The Ski Mountaineering Sprint is a high-intensity discipline organized by the International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF). The race features steep uphill climbs, obstacle sections, and rapid downhill skiing—all packed into a short, explosive format. As one of the newest Olympic sports, the Sprint pushes athletes to their limits and presents unique challenges for live production teams, especially in the rugged Alpine terrain of events like the Courchevel edition.
Obsess Media, an outside broadcast agency based in La Plagne in the French Alps, specializes in producing, directing, and crafting compelling visual stories for outdoor and mountain-based events. Since 2005, they have built a reputation for delivering innovative and immersive live coverage in remote environments. For the Courchevel Sprint, Obsess Media captured the intensity of the race with a creative, multi-camera approach—bringing viewers closer to the action and the dramatic alpine setting in real time.
Haivision and Obsess Media co-developed a highly agile live production workflow using a mix of mobile and fixed solutions, including:
While MoJoPro-enabled smartphones wirelessly transmitted footage over the public 5G network—capturing dynamic shots from all-terrain vehicles—PTZ and broadcast cameras provided fixed-location coverage of key obstacle zones and finish lines via a fiber infrastructure. Meanwhile, drones delivered sweeping aerial views of the course.
As Jean-Marc Racine, Chief Product Officer at Haivision, explained, “Because of the nature of alpine sports like ski mountaineering, it’s important to get up close and personal with the athletes and provide engaging camera viewpoints that help audiences get a better appreciation for what the athletes are experiencing. This is exactly what our partner Obsess Media were focusing on. By using MoJoPro smartphones, broadcast, drone, and PTZ cameras, and a mix of connectivity, they were able to produce the event in a cost-effective way that didn’t sacrifice quality while bringing the action closer to the viewers.”
The production delivered a broadcast-quality live stream from a very challenging sporting environment. By combining mobile 5G transmission with fiber-connected infrastructure, the setup achieved both mobility and stability. This approach allowed for a complete live production from the mountain to the audience—without disrupting the athletes or compromising the authenticity of the event. The coverage successfully showcased the intensity of the competition and demonstrated a new approach to mountain-based sports broadcasting.
