In cooperation with Researchers of the TCCV, The Austrian Skiing Federation has developed very competitive racing suits for alpine skiing
Figure 1: xxx, ©UIBK
In high-speed sports such as Alpine downhill skiing, a huge effort is put into the reduction of drag. Besides the optimization of the surface structure of an alpine racing garment, the cut / pattern of an alpine racing suit is substantial for the perfect tight aerodynamic fit of such a suit.
Following the goal of this TCCV project, a new pattern for alpine downhill suits was developed. Besides the optimized shape according aerodynamic drag the fit of the suit should guarantee enough free moving space for the athletes.
To reach these goals, the cut of the racing suits was systematically optimized. First, an innovative basis pattern was developed which then allowed an easy successive individual fitting process for all top athletes. The new prototypes of downhill suits were tested in the windtunnel and additionally on an alpine testtrack on snow. To guarantee the high quality standards required, the production of prototypes and the final production was strictly supervised.
Nearly all Austrian athletes were wearing the new downhill suits at the Olympic Games 2018. On top of that, the success of this project was underlined by the Olympic Super-G Gold Medal of Matthias Mayer and the Silver Medal in the womens competition of Anna Veith, who were wearing the new suits.
Multifirm project AREA 3-030 High perfomance sports textiles
Project partner
Project coordination (Story)
Forschungszentrum Schnee, Ski und Alpinsport GmbH
Fürstenweg 189
6020 Innbruck
Tel.: +43 (0)512 507 45849
Mobil: +43 (0)660 6020185
Fax: +43 (0)512 507 45998
office@fzssa.at
www.fzssa.at
The COMET-Project TCCV Project no. 860474 is funded within the context of COMET – Competence Centers for Excellent Technologies by the Austrian Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT), the Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs (BMWFW), and the federal states of Vienna, Tyrol and Vorarlberg. The programme is conducted by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG).