40th birthday celebrations provide a chance to rehearse ahead of the big day in 2019

Winterberg Vertrag

Winterberg (RWH): A trial run before the big day: One year before Winterberg hosts the International Luge Federation’s (FIL) 48th World Championships in 2019, the artificial track on Kappe Mountain is celebrating its 40th birthday. To mark the occasion, the artificial track in the Hochsauerland region of Germany – which opened on December 10, 1977 to become the fourth artificially iced track following its predecessors in Königssee, Innsbruck-Igls and Oberhof – will host the Olympic season’s second stop in the Viessmann World Cup on November 25-26, 2017).

The Veltins Ice Arena – as it has been known since October 2015 thanks to the support of Veltins brewery, right now the contract was extended until 2021 – has played a major role in raising the region’s profile over the past few decades. Thanks to the ice arena, Winterberg and the surrounding region are now famous around the world. It is also an important factor in the area’s economy. When it comes to sports, the arena enjoys a stellar reputation as a venue for major international events, as Bobbahn GmbH announced in a recent press release.

Various factors have meant that a number of structural changes have been made over the years, such as the renovation of the start area (2005/2006) or, more recently, the finish line area and its new functional building (2013).

In the field of luge, the 2nd Viessmann World Cup and the BMW Sprint World Cup on the last weekend in November 2017 will mark the start of the countdown to the 48th FIL World Championships in 2019. This will be the third time that Winterberg has hosted the World Championships after 1989 and 1991, when it stepped forward at short notice to take over from Sigulda following political unrest in Latvia. The World Championship title for the post-Olympic season will be awarded on the last weekend in January 2019.