Olympic Bobsleigh Track St. Moritz - Celerina

The track was originally created by UK tourists who were looking for a place to practice their newly invented sport - bobsleigh. In 1897, the Saint Moritz Bobsleigh Club ^{[1] [2]} , the oldest bobsleigh club in the world, was created.

They met with members of the Togogangan Club in St. Moritz (St Moritz Tobogganing Club), “colleagues” skeletonists who usually competed on the nearby Cresta Run track and decided to start raising funds to create a new track.

In 1903, they managed to collect a total of 11,000 Swiss francs and immediately began the construction of a bobsled track on the vast territory of the Kulm Hotel and thanks to the support of Alfons Badrutt

On January 1, 1904, the track was officially opened and, along with the Arosa bobsleigh track, was considered the oldest bobsleigh track in Switzerland.

Today, the bobsleigh track runs through the pine forest of St. Moritz Badrut Park to Celerina Cross along Via Maistra, which connects the road from St. Moritz to Celerina, which closes throughout the bobsleigh season.

Over its more than 100-year history, the competitions of the two Winter Olympic Games in 1928 and 1948 were held on the Olympic bobsleigh track. Although the Winter Olympic Games were also hosted by Lake Placid and Innsbruck twice, the track was different each time. The competitions at the 1928 Games are unique in this regard. These were the only competitions in which five-seater beans took part. In 1948, the competition took place already participated in modern standards - among two and four local crews. In total, 26 ^[3] world championships took place on the Olympic bobsleigh track (20 in bobsleigh, 5 in the skeleton and 1 in the sleigh). European bobsleigh and skeleton championships were held here, as well as numerous stages of world cubes among two and four local beans, skeletonists and sledgers.

• Winter Olympic Games : 1928 ^[4] , 1948 ^[4] .

• Bobsleigh World Championship : 1931 ^[5] , 1935 ^[5] , 1937 ^[5] , 1938 ^[6] , 1939 ^[6] , 1947 ^[4] , 1955 ^[4] , 1957 ^[4] , 1959 ^[4] , 1965 ^[4] , 1970 ^[4] , 1974 ^[4] , 1977 ^[4] , 1982 ^[4] , 1987 ^[4] , 1990 ^[4] , 1997 ^[4] , 2001 ^[4] , 2007 , 2013 .

• Skeleton World Championship : 1982 ^[4] , 1989 ^[4] , 1998 ^[4] , 2007 , 2013 .

• World Luge Championship : 2000 .

• Bobsleigh European Championship : 1968 ^[4] , 1972 ^[4] , 1976 ^[4] , 1980 ^[4] , 1985 ^[4] , 1993 ^[4] , 1996 ^[4] , 2004 ^[4] , 2006 , 2009 , 2016 .

• European Skeleton Championship : 1986 ^[4] , 2003 , 2006 , 2009 , 2016 .

• Bobsleigh Youth World Championship : 1989 ^[4] , 1994 ^[4] , 2002 ^[4] , 2010 , 2018 .

• Youth Skeleton World Championship : 2010 , 2018 .

From the very beginning to the beginning of the 1980s, the responsibility for the construction of the bobsleigh track from St. Moritz to Celerin lay in the hands of the local Angelini family, which had been building the track for three generations. In 1985, Luis Prantl took responsibility for the construction of the track. In 1990, he was replaced by Celeriner Christian Brantschen, who is in charge of construction to this day.

In the last week of November, the construction of the track begins with a team of fifteen workers and lasts three weeks. Every year the track is built from scratch ^[7] and for its construction 5,000 m ^{3 of} snow and 4,000 m ^{3 of} water are required. ^[8] Although each curve in the area is precisely aligned, minimal changes occur in the paths each year.

Construction begins with the "Solar Corner." The construction team works towards Podkova in the direction of movement, then through the forest to the turn of the Bridge, then to the turns of Martino and Portago until finally reaching the finish area. Finally, when the track is built, there is a connection of the Solar Turn with the starting zone into a single whole and the installation of protective awnings. However, the timing may vary due to high temperatures or lack of snow.

After the construction of the track is completed, the team of workers is divided into groups, each of which is assigned a responsible section of the track on which they conduct the final completion of the track and perform maintenance. Daily repair work is carried out mainly in the afternoon and takes up to four hours. After the season ends in early March, dismantling immediately begins, and the protective canopies are removed.

The track is located at an altitude of 1852 m, the lowest point is at an altitude of 1722 m, while the finish line is located at an altitude of 1738 m. The length of the route is 1722 meters and has 15 turns, the vertical drop is 130 m. The average gradient of the route is 8.14 % Most of the turns received the English data names, the British bobsledder who created the track, and have saved them to this day. ^[9]

In the winter of 1955/56, the Podkova turn, located about 840 meters from the start, was reinforced with natural stones, and the radius was increased by 2.5 m. A 4.5 m high wall with a 1.75 m wide visor on top allowed passage "Horseshoe" at high speeds, even with a small amount of snow. Nevertheless, in 1995, the turn had to be adapted for the second time to modern conditions. The pressure from the beans especially intensified, so that even guests of the popular Bobtaxi walks ^[11] had to withstand overloads of up to 5 g, which is five times their own weight. As a result of this pressure from the narrow runners, grooves and holes appeared very quickly during the season, which further worsened the regulated characteristics. Within three months, the radius was increased by another 2.5 m, the entrance was moved almost 4 m to the right on the slope, which made the turn a little larger. At the same time, the entrance to the turn was increased by 1.5 m, which reduced the speed by about 2 km / h. It has become a “softer” profile, allowing new beans to pass it easier without damaging the ice and greatly reducing the likelihood of accidents for competing crews.

But the most obvious changes to the track were at the very bottom of the track. Due to constantly increasing speeds, braking became more difficult until the braking zone no longer met the requirements. After the 1957 World Cup, the track was changed for the first time. As a result, two turns “Martino” and “Portago” were added to the finish of the track. With the development of technology and the increasing speed of beans in the race in the early 80s, the “Martino” turn was shifted forward by about 20 meters, as a result of which the final location of “Portuga” and the finish line were redistributed at the exit from the latter. Finally, in 2002, when the beans reached a speed close to 145 km / h in the race, Martino needed another 50 meters, bringing the length of the track to the current 1722 meters.

Over time, not only trajectories and bends have undergone changes. A small starting house, which also served as a bar and wardrobe in 1972, changed the room. A new starting building was built with office space, wardrobes, the Bobsleigh Club St. Moritz and the Dracula Club. This new building expanded in 1992, 1993, and 2002 to meet growing needs.

The Sunny House was a popular meeting place on the track in the early years of the Olympic Bobsleigh Track St. Moritz - Celerina. Ladies and gentlemen from the highest watched the “Solar” bend through the large window of the heated bar. Over time, this meeting was canceled, and the Solar House turned into a storage room for building materials.

Today the bar is in the Horseshoe corner. A temporary building was created every year, but the audience did not have the opportunity to warm themselves at temperatures below minus 25 degrees. This flaw was corrected in 2005 after the construction of the Horseshoe permanent bar. At the end of the route in 1992 a small house with medical equipment was built. Later it was replaced by a complex building with locker rooms, medical facilities and other premises.

During the season, the Olympic bobsleigh track offers monobob, bean and skeleton classes. The monobob and bean school is led by Martin Galliker, who has experience working on various international routes. The skeleton school is led by Michaela Pitch. The minimum age of 16 years (with the written consent of the parents up to 18 years) and good physical preparation are one of the requirements for classes in schools.

The travel history of guests in beans dates back to the 1930s when Nino Bibbia rode with fearless women on a bean from St. Moritz to Celerina. Bean rides in the modern sense have only been known since 1973, when the then manager was looking for a way to load less-visited hours of work. At that time, trips were made on beans of the "Feierabend" type.

To make a guest trip in the bean, prior reservation is required. Hazards daily after training and / or racing. During international events, only limited racing trips can be arranged. They pass after training and / or racing races. During international competitions, guest trips may be restricted.

• IBSF information
• Olympia Bobrun (Official website) (German ) (German) (Italian)
• St. Moritz Bob Club History (German)
• St. Moritz Celerina Olympic Bobrun (German ) (German)
• 1928 Winter Olympics official report, part 1.
• 1928 Winter Olympics official report, part 2. pp. 12-13.
• 1948 Winter Olympics official report. pp. 6, 23.
• Olympic track in St. Moritz
• St. Moritz Bobsleigh Histor on youtube.com
• St. Moritz POV on youtube.com