Ullr's revenge

This past weekend, up in Zermatt, on the “Gran Becca” run, the FIS was again proven wrong by Ullr, the god of skiing from Norse mythology.

Once more, the men’s World Cup downhill in Zermatt-Cervinia was canceled on Sunday due to heavy snowfall that began early in the morning, strong winds and an unfavorable forecast throughout the day. It completed a weekend of harsh weather conditions, forcing the of the planned season-opening downhill, the first one to ever cross an international border. 

Running a downhill race in early November on a glacier was a challenge, I would even say a foolish one, but the undeterred organizers pushed against the critics who weren’t excited by the off-season downhill event. 

I asked Ullr what he thought of the situation and that’s what he had to say: 

“In the old days, of course, we didn’t even have ski lifts to get us on top of the hills, so that was real sport when we skied. Today, more than half the work is already done when it’s time to point’ em down. We also skied when there was enough snow on the ground to do our sport. 

We didn’t travel the world over to find it in summer, or began cutting into century old glaciers to make a convenient ski path and hasten their meltdown! What’s possesses man in wanting to control nature? From what I’ve heard, man has already done grave damage to his planet; will he ever learn?” 

Thank you Ullr for your continued wisdom and your well thought out comments. Have a fun ski season wherever you officiate these days!