The 4 inches of snow Tuesday night in Ajax was great for freestyle skiers, but not so for the athletes preparing for the World Cup in Aspen this weekend.
With this in mind, the race organizers canceled the first of the two practice days on Wednesday for course maintenance. Today’s practice session is scheduled to go ahead as planned.
Jeff Hanley, vice president of communications for Aspen Skiing Co., said. “We’ve made good progress clearing away the snow and pushing them around with the kittens and slippers. But by doing it today, it gives us more time to prepare and doesn’t really affect us.”
Missing a day of training isn’t a big deal, especially in terms of race eligibility this weekend. Sierra Ryder, communications director for the U.S. Alpine Ski Team, said at least one training session should take place somewhere before a downhill race can take place. Super G does not schedule any pre-training – riders can explore the course but not practice runs. The Wednesday training session was a bonus, but not a requirement.
Instead, Ryder said, some American athletes took their day off to recover and do some low-stress work.
“I think most guys just go out for a few runs on their skates just to be out there and do a few turns,” Ryder said. “Then they’ll generally also do some exercise as well. Today they’ll do some recovery, so like cycling and starting and maybe get some physiotherapy with our physiotherapists. All the international athletes do the same.”
If today’s practice is cancelled, the schedule can become complicated with the event being postponed or even cancelled.
Aspen Snowmass reported 6 to 8 inches of snow across all four mountains over the past two days, with four of those falling on Aspen Mountain over the course of Tuesday. On Wednesday they announced an extension of the ski season due to favorable conditions in Ajax and the Aspen Highlands, with the former remaining open an additional two weeks and the latter an additional week closing on April 16.
AspenWeather.net forecasts a “risk of a morning snow shower or two” Thursday and then a chance of 1 to 3 inches of snow Friday afternoon.
Weather.gov shares a similar outlook, then a partly cloudy Saturday and little chance of snow on Sunday.
Downhill World Cup competition is scheduled for 11am on Friday, 11:30am on Saturday and Super G on Sunday at 10am.
Opening ceremonies are scheduled to take place tonight at Snowmass Base Village, starting at 4 p.m. Events include introductions to the US Ski Team and a raffle for all athletes. The evening will conclude with a bonfire show down Snowmass and fireworks on the mountain.
Glenwood Hockey to face the No. 4 seed in the semi-finals
Glenwood Springs defeated Liberty 7-2 at Lewis Ice Arena in the 4A Quarterfinals. The top seed Demons will advance to play No. 4 Colorado Academy in the semifinals in Colorado Springs on Saturday.
Glenwood got goals from five different players in the first two periods – Jacob Rogie, Jacob Barlow, Jacob Stockdale, Caleb Holm and Jet Weatherred – to defeat the Lancers. Aspen High senior Ryder Rondo scored in the third period to give the team a five-goal lead. Liberty fell to the same ice sheet in the playoffs last season for the Aspen College team in their last home game before merging with the Glenwood program.
Glenwood beat Colorado Academy 3-2 on February 10th. His win on Saturday means they will play for the state title on Tuesday at Magnus Arena on the University of Denver campus.