: Andreas Kuettel of Switzerland
flies through the air during a practice jump
prior to the...
OBERSTDORF, Germany (AFP) - Four
Hills Trophy organisers have said that this year's
ski-jumping classics would go ahead despite a lack
of snow in the Alps.
"It will turn cold enough in the next few days
to allow us to turn on the artificial snow machines,"
said Stefan Huber, who heads the Oberstdorf leg
of the competition.
"And even if it doesn't turn cold enough we
will bring in snow from other resorts where there
is enough snow," he added Tuesday.
This year's Four Hills Trophy is due to get underway
at Oberstdorf on December 30 and finishes in Bischofshofen,
Austria on January 7. The two other venues are Garmisch-Partenkirchen,
Germany and Innsbruck, Austria.
It will be the 55th year that the jumps have taken
place and there has never before been a cancellation
due to lack of snow.
But unseasonably mild weather in the Alps has already
hit both alpine and nordic skiing World Cup races
with postponments and cancellations.
