Another spell of bad weather has moved in to Whistler Mountain. We loaded the Gondola at 5:00 AM in order to clear all the snow from the track. Picture this - dark, foggy, snowy, shoveling snow, getting hot, getting wet then getting cold - that was our morning! After 3 hours of clearing snow we were able to start the race on time.
Unlike speed events the hill does not need to be perfect to run a race. For Giant Slalom the athletes go quite fast but not nearly as fast as they do in Downhill or Super G. Also, the visibility doesn't need to be perfect as it does in speed events.
The first run went well - Linsey Vonn fell right in front of us just below the jump on the last pitch. Her team mate Julia Mancuso was following right behind her and had to be stopped on the course so that she wouldn't collide with Linsey who was tangled in the net. The latest report from Team Vonn is that she has a finger injury - not sure what?
Unfortunately in the afternoon the fog got worse and the visibility diminished. The second run was scheduled to start at at 1:00 pm - then they pushed it to 1:45, then to 2:30 then to 3:00 then the moved it to Thursday at 9:30 am. Our crew needs to load the Gondola at 3:00 AM that means I need to get up at 1:30 - it is 8:00 pm and I am going to bed soon!! It is supposed to snow overnight so I expect that we will be shovelling again in the same brutal conditions!
Falling asleep as I write - have to go to bed!
Unlike speed events the hill does not need to be perfect to run a race. For Giant Slalom the athletes go quite fast but not nearly as fast as they do in Downhill or Super G. Also, the visibility doesn't need to be perfect as it does in speed events.
The first run went well - Linsey Vonn fell right in front of us just below the jump on the last pitch. Her team mate Julia Mancuso was following right behind her and had to be stopped on the course so that she wouldn't collide with Linsey who was tangled in the net. The latest report from Team Vonn is that she has a finger injury - not sure what?
Unfortunately in the afternoon the fog got worse and the visibility diminished. The second run was scheduled to start at at 1:00 pm - then they pushed it to 1:45, then to 2:30 then to 3:00 then the moved it to Thursday at 9:30 am. Our crew needs to load the Gondola at 3:00 AM that means I need to get up at 1:30 - it is 8:00 pm and I am going to bed soon!! It is supposed to snow overnight so I expect that we will be shovelling again in the same brutal conditions!
Falling asleep as I write - have to go to bed!
You rock, Jane! I cannot believe the ungodly, and relentless, schedule you're on - you and all the volunteers - so that this event can happen. I really had no idea! Getting up at 1:30 am! so that you can shovel for 3 hours! There aren't enough exclamation marks to describe it, is there!
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