19 February 2025

All on slope: La Thuile gets into the swing of preparations

There are now 20 days to go before the return of the Women's Alpine Skiing World Cup in La Thuile, and on slope 3-Franco Berthod - defined as one of the steepest and most difficult of the entire circuit - preparations are now in full swing. The arrival parterre of the speed races has begun to take shape: the grandstands are assembled, the cabins destined for the TV commentary stations have been laid, now work is underway on the construction of the structure that will house the LTH VIP Lounge. 
The installation of the first safety systems (nets, sliding sheets, mattresses) along the race slope started days ago, also to allow the Italian and French national teams to train before flying to Kvitfjell (Norway). Until tomorrow, in fact, some sprinters returning from the World Championships in Saalbach will ski in La Thuile to prepare for the last block of the season. Present will be Sofia Goggia, Elena Curtoni, Nadia and Nicol Delago, Laura Pirovano, Vicky Bernardi, and the French women Romane Miradoli, Karen Clément and Laura Gauché. The female giant racers competing this weekend have already arrived in Sestriere, such as Marta Bassino, Roberta Melesi and Asja Zenere. 
Since last week, the pace of work has increased considerably: La Thuile will have to be ready one day earlier than scheduled. In fact, the FIS has decided that the resort in the Aosta Valley will be the venue for the recovery and therefore the show will be even more interesting. The downhill on Friday 14 and the super-G on Saturday 15 March will be joined by a third speed event on Thursday 13. The speciality has not yet been defined, only in about ten days, depending also on what will happen in Kvitfjell, FIS will decide the final programme of the last stage before the World Cup Finals in Sun Valley. Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12 March will be the two time trials.
The organising committee will therefore be called upon to do a great deal of work on slope 3-Franco Berthod, which will have to host as many as three races and two time trials; an event that is possible thanks to the precious collaboration and contribution of the Autonomous Region of Valle d'Aosta and the Municipality of La Thuile and the commitment of the Italian Winter Sports Federation, which has been supporting the Valle d'Aosta resort for some time, also bringing the request for recovery to the table of the FIS. 
About 450 people will be working in La Thuile, including professionals and volunteers, 5 institutional bodies and 6 regional organisations will be involved; the slope will require the installation of 6 kilometres of A-nets and fibre optic cables, 5,000 metres of B-nets, as well as all the equipment needed to set up a parterre that meets the standards and requirements of the FIS. Days and nights of preparation, to be ready for a stage that could also be decisive for the speciality rankings, all the more so now that there will be three races. 


The tickets for Saturday's Super-G are now sold out, there are only a few left for Friday, while the sale of grandstand tickets for the third race on Thursday 13 March has started a few days ago. The exclusive LTH VIP Lounge will also be available, while those who do not have a ticket will have free access - up to capacity - to the raised public area, a few metres above the finish parterre. 
At the presentation press conference - held today in Aosta and attended by La Thuile Mayor Mathieu Ferraris, Aosta Valley Autonomous Region President Renzo Testolin, Aosta Valley Autonomous Region Vice-President Luigi Bertschy, Regional Councillor for Tourism sport and commerce Giulio Grosjacques, Funivie Piccolo San Bernardo president Daniele Collomb, the president of the organising committee Marco Mosso, and Coni Valle d'Aosta president Jean Dondeynaz - the public access plan for the race location was also illustrated. In La Thuile, the road system will be partly modified and some areas will be used for parking; public transport services from Valdigne will also be intensified. 
All the information will soon be available on the skiworldcuplathuile.com website, where you can also buy the last tickets to be in the front line and cheer on the Audi Fis Ski World Cup - La Thuile 2025.