Erich Prinoth – a pioneer THE SECRET BEHIND PERFECTLY GROOMED SKI SLOPES
Erich Prinoth’s proud smile says it all: with him, one of the 5 snowcats that prepare the perfectly groomed slopes on Seceda. He tells us
vintdoi
more about how his and his father`s passion for skiing lead to the birth of the snowcat.
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You may know it as a ‘piste machine’, a ‘trail groomer’,
which was used in other languages, such as the German
or even a ‘piste basher’. Names are important, so there
‘Schneekatze’ or the Italian ‘gatto delle nevi’.
is only one you should remember to understand the
You have followed in your father’s footsteps – do you still
secret behind Val Gardena’s perfectly groomed slopes:
remember your beginnings?
Prinoth. And, to be even more price, Ernst Prinoth. The
My father passed away at the young age of 59 in 1981. He
passionate racing driver, mechanic and skier pursued
was as close as one gets to a true one-man-show; to be hon-
the solution of acceptably groomed ski slopes. The tal-
est, it took me some time to get my head around the com-
ented young Prinoth started tinkering in his own car
pany, delegate tasks, and assign responsibilities. I built a
workshop until he debuted his first prototypes in 1962.
core staff from the ground up and introduced topics such
His son Erich reminisces about the start, taking us on a
as marketing and HR management. It took me a while, but
journey down memory lane. What was the name of the first machine your father built?
I slowly got there.
P15 (he grins proudly) – the number stands for what kind
the Seceda?
of tread he wanted to impress on the ground. In other
Five snowcats are used for the Seceda; these are shared
words, 15 grams per square centimetre: the ideal measure
in turns by 7 people. The machines start to systematically
if you want to a machine to drive over the snow and ascend
go down the slope all the way to Ortisei at 5 p.m.; every
a mountain..
machine covers 70-80 hectares. Normally the slopes are
A snowcat – what a peculiar name! How did it come
groomed until 1 a.m. but if it has snowed overnight, the
about?
machines have to briefly drive over the surface one more
Journalists were blown away by the new snow machine
time first thing in the morning to compress the fresh snow
and could not believe it could ascend steep slopes. It was
as much as possible. The operation is a lot easier and quick-
compared to a cat which purrs up a mountain in con-
er with artificial snow.
tentment. The name stuck: hence the snowcat – a name
A final question: how long does it take to groom a slope like
