Ski Cross double up World Cup events

Courtesy www.owia.org

The Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup, originally scheduled for 21 January in Megeve, France has been cancelled due to weather conditions and brought forward by one week to occur earlier in Watles, Italy, which already had a World Cup scheduled on January 15.

Essentially, competitors will compete in two World Cups over two days with one qualification for both events on Friday, January 13.

With OWIA skier Anton Grimus out with a minor injury, carrying the baton for Australia is Samantha Kennedy-Sim who will be looking to better her fourth place World Cup finish in Arosa, Switzerland in mid-December.  

“I am really looking forward to the double event in Italy next week and continuing to build on December's events,” Sami said today.

“I fly from Sydney this afternoon back to Europe after a 10-day summer break and can't wait to get back on my skis.”

The decision by FIS to combine the two January World Cups was made following low snow accumulation in Megeve.

“With less-than-ideal snow conditions plaguing much of the Alps it seemed only a matter of time before one of the stops on the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup would be affected, and today we found that to be the case with the cancellation of the Megeve (FRA) competition originally scheduled for January 22, 2017,” the FIS press release stated.  

“Strong cooperation from the Italian Ski Federation (FISI) and the Sud Tirolian resort of Watles has ensured that the hole in the schedule left by the Megeve cancellation has already been filled, as Watles will add a second race to its upcoming competition program, with back-to-back races slated for January 14 and 15 after qualifications on the 13th.”

This is the second season in a row that Watles has been asked to add a race to its competition program, and for the second straight season Watles has been able to step and do so, after a similarly bad snow situation forced the cancellation of a race planned for La Plagne (FRA) last year. 

The revised Ski Cross World Cup schedule for January will be as follows;

Friday, 13.01.2017: Qualifications for both competitions
Saturday, 14.01.2017: 1st competition - CET 11:00 (replacement for Megève)
Sunday, 15.01.2017: 2nd competition - CET 11:00 (as originally planned)