Pyeongchang Alpine test event cleared after gondola worries

Posted January 20, 2016 6:00 am

By ANDREW DAMPF

The alpine skiing test event for the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics will go ahead as planned next month after workers toiled through the holidays on overnight shifts to complete construction on a key gondola.

The International Ski Federation issued final clearance Wednesday, ending worries that the gondola would not be ready in time.

A men's World Cup downhill and super-G are scheduled for the South Korean resort of Jeongseon on Feb. 6-7.

"After checking the snow conditions on the race course and also the operational requirements in Jeongseon, I can confirm that planning and preparations meet the standards," FIS technical expert Gunter Hujara said in a statement.

Hujara rode the gondola for the first time Tuesday and appreciated the efforts of contractors.

"They worked through Christmas and through New Year at 24-hour shifts," Hujara told The Associated Press. "The gondola is ready. It works."

As recently as last month, FIS officials had suggested that the Jeongseon races might be canceled - which would have been a big blow to Olympic preparations.

"We were able to overcome challenges through teamwork within POCOG and with our partners, and I appreciate the dedication of everyone," Pyeongchang Games organizing committee president Cho Yang-ho said.

Men's and women's Far East Cup races are scheduled for Jeongseon next week to test the course.

"The snow is excellent, very dense, we could run tomorrow," Hujara said. "It's all artificial snow with a little fresh snow. Temperatures were very low. ... So everything works for us right now."

Three training runs starting Feb. 3 are scheduled for the World Cup races but Hujara said there may only be two sessions, with men's circuit director Markus Waldner and the jury to have the final word.

Course designer Bernhard Russi is confident that the piste will get positive reviews.

"It will be surprisingly good, I know, because there is good natural terrain," he said. "We didn't have to do too much. It was more or less everything there."

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Andrew Dampf on Twitter: www.twitter.com/asdampf

In this Jan. 13, 2016 photo, gondolas hang for the upcoming official test event of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics during a venue tour at the Jeongseon Alpine Center in Jeongseon, South Korea. Olympic course designer Bernhard Russi has "full confidence" that men's Alpine World Cup racers will go to South Korea next month for a 2018 Pyeongchang Games test event that was in doubt. Downhill and super-G races due Feb. 6-7 at Jeongseon were at risk from delays building a gondola to take people up the mountain. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) The Associated Press

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