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 more about how his and his father`s passion for skiing lead to the birth of the snowcat.

You may know it as a ‘piste machine’, a ‘trail groomer’, or even a ‘piste basher’. Names are important, so there is only one you should remember to understand the secret behind Val Gardena’s perfectly groomed slopes: Prinoth. And, to be even more price, Ernst Prinoth. The passionate racing driver, mechanic and skier pursued the solution of acceptably groomed ski slopes. The talented young Prinoth started tinkering in his own car workshop until he debuted his first prototypes in 1962. His son Erich reminisces about the start, taking us on a journey down memory lane. What was the name of the first machine your father built?

P15 (he grins proudly) – the number stands for what kind of tread he wanted to impress on the ground. In other words, 15 grams per square centimetre: the ideal measure if you want to a machine to drive over the snow and ascend a mountain..

A snowcat – what a peculiar name! How did it come about?

Journalists were blown away by the new snow machine and could not believe it could ascend steep slopes. It was compared to a cat which purrs up a mountain in contentment. The name stuck: hence the snowcat – a name which was used in other languages, such as the German ‘Schneekatze’ or the Italian ‘gatto delle nevi’.

You have followed in your father’s footsteps – do you still remember your beginnings?

My father passed away at the young age of 59 in 1981. He was as close as one gets to a true one-man-show; to be honest, it took me some time to get my head around the company, delegate tasks, and assign responsibilities. I built a core staff from the ground up and introduced topics such as marketing and HR management. It took me a while, but I slowly got there.

A final question: how long does it take to groom a slope like the Seceda?

Five snowcats are used for the Seceda; these are shared in turns by 7 people. The machines start to systematically go down the slope all the way to Ortisei at 5 p.m.; every machine covers 70-80 hectares. Normally the slopes are groomed until 1 a.m. but if it has snowed overnight, the machines have to briefly drive over the surface one more time first thing in the morning to compress the fresh snow as much as possible. The operation is a lot easier and quicker with artificial snow.

… as well as being extremely comfy!

Keeping things in check: the cab is the perfect location… Cutting-edge technology for perfect slopes