Another Race In The Books - One More To Go!

I can't believe that I have only one more day left! I am very sad to know that the end of my incredible Olympic Adventure will be over tomorrow!

Today was a very similar day to Wednesday except the vilibility was better. There was a little less snow but it was incredibly sticky thus making it very hard to shovel as it just packed down on everything. We boarded the Goldola a little after 3 AM - like the previous day it was dark, foggy and snowy! We headed down the course sideslipping snow as we went. We were bound for the last jump - Hot Air where we finally were able to spread some fertilizer (AKA "Product") on the soft snow. Remember that we had spent the previous 3 races waiting for our opportunity to spread product in order to harden the very soft course - now we were finally able to do the job we were trained for (trained is not really appropriate as we actually had no formal training!) We prepared everything for later then went back up top for a break. The key to using product is that it takes time to set up you have to apply it at least an hour ahead in order for it to work properly. There was a lot of discussion amongst the course workers and officials regarding the application of product. What we decided to use was the following method: on your skis holding a large bucket in one hand throw handfuls of product over the course to lightly coat it. It is best if it is followed by water but since the snow held so much moisture it wasn't necessary.

Our crew was divided up during the race in order to apply product in various locations. Tracy and I ended up in a great place - the bottom of Treeline top of X-Y Junction. We could watch the ladies come down the steep pitch and on to the flats. It was really great! The rest of the crew were around the last pitch. The 4 Canadian girls were all in the top 30 - good showing!

It is 8 pm and I have another 3:00 AM load tomorrow morning. I am going to sleep. The Ladies Slalom is tomorrow and 5 of my crew have been selected to man gates - Tracy, Mike, Gord, Bob and myself! I am very fortunate to have this opportunity to work directly on the course during the race. I need to get to bed in order to do a good job!

Here is the link to today's pictures (no captions): http://picasaweb.google.ca/janeluv2ski/JaneSOlympicAdventure14?feat=directlink

Here are Bob Beiersdorfer's pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.ca/janeluv2ski/BobBSOlympicAdventure?feat=directlink