Decidedly, the Alpine Skiing World Cup is struggling to start.
After the cancellations of the women's giant slalom in Sölden (Austria) and the four descents (two men and two women) planned in Zermatt / Cervinia (Switzerland / Italy), the organizers have canceled new races.
In a press release published this Saturday, the Austrian Ski Federation (ÖSV) announced the cancellation of the women's and men's parallel slaloms initially scheduled for November 12 and 13 in Lech-Zürs (Austria) due to weather conditions and forecasts.
“The snowfall and cold temperatures over the past few days have brought optimism, unfortunately they were only short-lived.
In addition, for the next few days and the race weekend, the temperatures will rise again,” explained the Austrian Federation.
Sixth and seventh races canceled this season
Due to the safety and fairness of the racing conditions, the organizers preferred to forego the women's parallel slalom and the men's parallel slalom.
The decision was taken on Sunday, after the traditional “snow check”, in the station in western Austria located at 1500 m altitude.
These are the sixth and seventh races canceled since the start of the season by the organizers.
Only a men's giant slalom went normally, in Sölden, two weeks ago.
The choice of the new stages of the World Cup at the end of October, in very limited snow conditions, had already caused some skiers to react, such as Johan Clarey: “I think the race has no place.
This stage requires enormous resources in a helicopter, human resources to plug the crevices, to make a track drinkable.
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These multiple cancellations highlight the fragility of a sport and question its future in the context of global warming.