Lake Louise to host women’s downhill opener after hot weather wiped out Swiss leg

The start of the Alpine Skiing World Cup downhill season returns to Lake Louise, Alta., with the cancellation of European races in Zermatt-Cervinia.

Tuesday’s cancellation of women’s cross-border races scheduled for November 5-6 follows the cancellation of men’s downhill races scheduled for Friday-Sunday at the same venue due to « fairly warm for the season » conditions, organizers in Switzerland said. and in Italy.

The next downhill races on the schedule are the men’s Nov. 25-27 and the women’s Dec. 2-4 at Lake Louise, which was the traditional opener of the sprint season.

The first cross-border downhills with the start point in Zermatt, Switzerland, and the finish line in Cervinia, Italy, were on a slope destined to make its World Cup debut this season.

But organizers reported heavy rain at altitudes above 3,000 meters and dangerously soft snow on the lower part of the course.

« Nature must be respected and accepted, » said the chairman of the organizing committee, Franz Julen.

The first men’s World Cup in Lake Louise last year went from a three-race weekend to a one-race weekend.

Heavy, wet snow forced the cancellation of one of the two runs as well as a super-G.