Remember Sunny the reindeer?! A few days ago, Mikaela Shiffrin dropped a picture of her with her beloved Sunny. In the frame, she posed with the reindeer along with a statue of Santa Claus, the eternal figure of snow-filled winter. But apart from being the eternal figure, Santa holds another importance. He presents a reindeer to every Slalom winner. Why? That goes back to a custom. For the last 19 years, Levi Black has hosted the opening race of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Slalom season. Geographically, the venue is much closer to Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi, Finland. So, as per the custom, the victor of the race earns a reindeer from Father Christmas. Undoubtedly, Shiffrin has stood to grab the most number of reindeer till now, a whopping 7. But will she get her eighth? 

Believe me, the Alpine ski racing legend has many things at stake in the upcoming race in Levi. But before that, a few issues have turned out to be roadblocks. These barriers have threatened the entire event, not just her. However, let’s have a deeper look at the issues. 

The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup experiences hiccups before the penultimate day 

According to the program, the FIS Alpine Ski World will flag off the Slalom event on November 16 and continue until November 17 in Levi Black, a huge snow-covered territory of Lapland. But before the auspicious days, FIS had to make a routine check at the venue on November 7. As per the Snow Brains, it was the Snow Control test under the careful watch of the FIS inspection team.

But what does it signify? The report says that the test was carried out to check the optimum conditions for the venue. Mainly, the test examined the race course conditions in the standard of FIS. Before the opening race of the World Cup Slalom, such a test had been necessary.

Fortunately, the glissades in Levi Black marked the required 60cm (24 inches) snow level and saw a green light to host the race. That ends the ultimate health check. Yet the question still lingers. Why did the venue need to go through such a test, despite giving spaces to the race several times? 

It is because of the warm fall this time. Because of global warming, the entire region has gone through crises like shorter winters or warm falls. Reasons like those have led to the melting of the glissades. However, in the region, those crises have often been solved with the traditional jään säilöminen (ice preservation) technique, punched with modern tricks. Yet sometimes such hybrid models are also likely to face a dark end in controlling the situation.

But this time, in the Finnish venue, snow farming has come as the soul saver. Because of this technique, the venue now has 70% snow from the recycled reserves. The expectation is to watch the ski race course facing no shortage of ice on the event days. After all, a lot of things are on the calendar of the FIS Ski World Cup in its Levi edition. Folks, can you guess those? 

A gloomy cloud may take the sky of Mikaela Shiffrin’s Austrian race

In Levi Black, Mikaela Shiffrin will look forward to continuing her victorious run. Last year, she had her seventh victory in the Finnish town. However, her next win can pose as her 98th in her stint at the World Cup and 61st at the Slalom. The numbers will be second to none. Furthermore, on its twentieth anniversary at the venue, the FIS Ski World Cup will celebrate another merriment. 

Now here’s the catch. Following 2019, Levi Black will host the men’s opening Slalom race for the first time this season. A treat for ski racing lovers! They will surely look for the successor of Henrik Kristofferson, the winner of the 2019 World Cup Levi. But something is lurking behind and it is regarding the next stop of the Slalom season. 

The update shows the Austrian town Gurgl’s name as the venue of the next destination of the Slalom event. On November 23 and 24, the snow base will host the men’s and women’s slalom races in the FIS Ski World Cup 2024. But there’s a problem. Much like Levi Black, Gurgl is also experiencing a warmer season and little snowfall. The current situation has made the venue have a soft ice strip and a grass field. A combination to make the hosts worried enough about the situation! But they are still having their hopes, expecting “5-6 colder nights to prepare the track.” A defiant situation may push Gurgl’s name out of the list of hosts. So, altogether, a lot of things are on a tightrope now.