One year after the destruction of the Königssee ice arena

Königssee (FIL) A year ago, a violent storm severely damaged the Königssee ice arena. The upper part of the 2021 World Championship’s track is affected from the men's to the women's and doubles' start. Even one year after the storm, no decision has been made about the future of the world's first artificial ice track, which was originally built in 1968 and 1969.

After the storm on the night of 17 to 18 July 2021, the clean-up work at the ice arena lasted many weeks and is still not completely finished after one year. According to estimates by those responsible, about 10 to 15 percent of the track has been destroyed. German politicians therefore spoke out very early on in favour of rebuilding the track for luge, bobsleigh and skeleton. The State of Bavaria and the Federal Republic of Germany very quickly agreed to cover the costs of 53.5 million euros.

Last winter, children's training was planned on the naturally iced track, starting from the Kreisel. Hannah Thiele, the assistant to the boss of the Eisarena Königssee reported: "We trained three days on the track with the little kids to keep the spirit and motivation alive. That was very important for us. We wanted to do it longer, but we only had natural ice and that was difficult due to the weather. That's why we hope for suitable weather next winter."

Currently, they are waiting for the results of a geological and hydrological report on the reconstruction. The reports are to show which structural protective measures are necessary to secure the artificial ice track and the houses below. The chief of the track Markus Aschauer suspects that a wall around twelve metres high and/or a retention basin for up to 7,000 cubic metres of debris from the mountain will have to be built: “Before we start the reconstruction of our track we have to build a system which is avoiding that the track can be destroyed again. We call it “project safety building”. At the moment we don’t know how it looks. It could be a concrete wall or whatever. First we have to build the object protection”.  

After the object protection, the next steps as a result of the expert opinions would presumably be a straightening of the Klingerbach, the demolition of the Men's start up to curve 3 (bridge curve) and the recycling of the concrete. Markus Aschauer is thinking about the current shortage of raw materials, the important climate protection, rising energy costs and is convinced: "We want to go new ways with more insulation, massive savings in energy costs, sustainable building materials and recycling of the existing concrete. The refurbished track at Königssee should set new standards!"
If everything goes optimally, then Aschauer reckons in the most optimistic case that "in 2025 a luge World Cup could take place at Königssee again."

The whole video about the Eisarena Königssee can be found under the following link on YouTube.