The opening of the Finals of the World Cup is a spectacle which dares to use the Avet as a giant screen

A 37,500 m2 video montage was projected onto the slopes showing the history of Andorra, the history of Grandvalira and the journey to the Finals.

The Chairman of the ISF described as “extraordinary” the work of the Organising Committee and thanked the volunteers.

The event, which closed with fireworks and music, is destined to remain unique in the history of the ISF.

Andorra la Vella, 12 March 2019. Andorra and its people excelled themselves on Tuesday evening with the opening of the Finals of the World Cup Andorra 2019. The heart of the ceremony was on the Avet slopes in the Soldeu sector, with the images shown at the same time in the Plaça de la Rotonda in Andorra la Vella. Some 1500 people gathered in the stands of Soldeu's new platform, joined at a distance by the hundreds of people who chose to watch in the capital. Everyone enjoyed a spectacle which was innovative and surprising: never before has the opening of the Finals of the World Cup been so daring, taken on such a huge challenge combining image, light, music and fireworks. The Avet slopes acted as an enormous projection screen, a unique and risky undertaking that will forever stand out in the history of the global skiing competition.

The ceremony began at 7.30 p.m. In Andorra la Vella, with audience participation suitable for families which got the people of Andorra involved. The official song of the Finals of the World Cup in Grandvalira was sung, to a dance accompaniment from the group Líquid Dansa. The giant screens installed in the City and at Soldeu meant the spectacle could be seen at the same time in both places.

From the town, the opening ceremony moved to Soldeu, with Andorra's national anthem followed by a ski-past of instructors from the Grandvalira Ski School. Wearing LEDs, they traced surprising shapes on the snow as they went down the slope.

Next, it was time for the official speeches, delivered by the Mayor of Canillo, Josep Mandicó, the Chairman of the International Ski Federation (ISF), Gian Franco Kasper, and the Acting Prime Minister of Andorra, Antoni Martí.

In his speech, Mandicó highlighted the work and the road followed since 2012, when Soldeu hosted its first round of the Women's World Cup and he thanked the ISF for having the confidence in Andorra to entrust the Finals to the country. Martí, for his part, underlined how events such as this confirm that Andorra is a “land of snow”, as demonstrated by the fact that it has more skiable kilometres than kilometres of road.

Kasper focused his speech on thanking the volunteers for their help and described the work of the Organising Committee as “extraordinary”. He predicted that the next few days will be “a great celebration” both for the competitors and the public.

Avet transformed into a giant video projection screen

When the speeches came to an end, it was time for the part of the ceremony everyone had been waiting for. Grandvalira has gone one step further in the organisation of this type of events within the context of the FIS. The Avet slope was transformed into a huge 37,500 square metre screen, thanks to eight 30,000-lumen laser projectors, which used light and sound to explain the history of Andorra and then the history of Soldeu el Tarter. At the end, the flags of all of the participating countries were projected along with a video of the process that the area has undergone up to the moment of hosting these great Finals.

The video projection ended with images of the leaders of each discipline who will be competing this week on the Àliga d'El Tarter and Avet de Soldeu slopes.

The ceremony was concluded with a fireworks display, accompanied by more video projections on the slope in time to music, rounding off this great celebration.

The opening ceremony in numbers

To make this great event possible it has taken 14 months of preparation and more than 5 days to set up all of the logistics on site. 200 hours of rehearsals and tests have been carried out. On a technical level, 3 kilometres of fibre optic cable and 150 tonnes of material have been rolled out and 17 audiovisual technicians were on hand during the ceremony. 281 kilos of fireworks were used for the display.

AGENDA

Wednesday 13/03/2019

10:30 - Slope: Àliga (El Tarter)

Men’s DH

12:00 - Slope: Àliga (El Tarter)

Women’s DH

12:00-20:00 - Next to the L’Abarset (El Tarter)

Village with the main brands from the skiing world

17:00-21:00 - Terrace of L’Abarset (El Tarter)

Après-ski party

 

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