Mild weather upsets skiiers. by Dan Corbett
Europe’s unseasonably mild winter, so far, has played havoc with the Alpine ski season. World Cup ski race organizers cancelled training runs in both the Swiss and Austrian Alps on Wednesday, to avoid chewing up grassy pistes, which were lean on snow. Officials hoped to preserve the famous Lauberhorn course from further damage by rain and mild weather.
Austrian World Cup skier Rainer Schoenfelder put the warm weather conditions in Europe to a true test on Wednesday when he went on a naked ski run alongside the famed Lauberhorn downhill course. Schoenfelder’s unusual excursion took place during a rest day for the World Cup skiers; with temperatures up to 10C (50F) forcing organisers to cancel the first scheduled training session for this weekend’s racing.
Mild weather has also affected parts of America and Canada recently but a change in the weather is a stark reminder that winter is far from over. A few days ago an enormous avalanche in Colorado swept two cars off a road, fortunately there were no casualties. Snow and strong winds were making life miserable for motorists in many regions of Alberta and Saskatchewan on Wednesday. Travel was not recommended because of whiteouts from blowing snow. Seven cms (3 ins) of snow had fallen at the Edmonton international airport between midnight and 2pm yesterday.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for parts of Montana for further snow, strong winds and significant wind chill.
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