CARRABASSETT VALLEY – High winds Friday delayed the start of the U.S. Alpine Championships at Sugarloaf.

It is the third consecutive day that weather has played havoc with the schedule. Downhill training runs were canceled Wednesday and Thursday.

The slalom is now slated to start at 10 a.m. Saturday. The opening ceremonies will be held later in the day.

“Sugarloaf has been doing a great job preparing the venues and each day to be race ready,” Calum Clark, USSA vice president of events, said in a statement. “We now have two competition hills ready to go and are just waiting for the weather to allow us to race. The plan still calls for us to get in every event, and we’ll do the best we can to make sure it happens.”

Organizers had moved up the slalom, an event that is the easiest to hold in poor weather because it is held at a lower elevation. The winds were too severe for even that on Friday. Overnight gusts reached 90 mph, according to officials.

The remaining race schedule was unclear Friday and may not be determined until after Saturday’s slalom. The championships are scheduled to continue through Wednesday with the downhill, super-G and giant slalom.

“We’re in an outdoor sport with any number of variables that can change the schedule,” Marco Sullivan, the reigning U.S. downhill champion and winner of the famed Kandahar World Cup downhill, said in a statement. “Sugarloaf is doing a the best they can to provide the best possible conditions for us to race, and when the weather allows, we’ll be ready to go.”

More than 150 racers are scheduled to compete, including overall women’s World Cup champion Lindsey Vonn and Olympic gold medalist Julia Mancuso.