we explain to you how the slopes are groomed

The 2025 Cross-Country Skiing World Cup takes place from January 17 to 19 in Les Rousses. Every evening, the snow groomers go into action to prepare the slopes as best they can. A significant technical challenge.

When night falls on the Jason Lamy-Chapuis des Tuffes stadium, the athletes have returned to the warmth and the bodies are resting, it is the technicians' turn to take over on the track. Every evening, several snow groomers go into action to design the trails in which the classic-style cross-country skiers take off in each event. A technical challenge, especially since the requirements are particularly high for this type of international event.

“It's more pressure, because there are juries behind it. It's not like daily damages. Here we're going to pay attention to the trajectory of the tracks, we're obliged to make tracks as aligned as possible, so that there are as few curves as possible”confides Sam Michaud, in full grooming, to Rachel Desmis' microphone. Behind his machine, the perfect furrows take shape.

You have to respect the trajectories. You have to go as straight as possible and always lift in turns and descents.

Geoffrey Lafarge, manager of the Tuffes stadium

To groom a World Cup track, it necessarily takes more time. Most of the work is done before the event. You have to push the snow that was made by the cannons to ensure a sufficient layer.

Unlike the skating style which only requires a smooth surface, laying out a trail for classic suggests extreme regularity on the part of the groomer. “When it’s classic, the traces really need to be very, very straight and spaced correctly from each other”explains Geoffrey Lafarge, manager of the Tuffes stadium.

The International Ski Federation has very precise and restrictive regulations. No room is left for improvisation. For the men behind the scenes, it is a matter of respecting the specifications to the letter. “We have to be precise at the moment when we put the traces, for the turning zones, the departure, because today, there were 6 [fondeurs au départ]. Knowing that there are only four on the machine so that means reversing and getting back exactly on axis with the right measurements”details Geoffrey Lafarge. A master's job that requires well-established organization. A track manager and the stadium manager are present during the entire maneuver. For example, preparing a classic 1.3 km sprint track takes two and a half hours.

You will have understood, each event has its own style and distance. The place most worked by the groomers is the start and finish stadium, from where the athletes start and where they cross the finish line exhausted.

“The hardest part is really the start stage, the finish, the completion, because it’s a place where there are a lot of things to manage, but once it’s on the track it turns around”according to Geoffrey Lafarge, true conductor of the snow groomers. They are piloted by the most seasoned technicians in the exercise.

Their work day ends around 2 a.m. At this time, the organizers are sure that no one can step on the track and thus damage the surface.

>> Coming soon, the video report from France 3 Franche-Comté.

Friday January 17

Saturday January 18

Sunday January 19

• 11:20 a.m.: classic mass-start 20 km CT ladies
• 3:45 p.m.: classic mass-start 20 km CT men