They smooth over the tracks left by champions - The players behind the success with Adrien Grobet

A small giant slalom course has been marked out down the Bella Lui slope on this December Saturday. The young skiers from the Crans-Montana ski club will not get to train on this, although they did set out the course, but the slip crews to be used during World Cup races certainly will. Between the red and blue gates, a group of twenty or so, slide down the slope in a controlled manner. “We have set up a little training session for new volunteers, so they can learn the basics and get a little foretaste of what to expect during competitions,” explains Adrien Grobet, the Slip Crew Coordinator and Manager for the National slope.

Between 28 January and 1 February, the Genevan, who grew up on the slopes of Crans-Montana, will be in charge of a team of around 120 slip crew members. These will be deployed over five days, across the training runs and races, to guarantee the quality of the snow covering on the Nationale and Mont Lachaux slopes. This year, there is some overlap between the men’s and women’s events, and the challenge is a big one. “With two slopes at the same time, we obviously need twice the organisation. So work will start very early, well before the first race.”

“Good skiers don’t necessarily make good slip crew members”

This background work begins with a thorough selection phase. “We look at the volunteers’ experience, whether they have already done slip crew work on World Cup courses, how comfortable they are on skis, and also their adaptability,” continues Adrien Grobet, who is quick to add that “good skiers don’t necessarily make good slip crew members”. “And vice versa.” 

Slip crew work mainly requires people to be good at sliding, so the snow is pushed around to good effect, but they also need a keen eye. “It’s highly visual work, which requires a lot of concentration. You need to be able to read the slope and spot the lines that require work. I always ask volunteers about the route they would take down the slope,” emphasises the man who has been responsible for this sector since 2017. Here, slip crew members also need to be able to perform their task both effectively and quickly within an allotted space of time. “After each athlete, we send out a pair of people, who need to work quickly.” Because there’s often only just over a minute between two skiers. “Which is enough to clean up the tracks left between five or six gates and then move to one side. Because the safety of both skiers and slip crew members remains the priority.”

Up to ten turns a day

It’s all a question of logistics. During races, the Nationale and Mont Lachaux are each divided into three sectors. So each slip crew remains assigned to the same sector, in order to facilitate the four or five turns they have to do during the race. But their work involves more than just keeping courses in perfect condition during races. “The keyword is flexibility,” sums up Adrien Grobet, as very long days, lasting from early morning until late afternoon, are not unusual. “We call on twenty or so slip crew members, often the best, the ones with experience of performing the trickier tasks before or after a race.”  

Everything depends on snow conditions, which often vary at Crans-Montana. “If it has snowed, we have to remove the centimetres that fell overnight. And if temperatures are high, we have to take advantage of the coolness of the morning and the hardened snow, before a race, in order to prepare the slope properly. Some slip crew members have already done four or five quick turns before the competition starts.”

Sharpened skis for contact on the slope

And when people are sliding down a slope that may sometimes be icy – so Marco Odermatt, Franjo von Allmen, Lindsey Vonn, Malorie Blanc and the like can slice through turns at full speed – it makes sense to have the right skis under their feet. “We ask each slip crew member to wear alpine skis, as opposed to freestyle or freeride ones. It’s not just a question of consistency. More than anything, it’s about ensuring good contact with the snow, which may be of the injected type.” With this in mind, the organisers invite volunteers to sharpen the edges of their skis for free at the foot of the slopes. 

A team set to grow for the World Ski Championships

And they are unlikely to remain idle during the World Ski Championships, which will be held on the Crans-Montana high plateau over the first two weeks of February 2027 (1 to 14 February 2027). “With two weeks of competition, we will need to form several teams, make sure people get enough rest, and be able to quickly switch from one slope to the other.”

There are 120 slip crew members this year, and this could double between now and just over a year’s time. “The aim is to have two separate groups for each slope: one for the speed-based races and the other for more technical disciplines. Slip crew work can vary between downhill and slalom courses. It requires tremendous coordination, but everything we are putting in place today, during our World Cup events, will serve us well in future for the World Ski Championships.”