World Record at Audi Nines
11.7 meters above the ground – that's enough to make anyone dizzy, even with safety railings. But jumping that height on skis and landing safely again – that seems impossible.
Yet it happened at Audi Nines. The organizers built a massive snow park together with Schneestern. Excavators from klarx, the online platform for renting construction equipment, were used for the job. This made it possible for two-time halfpipe Olympic champion David Wise (USA) to push beyond his limits. The new world record is set!
On the first day of Audi Nines, a week-long freestyle session for skiers and snowboarders in Sölden and Obergurgl-Hochgurgl, David Wise took advantage of optimal weather conditions and tested the limits of the ten-meter-high quarterpipe. "I felt good and jumped a little higher each time," Wise reported. "I never got scared. The advantage was that we had a measurement system on site, so we could see right away how high we jumped." The conditions at the event were optimal for the athletes and, beyond the world record, produced many more record-breaking jumps. That's why the athlete quickly found words of appreciation for everyone involved.
Construction Equipment from klarx in Action
"This record is a team effort. I never could have done it alone." The biggest challenge was preparing the quarterpipe so that David felt completely comfortable pushing to his personal limits. For that, five snow cats and four excavators were deployed around the clock for two weeks to move a total of 200,000 cubic meters of snow. The organizers made machine rentals as simple as possible and turned to klarx – the digital platform for construction equipment rental. The perfect interplay between people and machines played an essential role in achieving this world record.
A Labor of Love for klarx Founders
Nico Zacek, founder of Audi Nines, expressed his satisfaction with this collaboration: "We also brought klarx on board as a new partner, who made renting the required machines a breeze through their digital platform."
This project was also a labor of love for klarx co-founders Matthias and Florian Handschuh, themselves former professional snowboarders: "Our hearts still beat for this sport. It's simply wonderful to see that klarx has contributed to this world record by providing construction equipment. We rent machines every day to demanding job sites. The glacier in Sölden was a special logistical challenge for us, and we were very happy to solve it for Audi Nines."
Image credits: "Audi Nines" Audi Nines, "Photo of freestyle pro athlete Nico Zacek" Nico Zacek
