Worlds: Women’s downhill shifted to Monday’s new schedule

After two hours of delays due to snowfall, the women’s downhill was postponed Sunday at the 2009 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Val d’Isere, France.  Organizers will shoot to the run the race Monday.
After two hours of delays due to snowfall, the women’s downhill was postponed today at the 2009 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Val d’Isere, France.  Organizers will shoot to the run the race tomorrow.

The race, which was originally slated to run at 1PM, was bumped back twice before organizers finally pulled the plug at 3PM after approximately five inches of new snow had collected on the hill . Racers, coaches, course workers and thousands of spectators got the disappointing news as they stood at the ready on a snowy Val d’Isere afternoon.

Though disappointed the racers stayed positive. “I was definitely prepared to race today, it was a bummer that we couldn’t get it off but I’m still positive that we can do it tomorrow, and I’m just really looking forward to the World Championship downhill,” said U.S. racer Lindsey Vonn, a favorite for tomorrow’s race.

Course workers labored into the night and early this morning to combat the snow, which had been falling steadily since late Saturday afternoon.

“It’s tough but hopefully the organizing committee will now continue to work all night on the track that they have, fix a couple spots that they need to, and we’ll get a race off tomorrow,” said U.S. women’s head coach Jim Tracy. “Now this is going to be a true test of nerves, a classic World Cup big event situation, and the one that’s got the toughest mind definitely is going to win.”

Tomorrow’s forecast calls for partly cloudy skies on what is expected to be a very full day of racing.

The new plan is as follows:
 
-10 a.m. Val d’Isere/4 a.m. ET – men’s super combined downhill – Bellevarde slope
– 1 p.m. Val d’Isere/7 a.m. ET – women’s downhill – Solaise slope
– 5 p.m. Val d’Isere/ 11 a.m. ET – men’s super combined slalom – Bellevarde slope, under the lights.

The ambitious schedule will take a Herculean effort from a race crew that has already been pushed to its breaking point.

“There was a hard enough surface beneath (the men’s track) and we could work it with machines,” said FIS race referee Gunter Hujara. While they were at it, they cleared all of the courses on the men’s side of the championship venue. But the pushing back of the slalom leg of the men’s combined to Monday evening will call for additional lighting and crews will attempt to install a light tower on the slope between runs with the use of a helicopter.

Hujara is also concerned about a high concentration of snow trapped behind the fencing up along the speed track and ordered coaches and all personnel to stay away from it. He said if it avalanches “there will be no way we can hold another race.”

With more snow and high winds forecast, Hujara said “Let us all cross our fingers.”

The women’s referee, Atle Skaardal said the postponement of the women’s downhill was the right decision, not so much for the snow as because of visibility. He said there was 25-30cm of fresh snow overnight for the race crews to deal with and “one turn was destroyed by machines,” when crews tried to move too fast.

“Remember today was not the first day (for the workers),” Skaardal said. “They have been working like hell for several days now, only for us to race.”

Use of machinery to clear the women’s training slopes also caused some concern for coaches. German coach Mathias Berthold said “training space was a problem anyway and we destroyed a course this morning.”

With a forecast that is “not the best,” according to Hujara, the organizers are facing a difficult task: three runs, including both a full women’s and shortened men’s downhill on Monday with a night slalom run to follow.

Check out video coverage on Universalsports.com.