Baqueira Beret Fine-Tunes Beret Stadium for Europa Cup Slalom

For several days leading up to the competition, the Stadium Fernández Ochoa in Beret hosted official training sessions for the teams participating in the men's European Slalom Cup. From January 29 to Monday, February 2, racers from Norway, Sweden, Germany, Italy, the United States, France, and Spain trained on a slope specifically prepared to meet the technical demands of the continental circuit.

Intense snowfalls recorded in recent weeks—with accumulations close to two meters—did not hinder the sessions. Baqueira Beret's technical team maintained constant work compacting, watering, and daily monitoring the snow to ensure a hard and stable base, an essential condition for a competition of this level. The result was a homogeneous, fast, and demanding slope, acknowledged by the racers themselves during training.

Among the Spanish skiers present, Quim Salarich stood out, approaching the event with special motivation as it was his last competition before the Olympic Games. The Catalan emphasized the physical demands of the Beret Stadium, a long slope that requires managing effort from start to finish, and positively valued competing at home as an added incentive. Salarich had already achieved good results in Baqueira last season, with a sixth and an eighth place in the 2025 European Cup.

Juan del Campo also highlighted the work carried out by the resort, recalling the excellent conditions experienced in the previous edition. Despite a particularly challenging winter due to the amount of snow, the skier stressed the quality of the preparation and the high sporting level of the event, with the presence of regular World Cup racers, which increased competitiveness and athletic interest.

The competition unfolded over two days, Tuesday, February 3, and Wednesday, February 4, combining the sporting program with parallel events such as the public bib draw and the awards ceremony. As a prelude, the Conselh Generau d’Aran hosted an institutional meeting with RFEDI–Spainsnow skiers for young CETEI athletes, strengthening the link between international competition and grassroots training.

With up to 80 racers at the start, the European Cup once again positioned the Stadium Fernández Ochoa as one of the benchmark venues for competitive alpine skiing on the peninsula. A slope that also received renewed homologation in 2025, with a 954-meter long and 209-meter vertical drop course, designed to meet current FIS standards.

In the hours leading up to the official heats, technical work continued, leveraging nocturnal cold windows to reinforce the hardness and safety of the course. The competition could be followed live through Baqueira Beret's YouTube channel and on RTVE and 3CAT platforms, expanding the reach of an event that once again placed Beret on the map of European alpine skiing.