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. I drove the FIS Race Directors back to Calgary to fly to Beaver Creek and they were most complimentary of everyone’s efforts in really tough conditions. Nice work Sled Dogs! You know they will be back next November.
Sunday’s crash was the best advertising for our World Famous Net Monkeys. The skiers right net on Fallaway worked perfectly for GBR’s Jack Gower as it safely bright him to a stop to race another day. The video showing how well the net worked is impressive. So, for all of your A Net installation & maintenance needs, please contact the Net Monkeys.
From Dave Pym, the Managing Director of the Canadian Snowsports Association (CSA) after the downhill… “Incredible. No DNF. Full marks to organizing committee and the best crew of volleys ever”
After the SuperG., he added in a text: “Brilliant Execution by organizing committee. Well done by all. Spectacular on TV. Great course set by Hannes. Jumps were great. Sled Dog team did well. From TV – the course looked in fabulous shape at the end.”
We transition to Ladies Week with some Sled Dogs staying on and a whole new energized team supporting them on the track. Yesterday, we successfully ran test pilots down the course, tore down the men’s upper start nets and fencing and continued with a buff and shine in advance of today’s training run. The track has definitely gotten a lot slicker – so helmets were the order of the day.
The ladies free ski/warm up from Curtain went very smoothly. In fact, the last of the athletes were down before well before the 30 minute time window was up. Athlete Inspection was uneventful as the snowflakes started to fly. And as forecasted, the snow kept falling all day but after great prep by the crews, the training run went quite well.
Slippers, rakers and dye crews were kept very busy for the entire run. Great first training run effort. It is always fantastic to get an early training run in the can. It brings the anxiety levels down inside and outside the fences. The Medical Team was called into action today as an athlete was long-lined off the course from just below Waterfall. Nice team effort getting her assessed and safely off the mountain.
The forecast has the snow continuing overnight…….but we can handle it.
Right now there are big fat snowflakes are floating straight down.
Enjoy the evening – it is well deserved.
Nama-ski,
B.