Americans train in “the Icebox†as Germany and Canada announce Soelden rosters
Americans train in ‘the Icebox’ as Germany and Canada announce Soelden rostersThe U.S. Ski Team’s top giant slalom skiers trained Wednesday at Soelden, Austria, where the alpine World Cup season is set to begin this weekend with a pair of races on the Rettenbach glacier.
The men’s and women’s squads ran gates on ‘the Icebox’ a section of the mountain that is cast in seemingly perpetual shade.
Over on the race hill, crews were chopping up the snow and spraying it with water from a hose, hardening it for the upcoming races. A snowstorm is expected to move in to the area on Thursday, and could linger until Friday.
Other national teams are training at other Austrian glaciers, such as Pitztal and Stubai. Most will have arrived in Soelden by Thursday.
The women will race the first of their season’s 37 World Cup races on Saturday, and the men will follow on Sunday (they race 39 races this season).
More teams announce Soelden rosters
GERMANY (women)
Anja Blieninger
Martina Ertl-Renz
Annemarie Gerg
Kathrin Hoelzl
Maria Riesch
GERMANY (men)
Felix Neureuter
CANADA (women)
Geneviève Simard
Allison Forsyth
Britt Janyk
Sophie Splawinski
Brigitte Acton
Emily Brydon
Shona Rubens
Kelly Vanderbeek
CANADA (men)
Thomas Grandi
Ryan Semple
François Bourque
Brad Spence
Julien Cousineau
John Kucera