After an amazing run of track build & safety set up over the last several weeks – we must now shift our mindset to……..RACE mode!
Wednesday is TR1 – it is the first training run for the men here…in 2 years. It has been a long time coming. While the Net Monkeys are buttoning up the last of the A nets – 2B (or not 2B) and a couple of mouse holes – Joanski’s crew could be heard cheering on the radio as they ‘dingled balled’ the last of the vexar/slipskirt,. Today, there has been a whack of B nets installed. The crews worked methodically down the mountain. The Medical crew even grabbed shovels after they had completed their own tasks along the course. A soft spot on Sunset Flats required Darrell to call an audible and voila, a watering program was underway.
Congratulations to all crews.
The new (much) higher start has created challenges for Don Boyce’s start crew, Sharlene’s timing crew and for the cat work and safety installations. When I skied by late in the day – it looked like all of those challenges had been overcome.
If we can stickhandle through the weather in the next few days, starting up high will make for a great event. Even in the flat light, the orange gates and panels looked great.
Please take last night’s Safety Meeting presentation to heart. Our primary goal is to get everyone down safely while still running an awesome event. Training runs aren’t just for the racers, they are for our crews as well. We get to become more practiced on the mountain just as the racers do – more practiced on track maintenance, on radio transmissions, on race down protocols and on being attentive about ‘knowing where you are in the race’. Experienced Sled Dogs – please look out for our new Sled Dogs….we want them back next year.
TR1 doesn’t start until after noon but there will still be lots of work to do in the morning – the athletes will be doing a warm up on the course from Curtain Net to above the Finish and during that time period – most of the crews are expected to stand down. The forecast has some snow in it, so expect to jump in and help move it off the course before the training run begins.
Tomorrow, breakfast is at 6 am and lifts spin at 6:30. Bring your headlamp!
Unbelievable effort today by all – be proud of it.
Nama-ski,
Brian