Lindsey Vonn: Living Legend

[mraynrand]

Not being a skier, I only casually listened during the Olympics. Now, a lot of people are talking about it. What were the issues with the course? How would someone extract "payback"?

We'll have to wait for Howard, because I don't know too much more than you. Payback - I assume you can change up the gates to a configuration that is more alien to others and more familiar to your team and/or friends.

[red]

reading The Times again, are we Howard?

Did the same lunatic design the women's Slalom course as the Men's? Will there be some payback in Korea in 2018?

probably not. i would guess it was set up by the gold medal winners mom

[red]

Not being a skier, I only casually listened during the Olympics. Now, a lot of people are talking about it. What were the issues with the course? How would someone extract "payback"?

the courses that they usually ski on are build for speed, with some high speed turns thrown in. at the olympics, the guy who designed the course (who was also the father and coach of a medal winner) set up a course that had a ton of tight curves that forced the skiers to lose all speed they had

its basically like taking a ferrari and throwing it in a traffic jam. speed no longer matters, so the slower less talented guys are now in the running.

it also doesn't help that the skiers don't get to ski on the coarse or try it out before its time to race, they just get to look at it. so obviously the kid whos dad/coach set the coarse up to suit his sons ability and told him all the little tricks, has the clear advantage

[mraynrand]

payback could come Jeff Gillooly style!

"Why me?! Why me???"

[HowardRoark]

We'll have to wait for Howard, because I don't know too much more than you. Payback - I assume you can change up the gates to a configuration that is more alien to others and more familiar to your team and/or friends.

I’ve skied my whole life all over the world, but when my sons got into racing 4 years ago I felt like an absolute neophyte and still do when it comes to the sport of racing. There is so much to learn on the intricacies of it all when it comes to the fractions of seconds. I just write checks and wax and tune skis. Whenever I offer any advice I am quickly reminded that I never raced in my life.

You need to ask Freak Out about it…….

The irony is that we never saw much of the Olympics; always practicing or at races. I did catch a little of that Super G race (I think women) with that gate right after the jump……7 of the first 8 DNFed. That was strange to watch.

I know even at our level there is bickering about course set up. When the Junior Olympics are held in Colorado and the Vail Club is up to set courses, they are able to set in a manner that they have been practicing…….obviously the Midwestern kids are at multiple disadvantages; they can’t really practice speed events at all, and obviously not a specific course. But we (our club in particular) clean up in slalom because we can get in so many gates during the week. A rope tow and lights makes for very good training; lots and lots of repetition. Mountain kids actually come to Minneapolis over Christmas to practice for the week.

[mraynrand]

^^^ Is the powder vs. ice thing a big deal?

[HowardRoark]

^^^ Is the powder vs. ice thing a big deal?

There is no powder at all in racing.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/vancouver/snow-injection.htm

[mraynrand]

Downhill speed skating on skis. Crazy; I did not know that.

[red]

yeah, pretty soon we won't even need snow for some skiing events

i noticed on the ski jump they didn't have snow on the jump, it was a ceramic track with groves cut in it so the skis couldn't move around too much. perfect jumps everytime

it was just weird to see, i watch ski jumping live every year and i've never seen artificial tracks before

ice on a ski run is also odd, cause in normal everyday skiing, solid ice is the last thing you ever want to be on

[mraynrand]

yeah, pretty soon we won't even need snow for some skiing events

i noticed on the ski jump they didn't have snow on the jump, it was a ceramic track with groves cut in it so the skis couldn't move around too much. perfect jumps everytime

it was just weird to see, i watch ski jumping live every year and i've never seen artificial tracks before

ice on a ski run is also odd, cause in normal everyday skiing, solid ice is the last thing you ever want to be on

I guess the lesson here is that racing is a lot different than your weekend outing at the local ski hill. And that sports at the high end are just getting more extreme and specialized.

I missed the luge this year. I assume that's still some crazy people going down an ice tube on their backs on a midget sled with two blades between them and the ice.

[woodbuck27]

There is no powder at all in racing.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sport...-injection.htm

That makes as their racing not skiing.

[red]

can someone explain to me how the process of putting salt on the snow prevents it from melting?

every X-country or biathlon event they showed they talked about how that course had been treated the night before with salt so the course wouldn't melt like all the other snow in the area. i think they might have also done this for downhill and snowboard events too

now, i've spent most of my life living in areas where we deal with snow and ice 6 months out of the year. if i know one thing, its that salt melts snow and ice

so what gives? were the nbc guys just full of shit talking about the salt preventing melting, or is there something else to it?

[HowardRoark]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salting_ski_race_course#Salting

fertilizer too

[red]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salting...course#Salting

fertilizer too

the part that gets me is this

These ions lower the freezing point of the snow, which hardens the surface

i would have thought that lowering the freezing point, which would also lower the melting point, would turn it into more of a melted slushy mess.

thats just weird imo. i would have thought in order to save the ice and make it harder you would raise the freezing point, so that it would stay frozen at , lets say 40 degrees

i do remember them mentioning the use of urea, i got a chuckle and figured it must really smell like piss out there

[woodbuck27]

the part that gets me is this



i would have thought that lowering the freezing point, which would also lower the melting point, would turn it into more of a melted slushy mess.

thats just weird imo. i would have thought in order to save the ice and make it harder you would raise the freezing point, so that it would stay frozen at , lets say 40 degrees

i do remember them mentioning the use of urea, i got a chuckle and figured it must really smell like piss out there

There you go using common knowledge and sense.



Piss !