With dynamite and shovels: This is how Cortina fights against the snow

By Alexander Foppa from Cortina The World Championships in the heart of the Dolomites began early on Monday morning with bad news: the first competition, the women's Alpine combination, cannot be held. The large amounts of rain and fresh snow in the 24 hours before the race date had made it impossible to take part ( SportNews berichtete ). Work began that night to remove the approximately 25 cm of snow in the start area and the 15 cm at the finish. Heavy equipment was used. Throughout Cortina - but especially on the southwest slope where the races take place - milling, shoveling, excavating and sweeping took place non-stop. The problem: It has snowed so much in Cortina in the last few weeks that we no longer know what to do with all the white splendor. Many visitors, some of whom have been coming to the World Cup at the foot of the Tofane for decades, say in unison that they have never seen so much snow in sophisticated winter sports. You can find current impressions from Cortina in the picture gallery above. The situation only improved late in the morning, when the most important infrastructure was cleared of snow and the World Cup piste was somewhat prepared again. But now there was a threat of avalanches on the mountain. As a result, the course inspection planned for the afternoon and the course setting for the men's Super-G on Tuesday were canceled. Access to the track was closed to everyone. The men are going into their first World Championship race without any prior knowledge; there will only be a viewing before the start at 13 p.m. There is a risk of further snowfall until Thursday As soon as the snowfall ended in the early afternoon and visibility around the Tofane improved, a helicopter arrived with explosives. For hours, clearly audible, controlled avalanches were generated across the entire valley before the greatest danger was averted. As the World Ski Federation FIS announced early on Monday evening, the women's Super-G is scheduled to take place tomorrow, Tuesday, as planned - but the start time has been pushed back by two and a half hours. The men's Super-G scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed to Tuesday ( see also own report ). No further precipitation is expected in Cortina on Tuesday afternoon, but on Wednesday, the day of the men's combination, there is a risk of up to 25 cm of fresh snow again. The weather in the Dolomites is only expected to get significantly better from Thursday.

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With dynamite and shovels: This is how Cortina fights against the snow

Kilos of explosives on the mountain, shovels, brooms and snow blowers in the valley – the organizers of the World Ski Championships in Cortina are using every means possible to bring the next races off as planned. Avalanches are currently the biggest threat.

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