U.S. alpiners to race New Zealand FIS series next week

The Australia New Zealand Cup alpine race series is poised to kick off at Australia’s Mt. Hotham next Monday.
    Two giant slalom and slalom races each will be carried out there for the women and men from Aug. 18-21. The 2008 ANC series will then continue in September in New Zealand, with Treble Cone hosting another weekend of technical races Sept. 4-6 and Mt. Hutt hosting the finals from Sept. 9-13 that will include super G and super combined events along with slalom and giant slalom competitions.
    A large group of technical racers from the U.S. men and women’s teams are currently training in New Zealand and are slated to race in FIS races at Coronet Peak starting Aug. 19. Two slalom and two GS races for both men and women are scheduled.
THE AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND CUP alpine race series is poised to kick off at Australia’s Mt. Hotham next Monday.
    Two giant slalom and slalom races each will be carried out there for the women and men from Aug. 18-21. The 2008 ANC series will then continue in September in New Zealand, with Treble Cone hosting another weekend of technical races Sept. 4-6 and Mt. Hutt hosting the finals from Sept. 9-13 that will include super G and super combined events along with slalom and giant slalom competitions.
    A large group of technical racers from the U.S. men and women’s teams are currently training in New Zealand and are slated to race in FIS races at Coronet Peak starting Aug. 19. Two slalom and two GS races for both men and women are scheduled.
    It is turning out to be the season of records in both Australia and New Zealand. Several of the leading resorts have received abundant snowfall by midwinter and are reporting good to excellent conditions. A few resort managers on the South Island of New Zealand are claiming the snow is as good as they have ever experienced thanks to some unusual precipitation patterns. The only caveats have been that the weather has been a bit too wild at times, especially in the north. In the central resorts in New Zealand, such as Mt. Hutt, the season has been excellent from the start and the conditions are set to continue that way. In Australia, more snow is expected to fall all week so conditions are likely to get even better. Falls Creek indicated that it has now exceeded its 20-year average for snowfall and the forecast is for more.
    As Mt. Hutt enjoys its best snow season in some 15 years, international teams are starting to arrive for their training camps. Racers such as overall 2007 World Cup overall champion Aksel Lund Svindal are set to arrive with the Norwegian team this week for two weeks of intense training at Australasia’s only speed training facility. The resort also is planning to host the Austrian men and womenand the Swiss women’s team during August and early September.