Obstinacy, enthusiasm, passion, expertise, and several hours of track work haven’t been enough. The heavy snowfall that affected Val di Fassa over the weekend, especially during the night between Saturday and Sunday, has prevented also the second super-G of Women’s World Cup from taking place.
After the cancellation of Saturday’s race, everything possible had been done to guarantee the smooth running of the second scheduled competition, but a further 25-centimetres snowfall has made things irreparably complicated.
The Organising Committee staff, which thanked publicly the laudable mass of volunteers, has tried its best to clear out La VolatA slope from the fresh snow, thanks to the impressive work of over 150 people, who have done all they could since the early morning, also supported by the valuable aid of the Firefighters from Mazzin and Carano, as well as the company Pro Fire, which made the instrumentation to light up the track available.
Unfortunately, the safety conditions to let the enrolled athletes properly compete haven’t been fulfilled.
«In these situations, we need to acknowledge that nature is stronger than us – commented Women’s Alpine Ski World Cup director Peter Gerdol -. There was a major snowfall on Saturday, and by evening the slope was fixed, showing good conditions, enough to guarantee the performing of the race. Tonight, however, another 25 centimetres of snow fell, isolating the surface. People worked relentlessly, but it wasn’t possible to compete. Our priority is, and always will be, the athletes’ safety. The decision was almost forced».
Do you think Val di Fassa will get another chance in the future? «I really hope so – adds Gerdol -. The scheduling of the World Cup calendar has changed, compared to the past. Further discussions must be made, but I believe we’ll find a way to come back here. Val di Fassa deserves it».
For insiders, this has been a challenging weekend, and within the organising committee there’s the awareness that they did everything possible. «Even more than possible – points out slope director Mattia Giongo -. This, however, is the sport of skiing. We were mentally prepared for this kind of events, and we hope to put ourselves out there again in the future. The heavy snowfall has put us to the test, but we went on track with five snowcats, we groomed it, clearing almost 70 thousand square metres of snow, a fact that speaks for itself. After the cancellation of the first race, we had a good outlook for the second one, but luck turned its back on us once again. This morning, we started off in full swing, but for safety reasons we weren’t able to guarantee the smooth running of the programme. We want to pursue our project and we hope that the cooperation with FIS can go on».
Race director Cesare Pastore, lastly, wanted to spare a special thought for the many insiders and volunteers that worked hard for the cause. «We tried till the very end – explains Pastore -. When the cancellation of the race became official, there were still people working on the slope, proof that our collaborators were very driven. Right over the weekend, we had the greatest snowfall of this winter. Between Friday and today, almost one metre of snow fell over the top part of the slope. We were still able to clear it all out, but the last snowfall gave us the finishing blow. On my part, I can’t thank enough all those who did all they could to help us, working relentlessly».
For Val di Fassa, anyway, this organising experience is a starting point, especially for the newborn company Val di Fassa Major Events, which has officially started up its first important international event, creating a particularly ambitious working team. The next appointment on the calendar is the two-day Europa Cup ski cross, scheduled on Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd of March at Costabella ski cross stadium, at Passo San Pellegrino, under Us Monti Pallidi’s direction.