Winter sports have a special fascination for many people, both in the performance and leisure sectors. Professional competitions in sports such as luge, downhill skiing, cross-country skiing/biathlon, ski jumping or even curling are often followed enthusiastically by thousands of people. Similarly, there are countless recreational athletes who pursue their hobby on skis or snowboards every winter. Winter sports are not only a passion for those involved, but also a major economic factor. This often involves a lot of effort for the system operators: ski and toboggan runs have to be carefully prepared and maintained. Sometimes, artificial snow has to be made using a lot of energy. Global climate change and the lack of snowfall in regions that were considered snow-sure until a few years ago are exacerbating this need. Alternatives would therefore be desirable in order to be able to practice winter sports independently of natural snowfall or to be able to carry out summer training for competitive athletes.
The article will present the results of two research projects:

First, a toboggan run is presented that consists of a polyethylene composite film. It is intended for ice sports training facilities and offers athletes there almost the same training conditions as on real ice. [1]

In addition, the development of a multifunctional, textile sliding surface is presented. It offers maximum driving comfort and can be easily installed on slopes with and without vegetation. There it can be used in a variety of ways, for example for cross-country skiing, snowboarding or tubing, creating an ecologically and economically sensible alternative to indoor ski halls, ski tunnels or snowmaking systems.

It would be unnecessarily time-consuming to test the tribological properties on the finished product. Preliminary tests and material screenings are therefore carried out using model tests, which require suitable testing technology. Specially developed friction and wear test benches are used for the projects presented, which are briefly presented in the contribution. [2]