Eisstadion Davos is an
indoor arena
An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...
in
Davos
, neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Bergün/Bravuogn, Klosters-Serneus, Langwies, S-chanf, Susch
, twintowns =
}
Davos (, ; or ; rm, ; archaic it, Tavate) is an Alpine resort town and a municipality in the Prättigau/Davos R ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. It is primarily used for
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
and is the home arena of
HC Davos
Hockey Club Davos is a professional Swiss ice hockey club based in Davos, Switzerland. Davos plays in the National League (NL). The team is usually a strong force in the league and often bolster their roster with Swiss national team players and ...
. It holds 7,080 people, of which 3,280 are seated. Every year the
Spengler Cup
The Spengler Cup is an annual invitational ice hockey tournament held in Davos, Switzerland. First held in 1923, the Spengler Cup is often cited as the oldest invitational ice hockey tournament in the world. The event is hosted by the Swiss tea ...
is played in this arena.
Major renovation of the arena started at the conclusion of the
2017-18 season to upgrade most of the stands and the concourse. The seating capacity will not be increased and the total cost should be around
CHF 27 million. Construction began in 2018 and is expected to be completed by 2021.
Speed skating
The open natural ice rink beside the arena, ''Eisstadion Davos'', was in the past (up until 1997) the venue for many international
speed skating
Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors racing, race each other in travelling a certain distance on Ice skate, skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marath ...
events and many speed skating world records have been broken here. It still continues to be used for Swiss Championships in speed skating. It is an outdoor, natural, ice rink (as opposed to ice rinks that are indoor and/or use artificial ice) and lies 1,560 metres (almost one mile) above sea level.
For the high velocities achieved in speed skating, high altitudes are favorable due to lower air drag, and since the ice conditions produced were also often very favorable, many World Records were set in Davos, beginning with
Peder Østlund
Peder Østlund (7 May 1872 – 22 January 1939) was a Norwegian speed skater.
Peder Østlund held the first position on the Adelskalender ranking during two periods, for a total of almost 10 years (3,644 days). He became World Allround Champion ...
who set four records in 1898. The arena also had a reputation for variable conditions, the sun or warm winds could play havoc with ice conditions throughout a championship.
Bandy
Bandy
Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...
has also been played at the Eisstadion. Apart from local games, the
1913 European Bandy Championships 1913 European Bandy Championships was the first, and so far the only, European Championship tournament in bandy. The competition was held in February 1913 in Saint-Moritz, Switzerland.
Background
Modern bandy originated in England and the first ...
was held at the site and a
four nation bandy tournament was held here in 2014.
Ice hockey
![Innenaufnahme Vaillant Arena Davos](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Innenaufnahme_Vaillant_Arena_Davos.JPG)
At the beginning of the 20th century HC Davos played home games at an outdoor ice rink. The first attempt to cover the ice rink came around 1970. Soon after work began on the wooden enclosure, the project was stopped because of a lack of funds.
In 1979 HC Davos, qualified for the Nationalliga A and a covered rink was necessary. Construction finished on the wooden structure, allowing the team to participate in the 1979/80 season. It was not until the 1981/82 season that the arena was then "closed" by glass panes.
In 1998 the west tribune was renovated and instead of a big standing area, a two-level section with plastic seats was built. At that time the arena could hold up to 7,680 people.
In summer 2005 a new, modern, tribune was built, which included the restaurant “Nordside”, VIP rooms, a sector for sponsors, and new changing rooms were built in the northern sector. Capacity was subsequently reduced by the new construction to 7,080 people. The renovations continued in 2006 with small investments in the security of the southern and eastern tribune and screens for advertising.
In January 2007 the indoor ice-hockey rink was renamed "Vaillant Arena" after the
Vaillant Group paid
CHF 3 million to help fund future renovations.
See also
*
List of indoor arenas in Switzerland
The following is a list of indoor arenas in Switzerland with a capacity of at least 1,000 spectators, most of the arenas in this list are for multi use proposes and are used for popular sports such as individual sports like karate, judo, boxing as ...
References
External links
{{Commons category, Vaillant Arena
Eisstadion Davos at SkateResults.com
Indoor arenas in Switzerland
Indoor ice hockey venues in Switzerland
Speed skating venues
Bandy venues
Sport in Davos
Buildings and structures in Graubünden
HC Davos
Spengler Cup
1979 establishments in Switzerland
Sports venues completed in 1979