PLAYO Production’s cooperation with the International Paralympic Committee in winter sports began in 2017 and developed into a series of major World Para Nordic and World Para Alpine Skiing productions across Europe and Canada.
Our first major project was the 2017 World Para Nordic Skiing Championships in Finsterau, Germany, bringing together 135 athletes from 25 countries for ten days of cross-country skiing and biathlon competition. The championship marked the beginning of our cooperation with IPC winter sports.
The cooperation subsequently expanded into World Para Alpine Skiing, with PLAYO Production providing live broadcast production for World Cup events at ski resorts across Europe. During the 2017/18 season, the World Cup circuit culminated in the World Cup Finals in Kimberley, Canada, the final major Para Alpine competition ahead of the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games.
Our involvement continued through the 2018/19 season and included the 2019 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia and Sella Nevea, Italy, together with further World Cup productions at ski resorts across Europe.
In February 2019, our team returned to Canada for the World Para Nordic Skiing Championships in Prince George, British Columbia, adding another major World Championship to our international winter sports portfolio.
The cooperation concluded in March 2019 with the World Para Alpine Skiing World Cup Finals in Morzine, France, where the overall World Cup titles were decided.
Producing winter sports requires a completely different technical approach from stadium-based productions. Camera positions are distributed along race courses stretching over long distances and through challenging mountain terrain, often in severe winter conditions.
For the Alpine events, depending on the venue and discipline, between nine and twelve cameras were positioned along the course to provide continuous coverage from start to finish. Camera signals were transported over long-distance fibre-optic connections to our OB van, which served as the central production facility at the finish area.
Our teams covered the main Para Alpine disciplines, including downhill, super-G, giant slalom and slalom. Each venue required a completely new technical deployment adapted to the individual course, terrain, weather conditions and available infrastructure.
A particularly important part of the Alpine production was the integration of our television graphics system with the official live timing. Para Alpine Skiing uses a factored-time system, adjusting an athlete’s raw race time according to their sport class. Our broadcast workflow therefore had to process live timing data and integrate both raw and calculated race information into the on-screen graphics in real time.
Across both Nordic and Alpine events, PLAYO Production provided the complete on-site broadcast workflow, including camera production, live directing, instant replay, graphics, audio and delivery of the final international programme feed.
From World Championships in Germany, Slovenia, Italy and Canada to World Cup events across Europe and the World Cup Finals in Kimberley and Morzine, the 2017–2019 cooperation became one of PLAYO Production’s most extensive international winter sports projects. It gave our team significant experience in large-scale outdoor production, long-distance fibre camera systems, live sports data integration and the logistical demands of delivering international broadcasts in challenging winter and mountain environments.
