No summer training for ski elite in Zermatt VS
Published: Tuesday, Apr 16th 2024, 16:00
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Ski stars Marco Odermatt, Lara Gut and Co. will not be able to train on the glacier in Zermatt next summer. The mountain railroads of the Valais ski resort are suspending training for elite athletes of all snow sports.
The background to this decision is apparently the removal of Zermatt as an organizer of the Ski World Cup downhill races, as detailed in a press release issued by Zermatt Bergbahnen on Tuesday. The situation will be reassessed in summer 2025 in line with the decisions of the International Ski Federation FIS and the two national associations Swiss-Ski and FISI from Italy regarding the World Cup races in Zermatt/Cervinia.
According to Bergbahnen Zermatt, junior athletes are not affected by this decision. From summer 2024, a number of glacier training slopes will be made available exclusively to junior skiers from ski clubs, regional associations and national performance centers. Zermatt Bergbahnen will thus continue to play its part in promoting young winter sports talents.
Furthermore, these decisions could expand the offer for guests and provide more varied summer ski days in Zermatt.
All planned races canceled
In the past two seasons, a total of eight World Cup downhill runs should have been held on the new "Gran Becca" slope, starting in Zermatt and finishing in Cervina on the Italian side, at the beginning of November. They had to be canceled in 2022 due to a lack of snow and in 2023 due to too much fresh snow and wind. At the end of March, it was announced that Zermatt was to be removed from the race calendar.
Zermatt is disappointed about this. "For years, Zermatt Bergbahnen has been investing a lot of money and human resources to offer ski athletes from Switzerland and abroad a perfect infrastructure for their training and preparations for the World Cup or European Cup season during the summer months," the press release states.
By hosting the World Cup downhill races in Zermatt/Cervinia, Zermatt Bergbahnen, in collaboration with its partners from Cervinia, offered the ski elite innovative and unique downhill races as well as training opportunities in the run-up to these races. This offer was valued differently by associations and athletes.
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