Panorama, Whistler gain 2007 alpine World Cups

The International Ski Federation has officially awarded Canada two additional World Cup events after confirming the World Cup calendar for the 2007-08 season after a series of meetings by the FIS Council in Oberhofen, Switzerland, last weekend.
    Panorama Mountain Village and Whistler Ski Resort will join Lake Louise next season as hosts of World Cup races as FIS triples the number of alpine race sites in Canada heading into the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

THE INTERNATIONAL SKI FEDERATION has officially awarded Canada two additional World Cup events after confirming the World Cup calendar for the 2007-08 season after a series of meetings by the FIS Council in Oberhofen, Switzerland, last weekend.
    Panorama Mountain Village and Whistler Ski Resort will join Lake Louise next season as hosts of World Cup races as FIS triples the number of alpine race sites in Canada heading into the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
    “This is tremendously positive because competing in a World Cup race on home soil will energize the technical team,” said Dusan Grasic, Canadian Alpine Ski Team director. “We have had excellent training in Panorama for the past five years. We know the course very well. Our athletes are used to the snow conditions, which will also provide us with a huge advantage over our competitors.”
    Lake Louise remains a popular annual World Cup speed event, with its traditional downhill and super G. The Winterstart Lake Louise World Cup will be held in 2007 on Nov. 24-25 for men and Dec. 1-2 for women. Lake Louise has a lengthy tradition in ski racing, having hosted World Cup races since 1989.
    The Panorama event will showcase women’s giant slalom and slalom races. These technical events will allow Canada’s women’s technical team to race a World Cup in their home country for the first time since 1986, when a women’s slalom was held in Bromont, Quebec.
    The last World Cup race in Panorama was March 15, 1992, when France’s Carole Merle won a super G.
    Whistler, B.C., will host the men’s super G and giant slalom as well as the women’s downhill and super combined. It will be the first major test of the women’s Olympic downhill course, also the site for the Paralympic alpine skiing events. The last World Cup race in Whistler was a super G on Feb. 26, 1996.