Hotspots along the track

How did the striking steep ramp get its name? In a cloak-and-dagger operation. When the Roland Arena was already the venue for the Tour de Ski in the Cross-Country World Cup, a volunteer always claimed that without the Baselgias, none of this would exist. This promptly prompted someone to install a wooden plaque with the words «Baselgia Hill» on this section of the route on their own initiative.
The local Baselgia family has indeed shaped the development of cross-country skiing and biathlon in Lantsch/Lenz for decades. Whether it was the founding of the cross-country skiing club Bual Lantsch (1971), the start of the Biathlon Arena Lenzerheide project (2006) or now the World Championships - the Baselgias have always been at the forefront as driving forces. With Silvio Baselgia, the Head of Sport of the BMW IBU World Championships Biathlon Lenzerheide and former Managing Director of the Roland Arena, the third Baselgia generation is already involved.

The fact that not just a biathlon facility has been created in Lantsch/Lenz, but a sports venue that meets the highest standards and is now even the venue for the World Championships, is largely thanks to Michael and Carola Hartweg. The sports-loving couple have made huge investments - the Roland Arena is practically their baby.
Their passion for the sport of biathlon in general and its development in Switzerland in particular is immeasurable. To this day, the Hartweg couple are also personally involved - for example with their Foundation Mission Biathlon or in the Biathlon Training Center Eastern Switzerland (BSO), whose founder and president is Carola Hartweg. Niklas Hartweg, the son of Michael and Carola, has made it from the BSO to the top of the world. When he fights his way up the longest and hardest climb at the home World Championships, this «pièce de résistance» will bear his family name.

The name Gasparin also stands for an entire family, three sisters to be precise, who have helped shape the sport of biathlon in Switzerland. First and foremost Selina Gasparin, the eldest of the trio. She is not only regarded as a Swiss biathlon pioneer, but has also achieved historic milestones: her first two World Cup victories and the only Swiss medal at a major event to date (Olympic silver in the individual event in 2014).

Elisa and Aita Gasparin have followed the same career path, and the Gasparin sisters were together in the World Cup team for years until Selina's retirement after the 2022 Olympic winter. In the relay team with Lena Häcki-Gross, they celebrated several World Cup podiums. In 2016, the Gasparins moved from the Engadin to Lantsch/Lenz in order to benefit as much as possible from the expanded infrastructure. In February 2025, the trio will experience the World Championships on their doorstep - Elisa and Aita as active athletes, Selina as World Championship ambassador, who has also remained professionally involved in biathlon as head coach for young talent at Swiss-Ski.

«Gasparin Dream» not only stands for dreams that come true - but also for persistence, overcoming resistance and overcoming limits. Which a career path demands just as much as this section of the course.