La Plagne WC moguls event canceled

International Ski Federation officials canceled the World Cup dual moguls event scheduled for Dec. 20 in La Plagne, France, on Wednesday, citing mild temperatures and a lack of snowmaking capability. Officials will work to reschedule the event for later in the season.

INTERNATIONAL SKI FEDERATION OFFICIALS canceled the World Cup dual moguls event scheduled for Dec. 20 in La Plagne, France, on Wednesday, citing mild temperatures and a lack of snowmaking capability. Officials will work to reschedule the event for later in the season.
    The World Cup moguls tour has yet to kick off this season, as the scheduled opener Dec. 14 in Tignes, France, also was canceled due to warm weather. U.S. head moguls coach Scott Rawles said now he and the entire moguls team will head to Park City, Utah, on Thursday to begin training for the U.S. Selection Events. The competition begins Friday and runs all next week in and around Park City. 
    “It’s been a little bit of a crazy week,” Rawles said late Tuesday night. “I mean, last Friday it seemed like La Plagne was no way. … But this is pretty typical of [the weather] over there. We should be used to it at this point, but it’s always a little bit of a pain.”
    Rawles said none of his A or B team athletes will compete in the selection events, but they will forerun courses and get in some training to stay sharp for the next World Cup stop, scheduled for Jan. 6-7 at Canada’s Mont Gabriel.
      “[The C teamers] will ski at selections and duke it out with everybody else for North American starts,” Rawles said. “… They are all ready [to compete], and everybody else is chomping at the bit, too.”
    Rawles was eager to see how his skiers stacked up against the world’s best in competition after what he called an “excellent” fall camp at Winter Park, Colorado. Some skiers spent as many as 14 days on snow fine-tuning their aerial maneuvers and skiing moguls at race speed.
    “Everyone was skiing really well, a lot of good stuff went on,” he said. “We had really good conditions when we were there. Good course, tough course. But I’m ready to get ’em in the gate, see where we’re at.”
    Four C team athletes — Heather McPhie, Tim Preston, Landon Gardner and Mike Morse — had been selected by Rawles and his staff to compete in Tignes and possible La Plagne along with members of the World Cup squad, which includes world champions Nate Roberts and Hannah Kearney.
    Now the focus for the C teamers shifts to the selection events, which are used to solidify starting spots in North American events. Selection event winners also generally earn a start in the next World Cup competition.