It is official: the FIS World Cup men’s slalom will take place as scheduled on December 22 starting at 5:45 pm. This is the positive outcome of the Snow Control carried out by FIS officials on the snowpack of the Canalone Miramonti in Madonna di Campiglio.
The inspection, conducted in the late afternoon of Tuesday, December 16 by FIS representative Emmanuel Couder, confirmed that—despite temperatures remaining above the seasonal average and the scarce snowfall across the Alpine arc so far—the technical conditions are in place for the third slalom of the FIS World Cup season to proceed as scheduled.
“So far it has been a difficult winter for ski resorts, due to the lack of snow and above all the high temperatures – explains 3Tre Committee President Lorenzo Conci – but thanks to the tremendous work of Adriano Alimonta and his crew, in collaboration with Funivie Campiglio, and the initial 20 cm dusting of snow that created a good base for artificial snow, we managed to prepare a slope worthy of the Alpine Ski World Cup.”
“Now we can focus with greater peace of mind on the final details, while also hoping that temperatures drop a bit as forecast.”
On December 22, the show will get underway as early as 4:30 pm with music and the presentation of the top athletes, while the two runs will take place at 5:45 pm and 8:45 pm respectively. Between runs, the Audi 3Tre Jam Session will also turn the spotlight onto the Belvedere slope, where in collaboration with Radio Italia and Colmar an exciting show of lights, music, and colors on the snow will be staged. After the race, music will take center stage in the heart of Madonna di Campiglio with the DJ Set under the Stars presented by Radio Italia, the official network of the event.
The most recent slalom race, held in Åre, Sweden, on Sunday, December 14, saw defending overall World Cup champion Marcel Hirscher of Austria return to the top, rallying in the second run to beat Germany’s Felix Neureuther and surprising Russian Alexander Khoroshilov, who claimed his first career World Cup podium, while Patrick Thaler finished tenth as the best of the Italians.
Hirscher, winner of the last slalom on the Canalone Miramonti in 2012 and leader of the World Cup standings, will arrive in Madonna di Campiglio wearing the red bib of discipline leader, but will have to contend with top rivals such as Neureuther himself and Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen, winner of the opening slalom of the season in Levi, while Italy’s main hopes rest on Thaler, Stefano Gross, and Vancouver 2010 Olympic Champion Giuliano Razzoli.
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