Dr. Fabian Wolfsperger

Function

Technical staff member

Snow and Atmosphere

Snow Physics

Contact

wolfsperger(at)slfto make life hard for spam bots.ch

+41 81 417 01 05+41 81 417 01 05

WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF
Flüelastrasse 11
7260 Davos Dorf

Site

Davos Da B 1 13

vibration analysis at SLF ski lab

Research Interests	Applied snow science & Sports engineering Snow - X- Interaction: from snow friction to snow sport injuries Physics and praxis of snow making, grooming and snow farming Development of snow measurement devices

Professional experience - Projects
2009 - 2018 Scientific staff member Group Industrial Projects & Snow Sports at SLF	Investigating the role of snow conditions for injuries in snow parks Lead of the SLF Snow Sports Lab Lecturer SSWS 2020: Winter sports in a changing climate Attendance at the Olympic Games as snow temperature forecaster Guest Lecturer at ETH Zürich, CMAS Lab: Ski testing and simulation Development of a "zero-energy" snow gun Snow-How transfer: Handbook of slope preparation and grooming Scientific / technical support of the swiss national xc-team Investigating the role of snow conditions for injuries of ski racers Mechanical properties of race snowboards and binding plates Consulting: Snow making potential, snow farming planning and monitoring
2008 Trainee HEAD Sport AG (A), R&D Racquet Sports	Measurements of mechanical properties of racquets and strings
2006-2008 Student assistant TU Darmstadt & Uni Magdeburg (GER)	Biomechanics of rhythmic gymnastics Engineering of sport equipment (CAD)
2006 Trainee Radlabor GmbH, Freiburg (GER)	Performance analysis in cycle racing

Academic Education
since 2018 KIT / SLF / Rossignol	PhD: The interdependence of snow mechanics and lubrication at the frictional contact of polymers on snow
2004 - 2009 University of Magdeburg	Sports Engineering (Dipl. -Sporting.), University Magdeburg Focus: Materials & Product Development Development & evaluation of a novel snowboard release binding Vibration analysis of tennis racquets Development of a novel roller ski implementing a more xc-ski like ground-ski interaction microscopy analysis of fibre compounds of tennis racquets development of an interactive device to quantify anticipation of karateka
2001 -2003 TU Hamburg	Business Engineering, TU Hamburg

FURTHER INFORMATION

Projects

Pyeongchang

SLF is supporting Swiss athletes and their support teams in Pyeongchang with exclusive snow and weather forecasts.

Inspiriert vom mechanischen Verhalten des Schildkrötenpanzer wurde ein Ski entwickelt, dessen Steifigkeit bei grösserere Beanspruchung zunimmt. Bei der Entwicklung wurden FE-Simulationen, Labormessungen und Fahrttests eingesetzt.

Water loss and artificial snowmaking

The SLF is examining how much of the water ejected by snow lances is not transformed into snow on the ground.

Energy and Resources Use in Mountain Destinations

The project is dealing with an optimization of the consumption of energy and water resources in alpine ski resorts. To do so we perform a detailed analysis and modelling of snowmaking processes and water balances of ski resorts.

Nessy Zero E

Based on the project NESSy in which a new and energy efficient snow lance was developed, the following project pursues the development of a zero energy snow lance that takes the all the required energy completely from the surrounding.

Show all

Publications WSL

Scientific publication article peer reviewed

Wolfsperger, F.; Meyer, F.; Gilgien, M., 2021: Towards more valid simulations of slopestyle and big air jumps: aerodynamics during in-run and flight phase. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 24, 10: 1082-1087. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2021.05.005

Wolfsperger, F.; Meyer, F.; Gilgien, M., 2021: The snow-friction of freestyle skis and snowboards predicted from snow physical quantities. Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering, 7: 728722 (18 pp.). doi: 10.3389/fmech.2021.728722

Grünewald, T.; Wolfsperger, F., 2019: Water losses during technical snow production: results from field experiments. Frontiers in Earth Science, 7: 78 (13 pp.). doi: 10.3389/feart.2019.00078

Grünewald, T.; Wolfsperger, F.; Lehning, M., 2018: Snow farming: Conserving snow over the summer season. Cryosphere, 12, 1: 385-400. doi: 10.5194/tc-12-385-2018

Wolfsperger, F.; Szabo, D.; Rhyner, H., 2016: Development of alpine skis using FE simulations. In: 2016: Conference proceedings the engineering of sports 11.. 11th conference of the International Sports Engineering Association, ISEA 2016, Delft, Netherlands, Juni 11-14, 2016. 366-371. doi: 10.1016/j.proeng.2016.06.314

Show all

Further scientific publications

Wolfsperger, F.; Rhyner, H.; Schneebeli, M., 2022: Pistenpräparation und Pistenpflege. Das Handbuch für den Praktiker. Auszug für Seilbahnen Schweiz. 114 p.

Wolfsperger, F.; Rhyner, H., 2021: Schnee - das ungewöhnliche Material. Ski & Berge Wissen, 18-27.

Wolfsperger, F.; Szabo, D.; Rhyner, H., 2020: How to glide well on wet snow? Can roughness and hydrophobicity lower friction of polymers on snow?. Gliding, 6-14.

Slope preparation and grooming. A handbook for practitioners

E-Shop Order

Pistenpräparation und Pistenpflege. Das Handbuch für den Praktiker

Das 2018 neu aufgelegte Buch bietet Profis in der Pistenpräparation und im Schnee- und Skimanagement Informationen zum Nachschlagen, ist aber auch für den interessierten Laien ein flüssiger und gut verständlicher Lesetext und lässt sich als Ausbildungsgrundlage und Lehrtext gut einsetzen.

Bestellung

Show all