ALPINE SKI WORLD CUP. SESTRIERE, Italy – Mother Nature is insisting on having the last word in Sestriere this World Cup weekend. After several more centimeters of snow fell overnight into Sunday, officials canceled all World Cup races in the Italian resort.

The fog set in on Friday, leading to the cancelation of the second women’s downhill training run. About 15 centimeters of snow fell into Saturday as the thick fog remained, so after clearing the racecourse and waiting all day to see if the fog would clear, officials finally canceled the downhill race and rescheduled it for Sunday, moving the super-combined to Monday.

But Sestriere awoke to heavy snowfall Sunday morning as thick flakes continued to fall amid the dense fog. The forecast indicated that the heavy snow and fog would continue through Tuesday morning, so officials canceled the races altogether.

“On some parts of the course, it’s 20 or 30 centimeters, others it’s five or 10. It is a lot of snow and it is still snowing heavily,” said FIS race director Atle Skaardal. “Visibility is zero. This weather is going to continue through Monday. There is just no chance.”

After the cancelation of the Maribor giant slalom and slalom races due to warm weather, the women’s World Cup tour now has four holes of missed races, none of which will be rescheduled before the 2011 world championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which kick off 8 Feb. While officials will do their best to find future times and venues for the races, Skaardal said it is unlikely that all races will be rescheduled.

“For sure we’re going to miss some races this season,” Skaardal said. “We have to prioritize the next organizers and the next races and be very careful with an already packed race calendar for the rest of the season.”

The women’s World Cup moves to Germany now with giant slalom and slalom scheduled Friday and Saturday in Arber-Zwiesel.

FISalpine.com
Sunday 30 January 2011