Green light for Sölden World Cup openers with positive snow control

Despite unseasonably warm temperatures throughout Europe in recent weeks, the organisers of the opening Audi FIS Ski World Cup races in Sölden, Austria, were able to confirm the event as scheduled following a positive snow control this morning.

FIS Race Director Markus Mayr, LOC Course Director Isidor Grüner, and LOC Race Director Rainer Gstrein confirmed that the progress on the Rettenbach, while challenging due to present weather conditions, is on track to kick off the 2018/19 World Cup season at the end of next week.

"We can give the green light for the snow control," noted Mayr, who indicated that there is enough coverage on the slope to confirm the races at this time. However, the track must still be prepared to World Cup standards which will depend, to some extent, on the weather in the coming days "There is still a lot of work to do before the race day on Saturday, but Sölden has a strong team," Mayr added.

Rupert Steger of Austrian Ski Association Event Marketing applauded the organisers: "Firstly, it has to be said that what the Bergbahnen Sölden and organising committee managers have done here is sensational. Considering the difficult circumstances, these are really good conditions. The basic preparation of the race track is complete, and now it's the fine tuning. Together with the experienced team, we will be able to fix this and look forward to an excellent race weekend."

The ladies' giant slalom will take place on Saturday 27th October 2018 with run times at 10:00 and 13:00 CET. The men's giant slalom will follow on Sunday 28th October 2018 with run times also at 10:00 and 13:00 CET.