SNOWBASIN -- The women's Super G was simply not to be. Period.
Anything that could go wrong for a high-speed race went wrong. As a result, after several delays, the first Super G race in Utah on the new women's Olympic course was canceled.Crews set the course late Saturday, but lightning in the early hours Sunday kept them from getting on the hill for final preparations. First delay.
A light snow that fell during the night normally wouldn't have bothered a race like this. But this was a wet, heavy snow that is dangerous for high-speed skiing. Then to complicated matters, the overnight temperatures didn't get cold enough the freeze the surface. At the scheduled race time, the surface was wet and slushy. Second delay.
Then, because of all the earlier delays, daytime temperatures turned warmer and softened up the course even more. Cancellation.
Kirsten Clark, winner of the women's downhill race on Friday, side-slipped the course and said it was "very messy."
Gary Jones, a course worker, said that even though the race was canceled, "it was a good learning experience for the workers. There's a big learning curve putting on competition at this level. You can't fool around with safety. It would have been too dangerous to race."
The men's Super G is scheduled for Monday. The women, in the meantime, moved headquarters to Park City Mountain Resort for the women's giant slalom on Monday. A race committee will meet late Monday to see if weather conditions will allow the women to return to Snowbasin later in the week to complete the Super G.
Meanwhile at Deer Valley, familiar faces popped up again on the winner's podium on Sunday after the running of the dual mogul competition.
Continuing her whirlwind finish, in which she won the final World Cup, the overall World Cup mogul, the individual World Championships and Saturday's U.S. individual national title, Ann Battelle, of Steamboat Springs, Colo., beat world champion dual-mogul skier Michelle Roark in the finals. Roark was second to Battelle in the individual event Saturday at Deer Valley, too.
"The last few weeks have been ridiculous," said Battelle. "I'm really on a roll, so it's too bad the season is over. I guess it's just my turn since I've put in a lot of work, and it's finally paying off for me."
Ryan Riley, also from Steamboat, won his first U.S. title. Riley has been skiing well lately and finished fifth in the World Championships a few weeks back.
In the final race down the Deer Valley mogul course, he beat Tony Basile, a young 18-year-old skier from Olympic Valley, Colo. Riley is a member of the U.S. team, while Basile is fighting to make the team.
In the race for the bronze, Caleb Martin of Telluride, Colo., beat Travis Cabral of South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
On Saturday, it was 15-year-old Cabral who surprised the freestyle field by beating Martin in the finals. Basile was third and Riley was fifth behind Olympic gold medalist Jonny Mosely.
"This was a great win, but I don't want to go into the off-season with too much confidence," said Riley. "Even though I won, I'll work as hard as I can during the summer. This was a lot of fun, though. All of the pressure was off me when I beat Travis in the semis."
Under the dual-mogul format, skiers are paired and make one run down the course in head-to-head competition. The winner of the single run advances. Skiers are judged on speed down the course, form off two jumps on the course and skiing style. To make the finals, the last four skiers had to race six times.
Aerials and the women's GS were held Monday. Tuesday, the men's GS will be held at Park City; Wednesday, the men's and women's slalom at Deer Valley.