Ruhpolding

A lap of Ruhpolding

1. Leave the valley stadium

Start on the shared stadium straight and head out to the north-west. The opening section rounds the western knoll before turning east along the foot of the Zirmberg. Use these early bends to settle your steering before the longer uphill effort.

2. Work through the serpentine

The course folds back on itself as it climbs the Zirmberg flank. Spectators gather beside the bends and upper slopes. Keep enough momentum for the next turn rather than spending all your sprint on the first rise; the high section still lies ahead.

3. Descend through the trees

Across the top, the lap turns into a sequence of twisting forest descents. Gravity adds speed, so look ahead through each bend. The course then crosses a smaller knoll behind the shooting range: reaching the bottom of the main descent does not mean the climbing is over.

4. Clear the eastern hill and return

A second climb takes you onto the eastern hill. From there, the long descent brings you back toward the stadium and shooting lanes. On a shooting lap, give yourself time to settle before firing; a fast approach still has to end in five accurate shots.

What to look out for

The stadium ski jump

Ruhpolding is the venue with a ski jump beside the stadium. It gives the valley arena a distinctive silhouette as you leave and return to the racing straight.

Copper beeches and spruce

Young beeches retain copper-coloured leaves among the conifers. Thin snow reveals more of the ground beneath this mixed forest and makes the seasonal contrast especially clear.

Valley hay barns

Small barns occupy the open meadow ground. They help distinguish the sheltered valley floor from the wooded slopes above.

Fans on the climbs

Crowd sections line the serpentine, its upper bends and the eastern climb. These are useful visual reminders of where the lap asks for another uphill effort.

At the shooting range

The hillside shelters Ruhpolding’s range. Its configured base crosswind is light, with gentler gust variation than the more exposed venues. Read the flags on each visit anyway: sheltered does not mean still. As at every venue, you shoot at five targets 50 metres away, and each miss adds a 150-metre penalty loop beside the stadium.

Snow, weather and light

Choose thin, normal or deep cover, any of the six weather presets, and a day or evening start. When cover is random, Ruhpolding favours thin snow. Thin cover exposes the meadows and old snow patches; an evening race puts the course under floodlights. These settings change the atmosphere without turning the map into a different venue.

Take it into your next race

• Treat the serpentine and eastern hill as separate efforts; save stamina for both.
• Anticipate the forest bends before downhill speed builds.
• On shooting laps, ease the final approach and read the wind before committing to your shots.

Open race setup and select Ruhpolding to try this venue in sprint or mass start.