Competitors in the men's standing class were the only ones of the six downhill classes who managed to get in a quick training run before the fog rolled in on what would have been the first day of competition.

It was the first time the skiers got to experience the course after snow and fog prevented them from training for the past three days.

Clear skies on Saturday morning (Vancouver time) allowed Aussies Marty Mayberry, Tony Kane, Mitch Gourley and Rahles-Rahbula to get a run on the downhill slope, with Mayberry clocking the fastest training run (1min:23.68sec) followed by Swiss Michael Brugger (1:23.88) and Austrian Markus Salcher (1:23.98).

Rahles-Rahbula was 12th in 1:26.18, Mitch Gourley was 16th (1:26.97) and Kane fell and did not finish. Since the run was not for qualification, Kane is still eligible to compete.

With only three Australians allowed to compete in the downhill, alpine coach Steve Graham had a tough choice to make ? he selected Mayberry, Rahles-Rahbula and Kane, who all won medals in World Cup events during the 2009-2010 season.

Rahles-Rahbula said he found the Whistler Creek course challenging.

"I skied OK," he said.

"I did go down at the fifth gate but came back up again.

"It's very bumpy. That's a challenge for us one-leggers - the balance issue.

"It's going to be a battle."

Mayberry was thrilled with his own run.

"That was intense,'' the 24-year-old from Byron Bay said. "We had a lot of snow yesterday. The course workers have done an unbelievable job but it's fast and bumpy in sections.

"I can definitely get a lot of speed on this course. It's a matter of if I can stay standing." Kane was not hurt during his fall, but said he was suffering from frozen lips after hitting the snow during his training run.

Both Mayberry and Rahles-Rahbula nominated German ski legend Gerd Schonfelder as the man to beat. The 29-year-old has won 17 medals in five Winter Paralympics so far and 12 of those are gold. "He's pretty unbeatable,'' Mayberry said.

''It's doable but it would have to be a very good run. This course suits him. The bumps don't affect the two-legged racers as much as they do us and the one-leggers."

Mayberry beat Schonfelder in Aspen two weeks ago in the last World Cup downhill race.