What happens when there is no snow?

Well if you are one of the top ski racers in the world then this is a simple issue: You go and find who has the snow and then you go there. Easy. But then when all your extra kit is impounded in customs in Denver, this is when you have to start pulling in the favours. When you have Aksel Lund Svindal on the team and he is going out with Julia Mancuso of the US Team, the issue becomes easily solved! This was the situation that the Norwegian Men’s team found themselves in when it became apparent that there was not enough snow to train on in Norway or in Scandinavia.

With Vail and Copper Mountain experiencing great conditions, the Norwegians were just one of a host of teams to pitch up to the Colorado resorts and get great training conditions. Svindal was one of the many athletes who use Twitter to proclaim his thanks as they were able to train a one minute forty second downhill course.

All the extra training equipment did arrive a few days later but this was after the Norway Men’s team had spent a few days training with the American Ladies team, amongst others! The Austrian Men also turned up as well as the Canadians and at one stage it was almost like a full on World Cup with all the racers training there.

The plaudits for the new American speed training base at Copper were also coming in thick and fast from the Americans, Bode Miller, one of the many racers to compliment the new speed specific venue.

So while Europe struggles with warm November weather and green fields, North America is living the dream with all the snow… If more races are cancelled in Europe will we be seeing more races being rescheduled for North America?

This will please the North Americans who are always asking for more races rather than the paltry double header in Lake Louise and Aspen and Beaver Creak that they currently have.

With glaciers heaving with racers of all levels as well as the general public, racing is a great publicity vehicle for the resorts. Seeing a resort with great snow appeals…

Lake Louise Downhill (more)

Aspen GS (more)

British Team (more)