OLYMPICS, ALPINE SKIING. WHISTLER CREEKSIDE (Feb. 16) - Due to heavy snowfall throughout the night and soft snow conditions on the lower part of the Dave Murray downhill, the men's super combined scheduled for Tuesday has been postponed. No decisions on a possible reschedule has yet been made. The next Team Captain's meeting is set for 6 p.m. this afternoon.

The ladies second downhill training run was also cancelled. However, tomorrow's ladies downhill event can go ahead as planned since women completed an official downhill training run on Monday. Only one completed run by all competitors is required in order to start a race.

FISalpine.com
Tuesday 16 February 2010

Ski chiefs calm despite Olympic weather storm

Whistler (AFP) - International Ski Federation (FIS) officials insisted Tuesday they are unfazed by weather postponements that are set to force the rescheduling of Olympic ski events this week and next.

After several days of disruption due to adverse weather, mostly heavy snowfall on the men's and women's runs, the men's super-combined was postponed on Tuesday.

It is the third time a race has been pushed back. Saturday's opening downhill for the men was finally held Monday, while Sunday's super-combined for the women will be run Thursday.

FIS officials anticipated Tuesday's postponement and said they would now ask Olympic chiefs if they can run the men's super-combined on Friday, thus moving the super-G, which is planned for that day, to Sunday when the giant slalom is scheduled.

The giant slalom would then be run on February 23, a day on which no races are currently scheduled.

The good news is that forecasters say there is a "ridge of high pressure that should assure perfect racing conditions for the next seven days or more" as of Wednesday.

And compared to the huge challenges posed by weather conditions, and an earthquake, at the Nagano Games in 1998, the situation in Whistler is small fry.

The FIS regularly re-schedules events, and have been adapting to changing weather patterns for years.

FIS Director of Races Guenter Hujara blames the warm weather front over Vancouver on 'El Nino', a climate phenomenon that occurs in the Pacific Ocean but which can have devastating effects around the world.

But having overseen hundreds of races worldwide Hujara said the recent heavy snowfall and mild temperatures was something the FIS had been expecting.

"I have been in Mallorca (Spain) with the world ski championships with difficult conditions, we've been in Nagano (Olympics) with very extreme conditions, and we've worked in Are (Sweden), where at the start of the world championships (in 2007) we had tough conditions," he told AFP.

"And there have been many World Cup events where you have exceptional conditions. And now here. But this is not something that frustrates us. We have been expecting things like this to happen.

"We have a fantastic environment here and three years ago at the (pre-Olympics) test event we had excellent conditions in spring with clear skies and everything worked fine.

"This year we have one weather pattern all over the world which is the work of 'El Nino'. If there was someone who could take a magic wand and get rid of this then we would have excellent conditions here.

"But we're working with this, it's a challenge, but it's nothing that will frustrate us."

Hujara said Monday he had already drawn up a proposal for Olympic chiefs to amend the racing programme.

A statement issued by the FIS early Tuesday confirmed his fears over the weather.

"Due to heavy snowfall throughout the night and soft conditions on the lower track today's men's super-combined has been postponed," said the FIS.

Women's downhill training was also cancelled.

International ski events at the world championships and Olympic Games are deliberately spaced out to accommodate postponements.

However, the changes could force skiers who planned to return home after the first week's speed and super-combined events to now change accommodation and travel arrangements.

jd/mp
VANOC
Feb 16, 2010