Schedule rejigged after rough weather forces race delay

The snowstorm which shut down the Winter Games skier cross race at Cardrona Alpine Resort yesterday has pushed out the scheduled qualifying sessions for the freeski halfpipe competition by a day.

Whiteout, blizzard-like conditions and high winds forced officials to postpone the skier cross race about 3pm yesterday, and left organisers scrambling to try to reschedule the final two days of events at Cardrona.

It was decided, after a meeting between administrators and team captains last night, to hold the race this morning.

Weather permitting, the event will start with training at 10.15am, followed by a qualifying time trial, with heats and the finals scheduled for between 1pm and 2pm.

In a frustrating day for everyone, course inspection was pushed back to the latest possible time to give athletes the best chance to race.

"Unfortunately, Mother Nature won out and conditions were finally deemed too dangerous," Winter Games spokeswoman Victoria Murray-Orr said.

New Zealand racers to watch include Sam Hazledine, Andrew Greig, Duncan Scott, all of Queenstown, and Ethan Meyer-Budge, Lake Hawea. in the men's event, while Mitchey Greig is a hometown favourite in the tough women's competition.

Qualifications for the freeski halfpipe have been rescheduled and the event will proceed as a single-day competition tomorrow.

A combined field of about 45 skiers registered for the freeski qualifications have been affected by the change and will instead have an extra day to train in the halfpipe, after the weather kept many competitors away from Cardrona yesterday.

Weather permitting, training and qualifications for the freeski halfpipe will start at 9:30am tomorrow, with the finals to follow in the afternoon.