2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics

[runethechamp]

No less legit than moguls or aerials IMO. Was there even any effort to get skiing pipe in these games? What about 2014?


Wescott's comeback in that race was incredible. I had heard he won, but halfway through the race I was just thinking there was no way. You never see anyone make up that much ground in final.

I thought it was sad and shocking how low the level was in that competition. Boarders flailing all over the place and sliding out in turns without even bring touched.

[Lani]

2 x thanks for your TR, skiingnow.

[robnow]

Worked the Swiss House tonight. Defago and Cologna in the house. Defago absolutely killed it in his race today, one of the most impresive runs I can remember from recent history, just how aggressive he came out of the start and how smooth he skied the course, I knew it was his.

Pretty funny night, guy running the Swiss House talking like they are an International Embassy, above the local law.

Maybe the biggest party of the Olympics in Whistler anyway. Glad I was a part of it.

[The AD]

this is 2 nights in a row the zamboni's fucked up
starting to look like the 3 stooges running the rink

Seriously. How can Canadians fail at this? Those guys should be forced to move to Mexico.

What happened to your record Nov. snow fall Whistler-Blackcomb??

There's plenty of snow in Whistler. That hasn't been a problem. Cypress Mountain is the place with no snow.

Anyway, I noticed the super combined has been postponed due to snow overnight. It snowed 10 cm in the last 24 hours. Can't they just groom the damn hill? Four inches of new snow cancels a race? Maybe they just need to quit being so picky.

[skideeppow]

Anyway, I noticed the super combined has been postponed due to snow overnight. It snowed 10 cm in the last 24 hours. Can't they just groom the damn hill? Four inches of new snow cancels a race? Maybe they just need to quit being so picky.

You obvioulsy have no ski racing background and don't understand how a speed event works.
If you put groomers on the hill, you will destroy the course. Once groomed the hill will need to set up for a while. Grooming will soften things up too much. One a few guys run, there will be huge holes and ruts.
Especially since the hill has been injected in certain senctions.
I am assuming that the snow was super wet as well.
This creates dangerous conditions for the athletes, especially if they get off line and into the soft snow at speed.
The last thing these olympics need is another injury.

[The AD]

You obvioulsy have no ski racing background and don't understand how a speed event works.

You're right there, but I still think the idea that a ski race can be canceled due to snow is a little bit funny. I bet they'd find a way to run the event today except the weather is supposed to clear up from here on out.

[Oarhead]

Can't they just groom the damn hill? Four inches of new snow cancels a race?

They did a rebuild of a lot of the women's course a few days back. Groomers, then a large scale step program by the slippers that covers the entire slope - not just the race line. All in all, it takes multiple hours.

Putting a groomer on the track softens the course too much, they want it really firm - which it is underneath the new snow. A step program is a better way to conserve the track condition. Once a groomer goes onto the track you are looking at minimum 12 hours before it *may* be used for racing. Also, the warmer temperatures mean that a groomer would just do more damage than help.

Both tracks are extremely soft at the bottom. They can't stand up to 60 or 80 of the best skiers in the world. Yesterday was the only day in the last 10 days where conditions were close to ideal. You could see how much the times changes in the latter part of the race - the window of opportunity lasted about 2/3 of the race before the conditions degraded.

Hope that was coherent.

[skiingnow]

You're right there, but I still think the idea that a ski race can be canceled due to snow is a little bit funny. I bet they'd find a way to run the event today except the weather is supposed to clear up from here on out.

low vis will cancel speed event. Not much the organizers can do about low clouds and poor vis. Plus as mentioned above the snow is a lot softer lower down which makes the course dangerous.

The last thing the organizers want is to cancel an event. It puts A LOT of strain on the volunteer course crew and slippers.

The forcast is for sun after this system passes so why not wait for better conditions for the racers and cameras?

[The AD]

Both tracks are extremely soft at the bottom.

Which leads to another question I had: was there ever any consideration of having the courses higher on the mountain? Personally, I think it would be very cool to start the downhill in the alpine. Maybe start by coming down the Saddle. That way they could avoid the soft snow near Creekside.

[skiingnow]

Which leads to another question I had: was there ever any consideration of having the courses higher on the mountain? Personally, I think it would be very cool to start the downhill in the alpine. Maybe start by coming down the Saddle. That way they could avoid the soft snow near Creekside.

that probably would have been better but it would have been more of an impact on mountain operations and half of the olympics is the show and spectator access which is best where the race currently ends.

[The AD]

half of the olympics is the show and spectator access which is best where the race currently ends.

That would definitely be the downside, but isn't the current finish area a ways uphill from Creekside anyway?

[Howie]

Why are all the American snowboarders wearing what looks like jeans? I didn't know Iceman was a pro boardercrosser.

[LeeLau]

What happened to your record Nov. snow fall Whistler-Blackcomb??

Hey man its BC, they're all high on that great bud.

Not to interject any thing remotely factual into the usual TGR- I-don't know the fuck Im talking about but I'm going to open my mouth and say something stupid just to say it - moment but

Skiing in Whistler Blackcomb is just fine.

Next question?

[Snow Ranger]

so I assume ^^this^^ is why I'm sitting at home watching the downhill instead of watching the snowboard cross up at Cypress. Pretty sure I'd be able to stay on my feet without killing myself up there. Jesus if I wasn't on such a high from the last three awesome days, if this was my only event, I'd be fucking pissed right now

It was slushy and a bit slippery at Cypress yesterday but the area was pretty flat. I could see it being a gong show if the terrain was uneven

The safety issue is that the standing room area is on about a foot of snow placed on top of straw bails. The straw bails were flown in and weigh like 1000 pounds. Some of the bails do not line up flush and there are gaps. The snow that was pushed on top of the straw didnt fill in all the gaps. People working in the area were postholing thru the snow and into these gaps basically three foot holes, I saw a guy nearly break his leg and another almost blow out a knee. The reason straw and snow had to be flown in is because the finish area before the straw and heli flown snow was bare ground (mud). Plus the design of the trim on the grandstand has about three feet of exposed scafolding beneath the graphics and straw bails where used to create the illusion of deep snow and hide the scaffolding

[wbsr]

They are running Creekside Gondola and Garbanzo chair 24 hours a day to allow the Weasel workers to maintain the ski runs. No machine grooming, all by hand now.

[SchralphMacchio]

The safety issue is that the standing room area is on about a foot of snow placed on top of straw bails. The straw bails were flown in and weigh like 1000 pounds. Some of the bails do not line up flush and there are gaps. The snow that was pushed on top of the straw didnt fill in all the gaps. People working in the area were postholing thru the snow and into these gaps basically three foot holes, I saw a guy nearly break his leg and another almost blow out a knee. The reason straw and snow had to be flown in is because the finish area before the straw and heli flown snow was bare ground (mud). Plus the design of the trim on the grandstand has about three feet of exposed scafolding beneath the graphics and straw bails where used to create the illusion of deep snow and hide the scaffolding

Thanks for posting that, makes a lot of sense. One thing the public and media don't really seem to understand is the difference between Cypress and Whistler/Blackcomb.

[wren]

They are running Creekside Gondola and Garbanzo chair 24 hours a day to allow the Weasel workers to maintain the ski runs. No machine grooming, all by hand now.

wow. very impressive. those guys are working super hard.

[carvedog]

Snowboard cross - wow - how did the Canadian lose that lead?

Nice to see Mr. Anti Establishment take a spill.

I like to think it was something to do with the very fine tuning of my friend Curtis Bacca, who tuned Seth's board, but there is prolly some talent on Westcotts part too.

http://waxroom.com/

Interesting reaction when Bode looked up and saw he got beat by 4/100ths - an instant smile. As opposed to the spambots steely grimace. Fuck I thought skiing and ski racing was supposed to be fun.

[Dantheman]

I thought it was sad and shocking how low the level was in that competition. Boarders flailing all over the place and sliding out in turns without even bring touched.

I think it was just a reflection of how bad the conditions were on the course. When you have world-class riders flailing like that there is usually a good reason.

[skiingnow]

That would definitely be the downside, but isn't the current finish area a ways uphill from Creekside anyway?

The race ends at the timing flats which is at an elevation of 825m.
Creekside is at 650m

The top of the Dave Murray is 1680m.

[Singel]

If we thought the men were bad, the women were appalling. It looked like a gargantuan struggle to make it down the course on their own in qually. The races oughtta be exciting seeing 4 of them try at once...or not.

[Woodlandclown]

if the course is giving snowbaords this much trouble, they better alter it a lot or there are going to be many ski cross injuries.

[The AD]

The race ends at the timing flats which is at an elevation of 825m.
Creekside is at 650m

The top of the Dave Murray is 1680m.

I thought men's Olympic downhills had to be at least a 1,000 meter descent?

edit: answering my own question. According to this the vertical must be 800-1000 meters.

[Singel]

Is it just me or did the snowboard cross chick seem high in her post race interview? Second coming of Rebagliatti? Maybe she's just french?

[shirk]

if the course is giving snowbaords this much trouble, they better alter it a lot or there are going to be many ski cross injuries.

Last year on mostly the same course the ski cross guys loved it. One of the more technical and fast paced courses on the circuit.

I'll be on the course as of tomorrow so I will be able to inform on what gets changed and how the guys like it.