Crews jumped in with shovels and slippers worked non-stop. Coaches tried to help although our slipping instructions may have been lost in translation.
The program was pushed back to ensure that today‘s training run was on a solid track with no snow accumulations to get in the way. Athletes warmup & inspection pushed back 45 minutes and the start time pushed back 30 minutes. Consultation with the Connection Coaches, athletes representatives and the jury came to the same conclusion to start today’s training run from the Men’s SuperG start. It would give the ladies a chance to focus on how to ski the jumps and not worry about the Gully so much.
Congratulations to the Men’s Crew for pulling off a great Downhill and a very challenging SuperG after a tough, tough week. Achieving the requisite training run Friday was impressive following the rain on Thursday. I was up on Upper Wiwaxy on Sunday during the SuperG and after the race, I slid down into the rainforest from C Turn to the finish. Lots of wet jackets on the mountain…….but lots of smiles too.
After a warm rainy start to Thursday, we woke up to a crisp, clear-ish Friday morning. The forecast held, the previous day’s plans came together and lo and behold – we were ready for a training run…..from the top top start.
I wasn’t alone at 5:45 Wednesday morning waiting for the coffee to be ready in the lodge. There were a number of Sled Dogs who probably had the same idea of ‘well, I am up, I might as well go to the hill’.
We weren’t as early as Mike Kirker and our cat drivers as they were already out grooming out the snow that fell overnight.
Crews cycled the lifts steadily to push, shovel, plow and cat snow off the course. The great effort allowed for the athletes to get a couple of warm up runs from Curtain to the Finish. The teams came back around for inspection while the crews continued working. The warm weather and heavy snow just made things too soft to have our training run….but it was ideal for a snowball fight. Crews stayed busy in the afternoon sidelining B nets so the cats could groom more of the hill.
The loss of a training run did not dampen the spirits of everyone who attended another awesome Barn Party. The boys of SUDS had everyone toe-tapping and line dancing right from the get go….it might also have been the beer and wine that was waiting at the bar. Once again, we enjoyed an awesome meal and some Sled Dogs saved room for pie. The Canadian Alpine Ski Team dropped in for a visit and dinner. We hope to put (at least) one of them on the podium this weekend
We honored our new Sled Dog Belt Buckle recipients – Irma Hurlbert, Rudy Zellman, Lynne Gibson, Doug Wylie, Marina Perry & Tim Mearns. Congratulations!
Our very special guest and fellow Sled Dog, Fred Bosinger was honoured as the recipient of the 2017 Winterstart Award. Fred was joined by Margaret and several members of his family. The standing ovation for our Fred was great and to see him holding his award above his head will always be remembered.
The rain came in overnight as forecasted. It was a bit slickery coming out of the Barn Party which delayed the buses from getting the last of the line dancers back to the village. I think after a very long day, they didn’t mind sticking around and enjoying the Barn a bit longer.