Predazzo Ski Jump in Summer
The Trampolino Giuseppe Dal Ben sits on a south-facing slope above Predazzo in the Val di Fiemme. In winter it is an Olympic venue. The 2026 Milano-Cortina Games used it in February. In summer the snow is gone and the inrun is a long green slat of plastic mat, the way it has been since porcelain summer-jump surfaces were perfected in the 1990s. The towers stand in the meadow like a slow stair, larch and spruce behind. The Lagorai sit on one side, the Latemar on the other. Athletes still train through July and August on the FIS Grand Prix circuit, but on the days nobody jumps the slope reads as quiet engineering, the season folded away until November.
Slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, in our family studio in Knoxville, Tennessee.