Alpine skiing: in the midst of controversy, another World Cup race canceled in Zermatt-Cervinia

2023-11-18 17:03:04

And seven! After four races canceled last year and two more a week ago, the first women’s downhill of the Alpine Ski World Cup also fell through this Saturday in Zermatt-Cervinia. “Due to the strong wind and the unfavorable forecast for the day, the jury decided to cancel today’s descent,” the International Ski Federation said on Saturday. No decision has been made for the second descent still scheduled for Sunday, but this umpteenth cancellation further compromises the future of this race, announced with great fanfare at the start of 2022 but which has never taken place since.

The inauguration of the “Gran Becca”, the first cross-border race in the history of the World Cup supposed to open the speed season, has been colliding head-on for two years with the realities of a glacier that is difficult to tame at this time. of the year and at more than 3,500 m altitude. Last year, it was the lack of snow at the bottom of the route which forced the organizers to cancel the four races on the program (2 men’s downhills and 2 women’s downhills).

This year, the races were postponed by two weeks to give the cold time to settle in, but it was the wind and snow that got the better of the men’s events scheduled for last weekend and the first women’s downhill. this Saturday, bringing to seven the races canceled in as many attempts. “In the end, nature wins,” French downhiller Blaise Giezendanner summed up on Instagram on Thursday, at a time when criticism is multiplying regarding the viability of this stage and the necessary adaptation of the competition calendar.

“Too dangerous for a race”

To avoid another white weekend, the organizers delayed their decision until the end on Saturday, first postponing the start by 45 minutes before deciding around 10:30 a.m. to simply cancel the race. The lights were not green anyway: only one of the three official training sessions before the race had taken place and no one really believed in a miracle.

“We knew that the situation would be critical with unpromising forecasts,” Peter Gerdol, head of women’s races at the FIS, explained at a press conference on Saturday afternoon. We postponed the departure to try to save time but it was really impossible. It was too dangerous for a race,” where skiers must descend at full speed three kilometers of slope and nearly 700 m of altitude difference.

There remains one last chance for the organizers to save the furniture this Sunday, with a second descent still on the program despite the weather forecast which does not seem much better. “We will see what the situation is. We hope there can be a race,” hopes Peter Gerdol.