Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort

Russian resort prepares for world ski showcase

The Rosa Khutor resort was set to receive a major boost to its profile by becoming one of the major projects of the Sochi 2014 Games. Some 43 hectares of sport tracks reached nine kilometres in total in order to meet the requirements of the International Federation of Mountain Skiing (FIS). The resort was therefore equipped with a state-of-the-art Claricor® TETRA system.

First tests done

The first phase of the implementation was finalised in February 2011, just in time to host the FIS Europe Cup competition. These games were attended by more than 160 athletes from countries including Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Switzerland, along with 100 officials who tested the slopes and facilities of Rosa Khutor. These tests enabled the Sochi 2014 organising committee to check the technical readiness of the facility for international competitions, as well as the efficiency of the resort’s staff and systems.

During these events the Claricor system provided communication for

• rescuers,
• start-finish personnel,
• security teams,
• judges,
• slope personnel,
• medical staff and
• TV broadcast teams, among others.

The next challenge for the facilities was in February 2012 when the FIS World Cup in men's downhill and a super combined competition took place in Rosa Khutor.

Today, the Rosa Khutor's Claricor TETRA system is used daily during high season, and as a backup system in the off-season.

Network coverage for difficult landscape

The Rosa Khutor's Claricor TETRA system consists of

• a switch,
• four TB3 base stations and an operator station, as well as
• around 400 handportable and mobile radios from Airbus.

Specific climatic conditions and the complexity of Rosa Khutor's route profiles both affected the solutions used in the construction of the system.

Base station locations had to provide radio coverage throughout the challenging landscape, where rope-ways, ski patrols and maintenance, as well as security and other services, are dispersed across the mountain area at heights ranging from 940 to 2,400 metres.

After careful inspection and design, T-Helper's specialists came up with thermally insulated modular container solutions to protect the base stations, antennas and feeders in the extreme conditions.

This successful set-up now provides full coverage for all slopes and enables communication and cooperation between the key facilities and locations across the resort.