Perfect Snow for the 2026 Winter Olympics

The organizing committee of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics announced that Kässbohrer Italia has been chosen as Official Supporter of the Olympic and Paralympic games.

Kässbohrer Italia is a subsidiary of Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG (Kässbohrer), a specialist in snow-grooming vehicles.

The CCO of Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG, Christof Peer, said: “It is a great honor to be Official Supporter of the Milan-Cortina 2026 winter olympics, and we will supply 40 Pistenbully snow groomers along with our experience in the preparation of ski slopes.” He added that the responsibility lies not only in delivering the best competition conditions for all athletes, but also to do so in the most sustainable way.

The CCO of Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG, Christof Peer; and the CEO of the Milano Cortina 2026 Foundation, Andrea Varnier.

“We are very happy to welcome Kässbohrer among the supporters of the organizing committee of the next Olympic and Paralympic games,” said Andrea Varnier, CEO of the Milano Cortina 2026 Foundation. “The addition of Kässbohrer to the team can be summarized with the word: reliability.”

The Kässbohrer range of Pistenbully snow groomers is well-known among ski enthusiasts and includes a hybrid-electric model – the Pistenbully 600 E+ - that features the combination of a Stage-5- compliant Cummins diesel engine which drives the generators, together with the drive motors as well as the hydraulic pumps by means of a splitter box, in uphill operation. The energy management system ensures that, in downhill operation, the electric motors function as generators and support the engine in driving the hydraulic pumps via the splitter box. This takes some of the burden off the engine, reducing fuel consumption significantly. The machine is also 20% less noisy on average.

Last year, MAN Engines announced it started equipping the PistenBully 800 snow groomer with its MAN D3876 engine. The in-line six-cylinder unit for Kässbohrer is a further development and adaptation of the existing D3876 to the extreme working environment of the Pistenbully 800.

According to MAN Engines, the D3876 for the PistenBully 800 has been modified for cold-start capability working on the combustion, and for use up to 2,500 m in altitude without power reduction and extreme lean angles (up to 45°) thanks to optimized oil pan and oil pump. The engine has a displacement of 15.3 L and delivers 450 kW power and 2,900 Nm torque.

The variable turbine geometry turbocharger optimizes the dynamic response in the off-road-specific speed ranges and delivers maximum power and torque over a wide speed range; this is especially handy on steep slopes and in changeable terrain where a constant thrust performance is ensured.

The engine features common rail injection system that operates at an injection pressure of 2,500 bar. The resulting optimum fuel atomization quality allows for significant savings in fuel consumption and corresponding reduction of CO2 emissions.

The MAN D3876 complies with EU Stage 5 emission regulations and is approved for operation with hydrogenated vegetable oil, according to the EN15940 standard. Customers can use it to replace conventional diesel fuel or even mix it.

At the time of the announcement, MAN Engines was mentioning also its concept for a pure hydrogen combustion engine for off-road applications: the MAN H4576.

The MAN H4576 hydrogen engine can replace the MAN D3876 diesel engine currently used in the Pistenbully 800 snow groomer.

The engine was exhibited at the Agritechnica show later in 2023 and is based on the MAN D3876 with the same installation dimensions, so that it can replace the diesel engine in the PistenBully 800 in due course; MAN Engines also commented that Kässbohrer considered the space for hydrogen tanks behind the cabin when designing the vehicle, which shows how the hydrogen version of the machine is actually a realizable concept.