked the EBU for a discusion on Israel...
09/05/2025
Here is your host, Patrick Kielty!
In the season finale of The Late Late Show, ...
09/05/2025
My Eurovision Party 2025 - join in on the fun with RT Kids!
Eurovision launche...
08/05/2025
A sinister fairy infiltrates a desperate family in Kenneth Dagatan's In My Mother's Skin, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Photo co...
08/05/2025
As expected, continued weak demand from key sales markets and declining economic...
08/05/2025
A new three-part series is coming to BBC iPlayer and BBC One
(Image: The Christie Archive Trust)
The BBC has announced Agatha Christie's Endless Night, a...
08/05/2025
For skyward-bound operators, training focuses on the unique aspects of flying ISR missions, including the management of onboard surveillance equipment and the e...
08/05/2025
The cable industry has told the Federal Communications Commission it supports the National Association of Broadcasters' proposal to allow broadcasters to us...
08/05/2025
WASHINGTON The Consumer Technology Association has continued its opposition to mandates requiring that NextGen TV/ATSC 3.0 tuners be included in new TV sets, sa...