From 29 February through 9 March, Roccaraso will host the highly specialized FIS Junior World Ski Championships for Alpine skiing. Even though there are 25 days to go until the start of competitions, the slopes in Roccaraso are covered in snow and ready to host the young athletes.
“The official snow control date is the 19th of February,” Markus Waldner, the FIS Continental Cup coordinator in charge of it said. “The conditions are really good at the moment. I get regular picture updates and am constantly informed about the progress of things on the venue. So far the base preparation has been done, the snow base is good and it keeps snowing so there is no question that the snow control will only be the official confirmation that everything is ready for the Junior World Ski Championship.”
The Championship will take a place a month after the closing of the first Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, giving the athletes a second round of “big events” in the same season. An interesting fact is that this will also be the first time the JWSC competition will take place in the Centre-South Apennines. Some 700 athletes between the ages of 15 and 20 will compete for titles in all the alpine disciplines: Downhill, Super G, Giant Slalom, Slalom and Combined. The 2012 edition of the JWSC will also be a way of celebrating the almost 30th anniversary of the Sestriere 1983 event, the first Junior Championships to be held in Italy.
Visit www.roccaraso2012.org, the official site of the event for more information.
