Insufficient snow leads to cancellation of Suzuki Nine Knights
The organisers of the freeski event Suzuki Nine Knights have decided to cancel the tournament this year due to the lack of snow. The event was scheduled to run from 11 to 16 April at the Oberstdorf resort in Nebelhorn region of the Alps in Germany.
The event had run perfectly in its three-year history. However, mother-nature refused to shower her blessings on it this year. There has not been enough snowfall throughout the Alps this year. This was a huge set-back considering the requirement of about
35,000 cubic meters of snow for the event’s castle-shaped feature.
The warm weather conditions were not a big help either. Nebelhorn had a snowfall of around 70 centimetres a couple of weeks ago, giving the organisers the hope of finally getting sufficient snow for the event. However, the sunny conditions and warm temperature
that followed the snowfall washed away all the hopes by melting the snow.
Even though depots held catchments of snow for the contest, it simply was not enough to successfully build the feature obstacle that forms the centre-piece of the Nine Knights event.
The snow to be found on the resort is around three months old, quite soft and not at all suited to build the event’s feature. The high location of the resort also places it out of range of the snowmaking equipment. The option of taking snow from groomed
areas to support the event has been rejected due to its’ dirty and poor quality.
The event organiser Nico Zacek met with the event crew on 30 March to assess the weather conditions and current situation. After going over all the issues and failing to find a feasible solution, he was compelled to call off the event. The film
and photo shoots that are part of the event have also been called off.
“The plan was to progress the sport in terms of building the perfect jump and [having] the guys do triples,” Zacek. “We figured we could neither progress in terms of beauty nor in terms of being super sure that this is going to be the spot where the sport
would be progressed.”
Zacek expressed shame over such an unexpected and premature end to something that was certain to deliver amazing freeskiing action. He also apologized to all his friends, fans and participants for the cancellation.
“We don't see any way to guarantee the high standard that we've delivered the last three years or that we've just delivered with Nine Queens,” Zacek said. “I didn't want to destroy the reputation of the event. I'll be very motivated for next year, with new
plans for the Nine Knights.”
The organiser and crew have decided to leave the disappointment behind and shift their focus to the future. They plan on making next year’s event bigger and better than ever to promote freeskiing and its’ athletes.
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