Adelboden GS canceled due to persistent fog

By Published On: January 9th, 2016Comments Off on Adelboden GS canceled due to persistent fog

The Adelboden Organizing Committee (OC) put up an amazing fight, but in the end Mother Nature won the battle as Saturday’s Audi FIS World Cup men’s giant slalom had to be canceled due to dense fog and inclement weather conditions in Switzerland.

From the initial snow control on Jan. 2, the Adelboden team worked non-stop to ensure the Chuenisbaergli course was ready for the weekend of races. They transported snow by truck to make up for the warm temperatures and worked around the clock to ensure the conditions were optimal.

Unfortunately, a steady drizzle arrived on Friday afternoon and continued through the night. That alone wasn’t enough to completely dampen the chances of holding the race as the course was holding up well. But the racers woke up to a heavy fog. After the jury inspection concluded at 9:30 a.m., it was clear that there would be no chance for the giant slalom race.

“Today at 6:00, everything looked like we could race,” said OC President Peter Willen. “But when the fog came in it created conditions that made it impossible for us to stage the race.”

“The OC did everything they could to make sure everything was prepared. Yesterday  everything was ready and looked good,” added FIS Race Director Markus Waldner. “Even early this morning it looked like we could race. But the fog put too much moisture in the air and created some problem points on the course, not to mention the poor visibility. With the combination, we could not guarantee good enough racing conditions for our athletes and we had to make the very difficult decision to cancel the race.”

Tomorrow the program will proceed as planned with a slalom race at 10:30 a.m. and 13:30 p.m. CET.

“We will go for it tomorrow,” said Waldner. “For sure, it will not be easy as the forecast is much the same, but we will give it a try and hope for the best.”

Meanwhile, FIS Race Director Hannes Trinkl confirmed the Hahnenkamm races in Kitzbuehel, Austria, scheduled for Jan. 19-24 during the FIS snow control on Friday.

Trinkl was on the Streif in the morning with HKR Race Director Axel Naglich, OC Chief Michael Huber and Streif Chief of Course Herbert Hauser to inspect the course with a fine-tooth comb. The responsible parties also cast an eye over the super G hill. The course inspection was followed by a test run down the Ganslernhang, where Slalom Chief of Course Stefan Lindner joined the group.

The decision as to whether the race will be held on the original Streif course on Hausberg or down the Hinterganslern will be made closer to race time. “It may well be that one training is held on the substitute track and the next on the original course,” said Naglich.

According to weather forecasts, temperatures will drop in the coming week. Together with the cable car operators, the course crew is prepared for the cold nights.

“We look forward to the Hahnenkamm race week,” said Huber at the press conference following the inspection. “Twenty-nine different nations have registered to compete so far!”

Release courtesy of FIS

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