By U.S. Ski & Snowboard

VAL GARDENA, Italy – Weather continues to wreak havoc on the men and women’s FIS Ski World Cup European circuit. On Friday, the men’s super-G in Val Gardena, Italy, was cut off due to snow and fog after 38 racers took to the start, leaving 42 racers no opportunity to tackle the Saslong course.

Germany’s Josef Ferstl officially took the victory after FIS officials cut off the remaining portion of the race due to fog and light snow. Austria’s Max Franz was second, followed by countryman Matthias Meyer in third. Ferstl started second before light snow began to fall, and with a clear track, was able to grab his first World Cup victory.

As the race progressed, snow continued to fall and course conditions changed dramatically, with grippy snow accumulating on the track hardened by a couple days of rain earlier in the week.

“With this snowfall, the snow is really slow and sticky compared to yesterday,” said Travis Ganong of Squaw Valley, the top American finisher in 17th. Ganong ran 18th as snow fell and fog rolled in on the middle section of the course. “Hopefully it will be better tomorrow,” he added.

Tommy Biesemeyer finished 18th and Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, N.Y.) was 28th. Wiley Maple (Aspen, Colo.), who finished second in Wednesday’s downhill training run; Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley), Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, Vt.) and Jared Goldberg (Holladay, Utah) were among the 42 athletes that did not start after the race was cancelled due to weather conditions.

Up next, the men are scheduled to race downhill on the Saslong track Saturday. Steven Nyman (Sundance, Utah) is expected to make his return to the World Cup circuit on the track where he has claimed all three of his World Cup downhill victories.

Ganong, who admits he’s off to a slow start this season, finishing 35th in Wednesday’s downhill training, and not finishing Thursday training run, hopes to continue to build confidence with two months remaining before the 2018 Olympic Winter Olympics in Saturday’s downhill.

“It was kind of a rough start to the season, so I’m just trying to build some confidence from race to race and find the speed and find the race gear,” Ganong said. “When it’s going well, it’s super easy. When it’s not going well it’s really hard and you’re questioning everything.

“Ski racing is such a simple sport, but the margins are so small, a half a second separates you from a really good day to a really bad day,” he continued. “I’m taking it day-by-day and hopefully I’ll be building into the Olympics – that’s the goal.”