The season opening event for the FIS Freeski Slopestyle World Cup event scheduled for this weekend in Stubia, Austria has been canceled due to difficult weather conditions leading up to the competition. The announcement was made ahead of Wednesday night’s team captains meeting.
Heavy snowstorms last week combined with high avalanche danger kept the resort closed for two days over this past weekend which postponed course preparations. Knowing that high winds and another winter storm were set to hit the valley on Thursday evening, organizers pulled the plug on the event.
Ski operation on the glacier will not be affected and there is no word yet on a makeup event. Bummer.
HERE’S THE OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE FROM THE US SKI & SNOWBOARD TEAM:
The 2019-20 season-opener FIS Freeski Slopestyle World Cup event that was originally scheduled to go down this weekend in Stubai, Austria has been canceled. After much careful consideration, the Stubai organizing committee and the Austrian Ski Federation have made the decision to call off the event due to difficult weather conditions in the lead-up to the competition, and a very unfavorable forecast for the upcoming days.
Last week’s heavy snowstorm combined with high avalanche danger kept the resort closed for two days over this past weekend, causing major delays in course preparations, which in turn the postponement of Wednesday’s first training session.
Officials and organizers then reassessed all options for the competition ahead of Wednesday night’s team captain’s meeting. Unfortunately, with high winds and yet another winter storm set to hit the valley on Thursday evening, the reality of the situation at the FIS Freeski Slopestyle World Cup event in Stubai, Austria made itself clear – the opening of the 2019-20 slopestyle World Cup would not be happening this weekend.
“For Friday and Saturday the prognosis looks extremely unfavorable, especially in terms of wind, with another heavy snowstorm predicted to roll in on Thursday evening. We always strive to deliver an event in safe and fair conditions and due to this forecast we believe this is not achievable this time. This led to the decision to cancel the event.” –Erich Flatscher, Head of the Organising Committee
With Mother Nature having her way in round one, we now look forward to the next events on the 2019-20 FIS Freeski calendar, with the Copper Mountain, Colo. Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix Halfpipe World Cup from Dec. 11-13, and the Beijing, China Air + Style Big Air World Cup going down from Dec. 12-14. The next event on the slopestyle World Cup calendar will be the Font Romeu, France competition, taking place from Jan. 9-11, 2020.
image from usskiteam TWITTER & stubaiworldcup IG