Snowfall forces cancellation of first Val d'Isere training run

By Published On: December 8th, 2005Comments Off on Snowfall forces cancellation of first Val d'Isere training run

Snowfall forces cancellation of first Val d’Isere training run{mosimage}The first training run for the Val d’Isere downhill, scheduled for Thursday morning, was cancelled due to heavy snowfall. The next and final training run is planned on Friday, and the World Cup race on Saturday.

‘It started snowing early this morning, heavily, and it’s I think still snowing’ said U.S. men’s head coach Phil McNichol. ‘They’re calling for it to clear up a bit for tomorrow, but there is concern of westerly winds, which could bring fog in.’

The men are in Val d’Isere for two races a downhill on Saturday and super combined on Sunday. Meanwhile the women’s World Cup is in Aspen, Colorado, for super G, giant slalom and slalom on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

If Friday’s training run is cancelled at Val d’Isere, the men will be unable to race the Saturday downhill, according to FIS rules.

On Wednesday night, FIS race director Guenter Hujara raised a possible solution to that problem. He said he would consider running a downhill training run on Saturday, and then having both races on Sunday.

The super combined format, which was introduced to the World Cup last season, consists of one short downhill and one run of slalom held on the same day.

Should weather force organizers to hold both races on Sunday, the downhill race results would be used as the downhill portion of the super combined.

Seven American skiers are in Val d’Isere for the World Cup races there: Daron Rahlves, Bode Miller, Justin Johnson, Steve Nyman, Marco Sullivan, Scott Macartney and Ted Ligety.

Four racers are expected to race the super combined on Sunday: Miller, Nyman, Ligety and Macartney.

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About the Author: Pete Rugh