Will the Garmisch-Partenkirchen slalom, to take place on Wednesday night on the legendary Gudiberg track, take place? In the corridors of the FIS, we blow that it’s 50-50. It is true that the thin layer of snow present on the route, battered by the spring temperatures of recent days and the rain, does not encourage optimism. Especially since it is once more announced ten degrees at the time of the first race.
For once, the organizers salted and wet the track on Monday. They will repeat this process on Wednesday morning before staking out the route to solidify the coating. A decision on the holding of the test will be made during the inspection of the jury at 11 am. The first athlete, the Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen in this case, must start at 3:45 p.m.
“It should hold,” tries to reassure Matteo Joris, the Swiss slalom trainer. Among the athletes, we hope that the race is as fair as possible, but above all that we avoid the fiasco of Zagreb whose race was canceled last year at this time following the passage of a handful of athletes following the ugly ankle injury of Frenchman Victor Muffat-Jeandet. “We have already done our rodeo, we are ready for the worst”, quips Tanguy Nef.
In Zagreb too there is a lack of snow
Zagreb precisely, the snow conditions are not much better for the two women’s slaloms to be contested on Wednesday and Thursday. The Medvednica track is just covered, like in Germany, with a thin layer of snow. A white band that contrasts drastically with the green that surrounds the Croatian track.
Johan Tachet, Garmisch-Partenkirchen
