South American Cup races kick off in Argentina

By Published On: August 2nd, 2007Comments Off on South American Cup races kick off in Argentina

he Southern Hemisphere alpine Continental Cup season is set to kick off next week.
THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
alpine Continental Cup season is set to kick off next week.
    For the first time, the South American Cup will kick off at Cerro Castor, Argentina, the southernmost ski area in the world, located in the ‘Tierra del Fuego' (Land of Fire) National Park. The competitions will begin with the women’s and men's giant slalom races on Aug. 7 and continue on Aug. 8 with slalom races of both genders. Cerro Castor is a new ski resort that is becoming more and more attractive for training camps for several traditional Alpine nations because of the low altitude of between only 195-1,057 meters above sea level. After the competitions in Cerro Castor, the SAC will continue at the traditional venue of Cerro Catedral, Argentina, on Aug. 21-22.
    At the end of August, the SAC will move to Chile, where speed races and a slalom competition will take place in La Parva and a giant slalom in El Colorado. The last stage of the SAC will be held in Termas de Chillan, Chile, where the first three races will be organized by the Brazilian Ski Association. From Sept. 8-14, the Chilean Ski Association will host the cup finals, including super combined races for the second time in the cup's history. Termas de Chillan, the famous winter sport resort in the Chilean Andes, will also be the host of the 2010 FIS Junior Alpine World Ski Championships. Last year, the SAC rankings were dominated by the siblings Cristian Javier and Maria Belen Simari Birkner of Argentina.
    South America is enjoying excellent snow conditions this year. Cerro Castor and Cerro Catedral in Argentina as well as El Colorado, La Parva and Termas de Chillan in Chile are all reporting at least a meter of snow in the mountains. Besides the South American Cup, the Australia/New Zealand Cup, another one of the five regional series in the Alpine Inter-Continental Cup program, which also includes European Cup, NorAm Cup and Far East Cup, is scheduled to start in late August in excellent snow conditions.
    “The Alpine Inter–Continental Cups play a very important role as a stepping stone into the FIS Alpine World Cup, and especially for the younger athletes, as an opportunity for them to gain valuable high-level competition experience,” said Oskar Fischer, chairman of the FIS Sub-Committee for Inter-Continental Cups. “Particularly, I'm happy that after the successful premier last year, super combined races for both genders are also included in this year's schedule of both Continental Cups in the Southern Hemisphere. With that, we create an additional motivation for the implementation of speed disciplines. We are looking forward to great COC series in the Southern Hemisphere and wish all athletes good luck! This year, it looks like both the SAC and the ANC series will enjoy great snow conditions, which promises especially good competitions and an exciting season.”

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