TRACKING SKIING’S STRONGEST ATHLETES ACROSS SAALBACH’S SUMMITS

It’s not only the athletes that face a tough endeavour. Keeping spectators up to date with the competitors as they race is the responsibility of live production specialist, Mediahaus. 

“As well as a giant screen in the race finish area, there’s a livestream running on a mobile provider’s IPTV platform, and some broadcasters will take shorter live clips and highlight packages for their sports programming,” begins Mediahaus’ CEO, Wolfgang Angermüller. “The race lasts for several hours from daytime into the night, so you’re not only working to track competitors across tricky terrain, but you can also have to adjust to changing lighting and weather conditions constantly.”

To best track the endurance skiers, Mediahaus’ solution is to take to the slopes as well, but with a slightly less exhausting method. “We mount two URSA Broadcast, paired with Fujinon B4 broadcast lenses, on skidoos, which escort the race leaders up the mountains, right up to the summit,” Wolfgang explains. “The compact format of the cameras is a huge advantage. It helps to keep things lightweight, which in turn ensures we are fully mobile and can keep up with the pace.”

As well as the skidoo, a further nine cameras are deployed across the course, including four mountain top/checkpoint positions and two unmanned units at the finish line. A mixture of IP and Mobile Viewpoint 4G connections, as well as SMPTE 311M hybrid fiber, transmit signals to an OB van at the bottom of the final downhill. The program mix is cut live on an ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K and ATEM 2 M/E Broadcast Panel. 

“Our main challenge is keeping the delay to a minimum, even when we’re cutting to signals being transmitted from altitudes of more than 2,000m. We need to be able to show spectators every twist, and turn of the race, with as little delay as possible,” continues Wolfgang. “Employing a Blackmagic solution means for acquisition and control we have a delay of less than ten frames from glass to screen.