YANQING, China — Natural snow finally fell on the National Alpine Ski Center here on the 11th day of Olympic activity — and became a problem for snow sports that have grown accustomed to operating on artificial surfaces.
Organizers canceled Sunday’s women’s downhill training run and delayed the men’s giant slalom competition “due to the snowfall.”
Up in Zhangjiakou, at the Genting Snow Park, women’s slopestyle skiing qualifiers were initially delayed, then postponed to Monday “due to heavy snow and poor visibility.”
Precipitation began late Saturday night and continued into Sunday evening. Several inches of snow had coated roads, mountainsides and racecourses in Yanqing by the time Sunday’s competitions got underway, and visibility was extremely limited.