Heavy snowfalls closed most of the roads to Switzerland's most famous winter sports resort and most visitors had to take the train.

A final training run is planned for Friday morning. Over half a meter fresh snow covered the course on Thursday and the forecast predicts more throughout the weekend.

Only a few racers are able to remain motivated and focused in these conditions, among them young skiers, such as Switzerland's Sylviane Berthod, who clocked the best time in the only test run held on Tuesday. She beat Norway's Trude Gimle by over a second while Germany's Regina Haeusl, third last week in Are, was 5th at 1.98 seconds back.

Specialists such as Renate Goetschl and Alexandra Meissnitzer lost over two-and-a-half second to Berthod, whose best result in downhill this season is an 8th place last week in Sweden.

A strong leader in the downhill World Cup standings, Goetschl doesn't worry too much about this competition. Her third win last week helped her to increase her advance on Germany's Hilde Gerg to 101 points — she would secure her second World Cup crystal globe trophy even in case of a cancellation.

Skiers who are not currently in the top standings are more motivated for the finals planned next week in Sierra Nevada, Spain. France's Marianne Brechu, 28th in the standings, clocked the 8th time on Tuesday. She needs a top-10 to enter the group of 25. America's Kathleen Monahan, 30th in the World Cup standings, has to reach a 6th place to qualify.

In the super-G standings, Alexandra Meissnitzer leads with 409 points, 69 more than Martina Ertl, who had a knee operation earlier this week after crashing in the downhill in Are. France's Regine Cavagnoud also is not in St. Moritz after she injured herself in Vail in February. As Michaela Dorfmeister is 4th, 136 points behind her teammate, Alexandra would clinch that trophy if weather problems persist during the weekend.

The International Ski Federation and the organizing committee have already announced that the races could not take place on Sunday since the skiers have to travel to Sierra Nevada where a training run for the downhill is on the program on Monday. Hopefully the weather will improve.

— Mountain Zone European Ski Correspondent