Weather Cancels Season Opener For Freeski Slopestyle World Cup In Austria
For those planning on taking in the season-opening event for FIS Freeski Slopestyle World Cup this weekend, you might be a tad disappointed. After much thought, the Stubai organizing committee and the Austrian Ski Federation have decided to cancel the event due to unfavorable weather conditions.
A heavy snowstorm that rolled through Stubai, Austria this past week kept the resort closed due to high avalanche danger, which caused major delays in course preparation and the postponement of this past Wednesday's first training session.
All those involved with making the choice to hold or cancel the event continued to reassess all options up to the team captain's meeting, also this past Wednesday night. However, with high winds and another winter storm set to roll through the area, the choice was made to cancel the event.
“For Friday and Saturday the prognosis look extremely unfavourable, especially in terms of wind, with another heavy snow storm predicted to roll in on Thursday evening,” commented Erich Flatscher, Head of the Organising Committee, “We always strive to deliver an event in safe and fair conditions and due to this forecast we believe this is not achievable this time. This led to the decision to cancel the event.”
This was a disappointing decision for everyone, from the athletes and teams that were in Austria to compete, to the fans that were on hand to witness the season opener for the Slopestyle World Cup and those looking to watch from home. However, with conditions such as these, a fair, and more importantly, safe competition was not possible.
The next FIS Freeski events set to happen for the 2019/2020 season are the Copper Mountain Land Rover US Grand Prix Halfpipe World Cup from December 11-13, and the Beijing Ait + Style Big Air World Cup from December 12-14. Slopestyle will have its day, but not until the Font Romeu competition, taking place on January 9-11 of the coming year.
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