Whistler Olympic Park
After the WC racing finished on Sunday I took the chance to ski the race trails as well as some of the public trails (fully separated from the race trails). The race trails took a little flak from the racers after the racing took place – “too easy” and “shameful” were words bandied about by a few of the elite racers. Not the words Olympic organizers were hoping to hear I’m sure. Thought I would add my 2 cents to the debate. My thoughts are of course worth about 2 cents as I am not nor have I ever been a world cup racer. My thoughts are also based on the snow conditions which I had for the few days I was there. The snow was lightening fast hard pack (perfectly groomed!). Mostly transformed icy snow with repeated freeze-thaw cycles over the few days leading up to the events. The area could easily be buried in lots (and lots) of wet, soft snow as the coastal mountains often get and the conditions – and therefore trails feel could change dramatically. Maps of the courses can be seen
here (beware they are big files that take a while to download).
In essence the courses are two interwoven 5k trails that start out of a stadium area. One course is designed for classic races and one is designed for skating. Each loop can be subdivided into varying lengths to make up the appropriate distance required for a race and – as is typical with World Cup racing - multiple laps of the same loop are required to get the full distance. For example the 30k pursuit for the Men did 4 laps of the classic course (3.75k) and then 4 laps of the skate course (3.75k). Spectators get to see the racers 9 times through the stadium over the course of the race. The individual loops don’t really go anywhere either. Rather they switch back and forth on the hillside above the stadium so in fact much of the race plays out in front of the spectators who only occasionally visually lose track of the racers
Of the two loops, the classic course is probably harder. It has some significantly steep climbs followed immediately by some steep drops with fast technical turns at the bottom, then right back into a steep climb. The only really flat part of the classic loop is the stadium area… once out on the course it’s either climbing or descending with not much else in between. From a pure climbers viewpoint none of the climbs are overly long – the longest being maybe 400m. The pure climber (Piller- Cotter? Babikov?) would bemoan that this isn’t long enough to make a significant gap on the competition… and if he isn’t good technically on the descent any gap will be eaten up on the next downhill thus nullifying the attack.
The skate course has significantly less climbing. The climbs that it does have are sharp and steep but mostly less than 100m in length. The skating course does have much more rhythm to it with constantly changing ups and downs. A skier with good transitional technique will find this an easier trail, but how much of a gap can be created on transitional technique alone? This stretch could be much more conducive to some very fast tempo skiing, stringing out a field and dropping off the pretenders. Like the skate course, the Biathalon has a separate trail for its events and I found it to be a trail with the most rhythm to it. Fast descents, tough climbs(but not overly long) and a nice transitional feel between the two. Overall a fun challenge.
Is this the most challenging set of race trails ever made? Who knows. Perhaps they lend themselves more to the team tactics we saw in the World Cup pursuit. Of course not every Olympic race is a mass start. The individual start courses will have a different feel to them altogether. As for the sprint courses they were all deemed challenging if only because they were long (for a sprint) but they did have some tricky corners which could lead to some action as they fight for the medals. Will this course determine Olympic Champions…well of course. A race will be run and someone will win. I for one will be watching and expect a good show.
After the WC racing finished on Sunday I took the chance to ski the race trails as well as some of the public trails (fully separated from the race trails). The race trails took a little flak from the racers after the racing took place – “too easy” and “shameful” were words bandied about by a few of the elite racers. Not the words Olympic organizers were hoping to hear I’m sure. Thought I would add my 2 cents to the debate. My thoughts are of course worth about 2 cents as I am not nor have I ever been a world cup racer. My thoughts are also based on the snow conditions which I had for the few days I was there. The snow was lightening fast hard pack (perfectly groomed!). Mostly transformed icy snow with repeated freeze-thaw cycles over the few days leading up to the events. The area could easily be buried in lots (and lots) of wet, soft snow as the coastal mountains often get and the conditions – and therefore trails feel could change dramatically. Maps of the courses can be seen here (beware they are big files that take a while to download). 
In essence the courses are two interwoven 5k trails that start out of a stadium area. One course is designed for classic races and one is designed for skating. Each loop can be subdivided into varying lengths to make up the appropriate distance required for a race and – as is typical with World Cup racing - multiple laps of the same loop are required to get the full distance. For example the 30k pursuit for the Men did 4 laps of the classic course (3.75k) and then 4 laps of the skate course (3.75k). Spectators get to see the racers 9 times through the stadium over the course of the race. The individual loops don’t really go anywhere either. Rather they switch back and forth on the hillside above the stadium so in fact much of the race plays out in front of the spectators who only occasionally visually lose track of the racers
Of the two loops, the classic course is probably harder. It has some significantly steep climbs followed immediately by some steep drops with fast technical turns at the bottom, then right back into a steep climb. The only really flat part of the classic loop is the stadium area… once out on the course it’s either climbing or descending with not much else in between. From a pure climbers viewpoint none of the climbs are overly long – the longest being maybe 400m. The pure climber (Piller- Cotter? Babikov?) would bemoan that this isn’t long enough to make a significant gap on the competition… and if he isn’t good technically on the descent any gap will be eaten up on the next downhill thus nullifying the attack.
The skate course has significantly less climbing. The climbs that it does have are sharp and steep but mostly less than 100m in length. The skating course does have much more rhythm to it with constantly changing ups and downs. A skier with good transitional technique will find this an easier trail, but how much of a gap can be created on transitional technique alone? This stretch could be much more conducive to some very fast tempo skiing, stringing out a field and dropping off the pretenders. Like the skate course, the Biathalon has a separate trail for its events and I found it to be a trail with the most rhythm to it. Fast descents, tough climbs(but not overly long) and a nice transitional feel between the two. Overall a fun challenge. 
Is this the most challenging set of race trails ever made? Who knows. Perhaps they lend themselves more to the team tactics we saw in the World Cup pursuit. Of course not every Olympic race is a mass start. The individual start courses will have a different feel to them altogether. As for the sprint courses they were all deemed challenging if only because they were long (for a sprint) but they did have some tricky corners which could lead to some action as they fight for the medals. Will this course determine Olympic Champions…well of course. A race will be run and someone will win. I for one will be watching and expect a good show.
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