Warm weather forces cancellation in Wengen

Keystone

Rain and warm temperatures have forced organisers to scrap a men's World Cup super-combination ski race in the Bernese resort of Wengen on Friday.

Officials strictly prohibited anyone from accessing the course, which was used for one training run yesterday ahead of Saturday’s planned downhill event on the famous Lauberhorn.

Warm weather and rain had already damaged the course earlier in the week. Temperatures dropped briefly on Thursday, allowing organizers to stage a downhill training session but conditions deteriorated again overnight.

Switzerland’s Didier Cuche posted the fastest time in the training session, ahead of teammate Ambrosi Hoffman and Liechtenstein’s Marco Büchel.

Ninety-nine skiers raced down the frail surface. While the course was icy and bumpy in many places, on other parts it was still soft.

The downhill is scheduled for Saturday and a slalom on Sunday. A super-combination event consists of a downhill run and a slalom leg on the same day, with the combined times deciding the winner.

Demanding

The Lauberhorn is the longest downhill course on the World Cup circuit making repairs particularly difficult. At 4.5 kilometres, the race is one of the most physically demanding slopes.

The race, which celebrates its 77th anniversary this year, is one of five “classic” events that also include Val d’Isère in France, Kitzbühel in Austria, Garmisch-Partenkirchen in German, and Val Gardena in Italy.

Its status has allowed the race organisers to preserve old-fashioned features such as the “Hundschopf” (Dog rock), a 40-metre jump after a sharp turn where skiers land within a three-metre wide corridor between two rock faces, and the “Wasserstation” (Water station) tunnel where skiers duck under the Jungfrau region’s famed cog railway.

There was no word as to whether Friday’s races would be rescheduled at another time. A lack of snow forced the International Ski Federation to move men’s races from Chamonix next week to another French resort, Val d’ Isère.

swissinfo with agencies

Key facts

More than 20,000 spectators usually attend the Lauberhorn races in the Bernese resort of Wengen.
The event brings an annual revenue of SFr9 million ($7.2 million) to the region.
Bruno Kernen is the last Swiss skier to have won the Lauberhorn downhill in 2003.