The International Ski Federation (FIS) on Thursday confirmed the season-opening World Cup event in Soelden is on, in spite of unusually high temperatures at the Austrian venue. "Positive snow control for Soelden," said a statement on the official FIS website Thursday, just over a week before the cream of the alpine skiing world meets to contend a women's and men's giant slalom.
Temperatures on the 3,000 metres-high Rettenbach glacier, which has hosted the season-opener since 2000, have been approaching the 20 degrees Celsius mark. The unusually high autumnal weather has given organisers a logistical headache. But the Austrian Ski Federation (OSV) claims race preparations - moving tonnes of conserved snow to prepare a race-ready piste - have gone well.