The Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre at Sleeman Sports Complex in Brisbane was officially opened last week. As the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere, and only second in the world; fourteen of Australia’s top skiers put on a world-class aerial display to celebrate.

    Located in the Sleeman Centre in Brisbane, home to a number of elite sporting venues, this new complex is an essential training space for the upcoming Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and beyond.

    TTW partnered with OWIA, Colliers, Gardner Wetherill and Buildcorp, to deliver this freestanding 220t steel structure. Reaching 35m at its highest point, it hosts seven jump profiles adequate for the various aerial disciplines, ranging from aerial skiing and moguls, and allows maximum speeds of over 70 kilometres an hour.


    World-class ramps, bespoke design

    This one-of-a-kind facility required a bespoke design for many of the elements to meet the specific performance requirements of the various ski disciplines as well as the Queensland environment.

    TTW engineered a custom folded cold-form steel deck profile to suit the distinctive ramp geometry and to accommodate the ski surface consisting of HDPE sheets and the final SkiTrax surface.

    A bespoke polycarbonate impact barrier with an integrated bump rail runs the ramps’ length and has been designed to absorb the lateral impact load of any jump while also delivering water that keeps the ski surface wet

    The site for the ramp was wedged between the existing constraints which ultimately required the ramp to cantilever high over the adjacent road.

    According to the athletes who have already tested the ramp, it is the perfect way to emulate jumping on snow, launching them up to 17 metres in the air to practise their aerial manoeuvres.

     

    Created for the next generation of Australia’s Winter Olympians

    Freestyle skiing has been Australia’s most successful winter discipline since Alisa Camplin won gold in aerial skiing at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

    Due to the pandemic, the Flying Kangaroos have not been able to travel abroad to practice, so this new facility at Sleeman not only gives them an advantage currently but now the entire year-round. The team and emerging athletes will now always have access to a world-class facility.