February 23 - Men's GS (Giant Slalom)

Well, back to usual hours: 5:30 breakfast, 6:15 Section and Crew Chief meeting, 6:30 upload. Work much less complicated as track down to half initial length as only events remaining are GS and slalom. What I missed yesterday was a day of tear down of B-Nets, A-nets, etc. on upper sections no longer being used. Today was usual pre-race prep: making sure we had 2 people looking after each gate, ensuring all equipment was at hand (drills, gate keys, wedges, hammers, extra gate poles and banners).

For those not familiar, gate pole is installed by drilling hole in icy snow. The gate pole has at its base (bottom) a large screw, attached by a flexible spring to rest of pole. Bottom tip of screw is inserted into hole. A special "key: fits around the gate pole, is lowerd to top of "screw" and inserts into notches of screw. Handles of key are then used to screw gate into snow. When racer hits gate pole, it flexes at spring, screw maintains secure insertion in snow.

During the race, screw can come loose, so we always run out between racers to enbsure screw is tight. If thread is stripped, we have wood wedges to bang into the space between the screw and edge of hole to resecure gate pole. If gate pole can no longer be secured where it was, we are allowed to move it down the hill by no more than 4 inches, a distance unlikely to change the racer's line.

Additional work includes shaving the edges of ruts formed by racers' ski edge, raking away accumulating loose snow, repositioning gate banners when they are knocked off gate when skier hits it. Best racers (top 30) are run at long intervals, but from 31 on, only 40 second intervals so anything that needs to get done must be done quickly. We always keep counting to ourselves as we do our work, making sure to get out of track and "spill zone" well before racer comes. The spill zone is not where racer skis, but where he may end up if he falls.

Giant slalom truly reflects the Olympics philosophy of participation by as many countries as possible. There were 103 racers, huge for a world class ski race. Many of later racers came from countries one would not associate with snow, skiing, or racing. The racers were clealry not in the same class as top racers, but their participation truly showed what the Olympics are supposed to be about. The reality of course is thatother racers fromcountries such as Canada are much better than some of racers in Olympics, but each country is limited to 4 competitors.

We ran 2 runs of GS without a single "stop-start", term used when scheduled racer start is delayed due to reapirs needed on course or an athlete who falls and cannot get out of track in time. Thus a pretty amazing accomplishment, and due to great work by all those caring for gates.

Although I am supposed to work tomorrow, entire men's crew given day off. Only one more race to get off for men, the slalom on Saturday Feb 27, so no major work that cannot be started on Feb 25. So I will get to ski with onah and Roanne, all day, and it is snowing out, so it is bedtime for early (well, not as early for me!) start to a dsay of fun.