erzbergrodeo xxi 2015
Enzersfeld / Eisenerz, August 2014: After the Erzbergrodeo is right before the Erzbergrodeo something like a "summer break" is not available for the Erzbergrodeos mastermind Karl Katoch and his organisation crew. By looking back on the successful 20th anniversary edition held in June 2014, the race promotors simultanousely start to prepare the 21st edition of the unique World Xtreme Enduro event held in the middle of Austria at the infamous Erzberg ore mine. A lot of feedback collected from all parts of the events organisation has been analysed and now has to be implemented into the preparations for the Erzbergrodeo XXI.
From May 29th to June 1st 2014, 1500 competitors from 38 nations and all continents challenged the Iron Giant for the 20th time since 1995. Close to 40000 enthusiatic actionsport fans were able to experience motorcycle offroadsports of the highest level during the 4 days event. The starting grid was as high-class as never before: additionally to the current Top-30 riders of the international Xtreme Enduro racing scene, offroad superstars such as Alfie Cox (RSA), Giovanni Sala (ITA), Juha Salminen (FIN) and Stefano Passeri (ITA) hit the stage. These iron legends have all left their marks in the Erzbergrodeos history book and were eager to go head-to-head with the motorsports heroes of today.
ERZBERGRODEO XX: the successful anniversary edition paves the road
for more dirtbike actionsports in the green heart of Austria.
6000 dirtbike riders including their entourage, 800 crew members, 1000 Special Guest and 300 press- & media-representants from 26 nations populated the specially created small town at the iron mountain during the Erzbergrodeos anniversary edition, yet 40000 spectators visited the event on all 4 days. 60 exhibitors presented their products inside the merchandising area. 2,5 tons of program brochures, posters, information flyers and entry tickets have been produced for the Erzbergrodeo XX - alone the starting number decals for all competitors weigh in at 170 kilogramms.
Besides planning, organizing and securing the racing events including live-timing and the complex Live-TV broadcasting, the probably biggest challenge for the crew is to provide a town-like infrastructure for the thousands of visitors.
Right after the event, the whole mountain has to be cleaned again. By means of a refined garbage disposal system, 40 tons of garbage are disposed after the last checkers have fallen at Erzberg two thirds of it are collected manually!
Enzersfeld / Eisenerz, August 2014: After the Erzbergrodeo is right before the Erzbergrodeo something like a "summer break" is not available for the Erzbergrodeos mastermind Karl Katoch and his organisation crew. By looking back on the successful 20th anniversary edition held in June 2014, the race promotors simultanousely start to prepare the 21st edition of the unique World Xtreme Enduro event held in the middle of Austria at the infamous Erzberg ore mine. A lot of feedback collected from all parts of the events organisation has been analysed and now has to be implemented into the preparations for the Erzbergrodeo XXI.
From May 29th to June 1st 2014, 1500 competitors from 38 nations and all continents challenged the Iron Giant for the 20th time since 1995. Close to 40000 enthusiatic actionsport fans were able to experience motorcycle offroadsports of the highest level during the 4 days event. The starting grid was as high-class as never before: additionally to the current Top-30 riders of the international Xtreme Enduro racing scene, offroad superstars such as Alfie Cox (RSA), Giovanni Sala (ITA), Juha Salminen (FIN) and Stefano Passeri (ITA) hit the stage. These iron legends have all left their marks in the Erzbergrodeos history book and were eager to go head-to-head with the motorsports heroes of today.
ERZBERGRODEO XX: the successful anniversary edition paves the road
for more dirtbike actionsports in the green heart of Austria.
6000 dirtbike riders including their entourage, 800 crew members, 1000 Special Guest and 300 press- & media-representants from 26 nations populated the specially created small town at the iron mountain during the Erzbergrodeos anniversary edition, yet 40000 spectators visited the event on all 4 days. 60 exhibitors presented their products inside the merchandising area. 2,5 tons of program brochures, posters, information flyers and entry tickets have been produced for the Erzbergrodeo XX - alone the starting number decals for all competitors weigh in at 170 kilogramms.
Besides planning, organizing and securing the racing events including live-timing and the complex Live-TV broadcasting, the probably biggest challenge for the crew is to provide a town-like infrastructure for the thousands of visitors.
Karl Katoch, Erzbergrodeo race promotor and co-founder of the worldwide unique event, describes the main tasks for his 800-people crew: Each year we have to build up a small town at Erzberg. This happens with a lot of time pressure, as the Erzberg is still an active mining area. Additionally to the infrastructure for the competitors 3 separate paddocks with sanitary facilities, 3 separate racetracks, a race office for administration and technical inspections, a tourguide paddock with separate administration we provide a lot of infrastructural services to our visitors like a VIP-area for up to 1000 guests, a media office for 300 international media people, a full range of food & beverage services, a merchandising area offering lots of possibilities to shop apparel and accessories and not to forget the big festival tent for 3000 people. Our very own shuttle-bus service is on hand free of charge to shuttle between the visitor-points alongside the racetrack and the Erzbergrodeo Arena. This kind of service is unique in the world of offroad motorcyclesports.
One of the main organisation aspects is of course the safety at the Iron Giant. You cannot compare an active mining area with other event locations. We have to close certain areas of the mountain to the public, as visitor safety has to be our main concern. Therefore we implement an own traffic guidance system during the Erzbergrodeo to ensure a safe and exciting experience for all visitors. This takes about 35% of our ressources., Karl Katoch explains.
Right after the event, the whole mountain has to be cleaned again. By means of a refined garbage disposal system, 40 tons of garbage are disposed after the last checkers have fallen at Erzberg two thirds of it are collected manually!
Mark Schilling, the Erzbergrodeos head of organisation, draws a positive resume as well: The anniversary edition passed off without any major problems. The weather conditions have been better than last year, which helped us to handle the massive run of riders, entourage and visitors. We already have a lot of experience in building up the small town at the iron mountain and the additional improvements of the infrastructural supply for our thousands of visitors made sure that things run smoothly.
For 2015, Schilling announces a further upgrading of infrastructure. Increased shuttle-bus routes and additional visitor points will make the visitors experiences at Erzbergrodeo even more exciting.
The Erzbergrodeo is not called World Xtreme Enduro for nothing. The event is renowned as the worlds most spectacular motorcycle offroad festival and has become a household-name to actionsports enthusiasts on all continents. The range of international media coverage in magazines, webpages and TV-stations is more than impressive. Austrias social media ranking saw the Erzbergrodeo reach Top-50 spots by reaching 2,7 millions of users weekly.
The support of national and international media has become a year-round task for us. We work closely together with the editorial offices and support them from the initial idea to the final story by investigating all kinds of information and supplying images, numbers and other facts. On site we connect the media representants with the respective riders and take care about the photographers and camera operators to ensure they get exclusive images for their report., explains Martin Kettner, the Erzbergrodeos head of press/media services.
The elaborative services for media representants will be upgraded as well for 2015. Increased capacities for transporting journalists to spectacular parts of the racetracks and an enlarged media office will provide even more comfort to hundreds of media people from all over the world.
In economic terms, the 20th edition of Erzbergrodeo was an essential success for the whole region. Each year, the event generates an economic output within a range of two-digit millions Euro. Therefore the Erzbergrodeo is not only crucial for the economically rather neglected region around the Erzberg, but has become an important booster to the countries tourism industry as well - more and more competitors return to Austria to make their family holidays there.
The Erzbergrodeos profitableness for the region and the national tourism industry is of course an important factor for the further development and helps to back up the event for the years to come. We work hard every year to keep our event on a high level and continue the success in cooperation with our loyal partners. But even though were looking back on 20 successful years, theres no guarantee for the future. If you look back, you lose thats why we always aim our efforts on the next edition of Erzbergrodeo!, Karl Katoch closes his review of the Erzbergrodeos 20th edition.
Erzbergrodeo Press
Martin Kettner
Martin Kettner
