Global warming worries on the world ski circuit-one more piece in the puzzle.

[Swede]

In one ominous sign, the traditional season-opening men's and women's giant slaloms staged on Rettenbach glacier high above Soelden, Austria, were washed out due to rain.

A lack of snow in Val d'Isere forced the French resort to back out of hosting a men's downhill and super-combined next weekend, though the latter race has been rescheduled for Reiteralm in Austria.

A women's downhill and super-G set for Val d'Isere the following weekend remain under threat, with the FIS due to make an inspection this week.

St Moritz in Switzerland, which has staged World Cup races since 1999, also had to cry off for the first time, pulling out of hosting two women's races next weekend because the weather has been too warm to even allow the manufacture of artificial snow.

Organisers are also nervous about men's races in Val Gardena, Italy, later this month.

With the calendar in chaos, the FIS has been considering the unprecedented step of returning to North America to squeeze in a few more races before the Christmas break.

http://www.eurosport.com/alpineskiing/gardena-groeden/2006-2007/sport_sto1025868.shtml