Heavy snowfall forced the cancellation of the opening men's Alpine Ski World Cup downhill on Friday.

The World Cup speed season got off to a sputtering start with final training on the Lake Louise track also cancelled on Thursday due to warm temperatures.

It marked the first time that a race has been cancelled at Lake Louise since November 2016, when warm weather wiped out the entire men's program.

The posh resort in the Canadian Rockies was scheduled to stage three races, downhills on Friday and Saturday and the first Super-G of the campaign on Sunday.

Organisers are expecting colder temperatures overnight and hope to get Saturday's downhill off as scheduled.

"Due to last night's snowfall, the current snowfall and the forecast, the jury together with the (organising committee) have decided to cancel today's race," the international ski federation (FIS) said in a statement.

Austria dominated opening training on Tuesday with Max Franz, the 2018 Lake Louise winner, and team mate Otmar Striedinger topping the timing sheets followed by American Travis Ganong.

Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, the 2020 overall World Cup champion, was fastest in Wednesday's training.

Lake Louise is also set to host the first women's speed events of the season -- a double downhill next Friday and Saturday followed by a Super-G on Sunday.