Method and mixture for producing an artificial skiing track

DETAILED DESCRIPTION What is claimed is: 1.
In a method for producing an artificial track for skiing in all seasons, the step consisting of covering the ground area which is to form the track with a layer of an admixture of 85% quartz, 10% feldspar and 5% kaolin having a granular size ranging between 0.
05 and 0.
1 mm, said layer being completely impregnated and wetted with about 5 liters of water per 100 kilograms of admixture.
2.
A method as claimed in claim 1, in which the finely crushed mixture of solid products further comprises up to 5% by weight of mica.




Description:
It is a well-known fact that the skiing tracks speedily become bare here and there, even when good skiing snow conditions prevail.
On the other hand, at the beginning and at the end of the season, it is often necessary for the skiers to travel over areas entirely devoid of snow, chiefly over routes which are subjected to a large amount of sunshine.
Ski-lifts and the like mechanical elevators cannot generally be used at the beginning and at the end of the season by reason of a lack of snow adjacent the lower end of their course, even if the snow conditions in the areas served by such elevators are excellent.
On the other hand, public favor for winter sports has led to the necessity of providing good skiiing tracks in all seasons.
Gravel mixtures comprising about 78% of quartz gravel, such as obtained from river beds, and about 22% of less hard material such as heavy spar (barite, Ba SO.
sub.
4) which has better gliding properties than quartz are already known as snow substitutes for summer skiing on mountain slopes.
Such known gravel mixtures are generally coated with lubricating oil to further improve their gliding properties.
It has now been found that felspar, an aluminum and potassium silicate (KAl Si.
sub.
3 O.
sub.
8), has far better gliding properties than heavy spar (Ba SO.
sub.
4).
Such gliding properties of felspar are further improved by merely wetting it with water.
Thus, it is no longer necessary to coat a gravel mixture comprising up to 25% of felspar with lubricating oil, to improve its gliding properties