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THE CROSS-COUNTRY
CENTRE
IN LAGO DI TESERO
Built in 1991, the facility will be extensively enlarged and restored
by 2003. The aim is to make it one of the world's best cross-country centres.
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Though relatively young, the Cross-country
Centre in Lago di Tesero would give enough hints to write the history of
Italian cross-country skiing. Lago di Tesero is a delightful village pleasantly
set in green Val di Fiemme, where cross country is deeply rooted. This Nordic
discipline has born champions of sterling character. It is practised on
a mass scale because it is a pure sport, fatiguing yet at the same time
mood-enhancing, for it gives the opportunity traverse enchanting areas.
And the environment is something which Val di Fiemme feels deeply proud
of.
The history of Italian cross country skiing has links with Lago di Tesero.
"Lago" is the Italian word for lake. Reference here is made to
the big lake which once covered the area in pre-historical times. As competitors,
local organisers have undergone all stages, from the first amateur races
to the Nordic Ski World Championships in 1991, according to an unspoken
rule which has strengthened in time.
The first important competitions were the regional Youth Games held ten
years earlier followed by the national Youth Games, featuring children and
teenagers.
In 1988, after a long wait, the Nordic Ski World Championships for 1991
were officially assigned. For the first time in fifty years this international
ski competition was held in a southern European country. The Championships
had been held in Italy only twice before, namely in 1927 and in 1941 in
Cortina d'Ampezzo.
The organisers were immediately stirred into action to implement the cross-country
centre project, which was suggested by warrant officer Macor, who spent
a lifetime skiing as a competitor for Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Gialle, a military
sports club based in Predazzo.
This is how this first-class cross-country complex was born. The technically
high-level circuit hosting the 1991 WM measured 16.6 km. The operating centre
was obviously Lago di Tesero, but the course was run partly eastward to
Panchià and Ziano, then westward downhill to the area surrounding
the village of Cavalese.
Some minor courses adequately crossed the major one. Three training courses
were prepared in Panchià, Ziano and Predazzo all along natural routes
and tracks going through the fresh fir-woods or on the snow-covered plains
of that area. The task was not a difficult one. In preparing routes, priority
was also given to environment protection, for cross-country skiing means
harmonising with the environment.
To ensure constant, proper snowing conditions for the Centre, especially
in view of the poor snowfall in recent years, an artificial snow system
has been built. It consists of small facilities for minor courses plus three
main facilities located in strategic areas, where the snow is heaped before
being taken downhill when necessary.
As equipped now, the Cross-country centre in Lago di Tesero would already
adequately host the 2003 Championships. Nevertheless, local organisers have
designed a project for building new extraordinary, first-quality facilities
for Nordic ski competitions.
Three basic circuits of unusual length will be prepared, i.e. a 5 km circuit
placed eastward and a 5 km plus a 7.5 circuit placed westward. Properly
combined, these routes will serve to host the following competitions: 5km
ladies, 10 km men, 15 km and 30 km ladies and men, and the prestigious 50
km men. The latter will be run on the longer circuit combined with one of
5 km. To reach the proper distance skiers will run the two courses four
times. Entertainment is guaranteed for spectators and TV audiences.
The focus will be the plain of Lago di Tesero, where new facilities will
be built both for competitors and trainers and for the press service personnel
and spectators.
The works scheduled by the local authorities of Tesero are currently under
way. The stand for the spectators, the rooms for teams and athletes, the
rooms for skimen, the offices for the secretariat and the press office will
be renovated by December, whereas the works concerning the restaurant and
the snowmaking facilities will be concluded next year.
By the end of 2001, the competing tracks will also be renovated, in time
for the pre-world championships scheduled from the 5th to the 11th of January,
whilst the works for the illumination plant and the snowmaking facilities
will end in time for the FIS Nordic WM of 2003.
An underpass connecting the cross-country skiing centre of Lago di Tesero
to the training track outside, is currently being realised and will be finished
by December.
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Races
worth seeing and living |
Out of a pure sportsmanlike spirit, organisers
usually tend to create routes and facilities to technically upgrade competitions,
often at the audience's expense.
This is not the case of Val di Fiemme, which has natural slopes all about
the start area, uphill tracks north of Lago di Tesero and wide plains in
Ziano e Panchià. The result is an environment particularly adequate
to host such high-level international competitions.
Therefore, efforts will mainly be focused on the spectators' needs. Underpasses
are planned to allow people to move freely from route to route and from
the start to the finish line area. In addition to traditional, temporary
stands a permanent facility will be arranged both for spectators and for
professionals, i.e. journalists, photographers, cameramen, and technicians
of various kinds.
There will also be small lay-bys with concession stands and information
points for spectators. Wide new parking areas are foreseen, as well as frequent
public transport links with the most important resorts in the valley.
And what about the snow? No problem. The artificial snow system will be
improved to grant an even better service. What is more, the idea of a number
of small courses making up the whole circuit automatically reduces the risks
of poor snowing on a wide surface.
In the new sporting philosophy, courses will be chosen on the basis of criteria
proper to an ever-growing discipline.
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Cross country skiing
and tourism |
Cross country skiing is not merely restricted
to experts in Lago di Tesero and in the whole Val di Fiemme. Every year
amateurs come to Val di Fiemme to practice this healthy activity. In recent
years more than 25,000 skiers per year have been recorded only in the Cross-country
Centre in Lago di Tesero. To further facilitate access, permanent courses
can now be reached along the cycling route first, then along the Marcialonga
course. One of the circuits will soon be equipped with a lighting system
to ensure night-time practice.
Running on courses where cross-country kings and queens have also run is
certainly a temptation which sports fans find difficult to resist.
Once new facilities are built, efforts will be focused on entertainment,
with the building of an ice plate, a restaurant, wide and comfortable toilettes
equipped with showers and lockers for skiers, ski wax application points,
and other useful skiing facilities. All this will surely make Val di Fiemme
the homeland of cross-country skiing.
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Sport
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Cross Country
:
Cross Country Stadium
