Morning Chill Greets Skiers, Wax Techs for Olympics Freestyle Races
Monday, February 15th, 2010
Polish wax technicians out testing this morning before the start of the freestyle 10/15k in Whistler
After a textbook Whistler snow squall on Sunday, a new weather system has moved in for today, bringing with it clear skies and cooler temperatures. It’s currently 27 degrees at Whistler Olympic Park, with highs predicted to reach just 35–significantly cooler than the last few days.
German Head Coach Jochen Behle told FasterSkier this morning that organizers groomed very late, which hasn’t given the course much time to set up. While the racing should be fast, frozen granular for the women, he said that it may soften up again by the time the men go off in the afternoon.
Fans were already trickling in two hours before the start of the races. Pressure is high on the Scandinavians this morning, according to a couple of international journalists. Sweden hasn’t yet won a single medal in this Games, and Norway only has Emil Hegle Svendsen’s silver from yesterday. The women’s race going off at prime time in those countries, and the spotlights are on Marit Bjoergen (NOR), Petter Northug (NOR), Charlotte Kalla (SWE), and Marcus Hellner (SWE).
Tags: Charlotte Kalla, Conditions, Jochen Behle, Marcus Hellner, Marit Bjoergen, Olympics, Petter Northug, Whistler Olympic Park
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Big Day for Americans in Whistler
Sunday, February 14th, 2010The rain has finally stopped here at Whistler Olympic Park, with temperatures running a little bit cooler. The forecast calls for a high of 39 degrees, with a 40 percent chance of flurries.
The jumping round of the nordic combined competition kicks things off at 10 AM PST. The 10k men’s biathlon sprint is next at 11:15, followed by the nordic combined 10k at 1:45. We’ll do our best to bring you coverage from both sports. Stay tuned!
The jumps at Whistler Olympic Park
NBC Olympic Cross-Country Skiing Page
Friday, February 12th, 2010Incase you have not checked it out yet there is some fun stuff to look at on the NBC Olympic Cross-Country Skiing page. We are especially fond of the shirt Andy Newell decided to wear for some of his modeling. Check out Newell’s gallery here.
Support Your Olympic Heros
Thursday, February 11th, 2010The Leavenworth Junior Nordic Team sent us this photo to share with their Olympic hero Torin Koos. So we ask you, who is your hero? Let them feel the support from back home by sending us a photo or a video to share with them.
You should also feel free to use the comment section of this post to do the same.
As a Nordic community we are all behind our Olympic teams!
Torin also received these warm wishes and photo from MBSEF.
Ski Fast,
Dan Simoneau on behalf of everyone at MBSEF.
Olympic Skiers Make Final Preparation
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010While some nations went to Canmore for the final World Cup before the Olympics others chose to have training camps elsewhere. Norway settled into Sun Valley, ID while many others took to the trails of Silver Star.
Team Sprint Preview
Sunday, January 18th, 2009The US and Canada will run four teams each in both the men’s and women’s sprint relays tomorrow.
The teams are listed below in seeded order. The listing also represents running order within the team. The obvious favorites are Torin Koos and Andy Newell. Coming of a career best fourth place finish in Dusseldorf, the two are a legitimate podium contender. The team of Kris Freeman and Garrott Kuzzy could be interesting. Kris performs very well in domestic sprints and his competitiveness lends itself to the head to head format. Both he and Kuzzy would like to end the weekend on a strong note. Kuzzy was disqualified from his sprint heat for false starting twice, and Kris’ race today was a self described “bust” after he blew up just after the halfway mark.
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Arriving in Whistler
Thursday, January 15th, 2009
The drive to Whistler is spectacular. Vancouver was completely socked in with fog. Buildings and roads were plenty visible, but no panoramic views of ocean and distant mountains. It took nearly an hour to get out of Vancouver and actually start making progress along the Sea to Sky Highway. Occasionally the road gained enough altitude to peak out, catch a little sun, and a glimpse of what was to come.
After 45 minutes of driving that line was crossed for good, and the mountains rose up in front.
Construction everywhere – roads, airport, other infrastructure. Things will look quite different in a year. The Whistler Olympic Park is completely centralized – jumping, cross-country, and biathlon are all right there – excellent for spectating. Overall, the venue was quiet. A small crowd watched the Nordic Combined practice jumps in the warm sun, and volunteers and workers were busy at all sorts of tasks. BUt nobody seemed particularly rushed.
The trails look beautiful as the above photo attests. Television cameras await Saturday’s distance action. In Canmore, it was possible to get on the course after the events and take a spin. It doesn’t appear that this will be an option this week, but we’ll see. There are plenty of other options for skiing, and recreational trails remain open during the events.
The Olympic icon.
While the crowd wasn’t large (and there were more people standing), the Nordic Combined jumping action was exciting. While the round is technically practice, it is fully scored, and in the event of weather issues tomorrow, this round would be counted. Billy Demong jumped very well and finsihed third. The field features most of the top skiers, but like the cross-country, is not as deep as usual.
Billy Demong finishing his final jump of the day. He currently sits in fourth overall on the World Cup and along with teammates Johnny Spillane and Todd Lodwick, give the US three in the 20 overall.
The cross-country stadium was busy with final preparations and wax testing for tomorrow’s sprint. The sprint course winds up above the stadium and the general consensus is that double poling on skate skis will not be the best option tomorrow. US Ski Team Coach Chris Grover noted that on a hard icy day, the tactic might be appropriate.
The finish area. Grooming and layout decisions being made.
Swiss timing handles timing and results for all World Cup events.
The wax rooms – again it was very quiet around here – techs and coaches hard at work, but no sense of urgency – everything under control. The warm sunny weather, and the small field probably help on this front.
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