Saturday's Crans Montana women's downhill race cancelled

Saturday's women's World Cup downhill race in the Swiss resort of Crans Montana has been cancelled because of dangerous slope conditions and therefore safety reasons.

The race was originally scheduled for 11am local time but the start was postponed due to fog.

Following a two-hour delay, during which the soft snow on the course was salted, the race was set to begin at 1pm.

After forerunners tested the slope, however, FIS Chief Race Director Peter Gerdol decided to cancel the race.

"At the end it (the snow) was too soft," Gerdol said. "Even with the salt, it didn't really work with this temperature.

"The feedback from the forerunners was really clear: it is too soft, it is too dangerous, so this is why we decided then to cancel the race."

A downhill will now take place on Sunday in Crans Montana instead of the originally scheduled super-G, which will not be replaced.