A new effort to mount a major slalom skiing race at Holmenkollen in Oslo on New Year’s Day was foiled by fog that prevented thousands of spectators from seeing the races begin. Organizers still hope to make the event an annual tradition.
“It was a fantastic experience,” insisted Kristin Vestgren Sæterøy, chief of the Holmenkollen Ski Festival that traditionally has involved ski jumping and cross-country skiing. She told newspaper Aftenposten that she thought the mood was good and that the skiers didn’t mind the bad weather.
“The TV pictures were also good,” Sæterøy said. “We of course didn’t want the fog, but the mood was still very good.” The parallel ski race ran down a course that her organization spent NOK 4.5 million to build, and they expected to generate a loss, but it was all part of an “experiment” to drum up more business for the Holmenkollen area.
None of the Norwegians skiing made it to the semi-finals, not even stars like Kjetil Jansrud and Henrik Kristoffersen. “It was cool to ski at Holmenkollen,” Kristoffersen told Aftenposten, even though he’s been critical to parallel races with two competitors skiing at the same time.
The event attracted 7,240 paying spectators. Sæterøy said she thinks interest was high enough to mount another slalom race at Holmenkollen next year, too.
newsinenglish.no staff
