Whistler World Cup Ski Races
Took some time off to head out to the West Coast (or should I say the warm coast) to see the World Cup ski races at the Whistler Olympic Park. This was a test event for next years Olympics so I thought it would be a great chance to see some racing on the trails. I had been looking to head out west anyway as my brother and family are out in Vancouver for a year’s sabbatical. Timing a visit with them, and a World Cup ski race, and maybe get a little skiing in myself… seemed too good a combination to miss out on. I had debated flying out west when the World Cup schedule came to SilverStar three years ago. I waffled over the decision, in the end didn’t go and regretted it as I watched the racing at home on TV. Following big league ski racing is a challenge here in Canada. For years all we got was perhaps some box scores in the local paper and eventually (usually in the spring) a magazine covering the seasons racing might hit the racks. Of late things have improved a lot with the internet providing streaming coverage of most races and more commentary and blogs than you can shake a stick at… but watching a ski race on a 2 inch You Tube screen just isn’t the same as being there. Time for me to right that omission in my sports viewing history.
Flying out on Friday to Vancouver I left Ottawa behind with -30C weather (-39C windchill) and stepped off the plane to +8C and fog… this was turning out to be great all round! After the drive up the Sea to Sky and a short night’s sleep (still on east coast time) I was up and at Whistler Olympic Park early under beautiful blue skies. The parking attendant couldn’t believe a spectator had already arrived. “No racing for hours yet”, she said. True, but I wanted to take it all in. Crews setting the stadium, wax techs furiously testing skis, athletes arriving and warming up… all building to race time which came far too fast. I was somewhat disappointed that a good number of the top skiers opted to stay at home. Understandable that they have a busy schedule of races in Europe and one weekend on the other side of the planet would only serve to stress their systems and risk illness or injury which could jeopordize their year… I guess I’ll have to go to a race in Europe to see them all race on the same day. That said there was enough of an elite field here and the Canadian and US skiers are making inroads on the top flite of skiers so the racing was good none the less. First up was the Men’s Pursuit (15+15k) where the Italian squad made a strong team statement controlling the pace until team leader Pietro Piller-Cotter dropped the hammer with a few laps remaining and left everyone in his wake. After a brief break in the action (time to take in some Nordic Combined at the ski Jumps next door) the Womens Pursuit was off.
No team tactics here. The women took off from the opening gun stringing out the field. Justyna Kowalczyk pulled away from her only competition in the end for a good victory. And then the Nordic combined guys took the trails and put on a good show as an added bonus. Sunday – early again (still on east coast time) - I was back at the stadium ready for the Team Sprints which proved another good day of racing capped by Alex Harvey and George Gray pulling out a 3rd place in the final race of the day. Lots of photos of all the racing
here
Sprinters rounding the last turn in the dash for home
The venue at Whistler Olympic Park in the Callaghan valley is quite a good one with the Jumps, Cross Country and Biathalon all just a short walk from each other and the mountains making for a stunning backdrop. Talking to some of the volunteers it should be interesting to see it next year with temporary grandstands built for 12,000 spectators at each venue. Glad I came this year as I was able to walk around quite freely to various points on the course while the races took place. That surely won’t be possible next year. More interesting still will be the transportation of these spectators as there will be no one allowed to drive into the valley and park during the events. The venue is quite a ways from anything - even Whistler is 20 minutes drive - so there will have to be a significant number of shuttles set up. Vanoc has yet to clarify how exactly that will work (even to the volunteers) but I’m sure they will come up with something. After the races on Sunday I went off to ski some of the trails… but more on that in my next blog.
Took some time off to head out to the West Coast (or should I say the warm coast) to see the World Cup ski races at the Whistler Olympic Park. This was a test event for next years Olympics so I thought it would be a great chance to see some racing on the trails. I had been looking to head out west anyway as my brother and family are out in Vancouver for a year’s sabbatical. Timing a visit with them, and a World Cup ski race, and maybe get a little skiing in myself… seemed too good a combination to miss out on. I had debated flying out west when the World Cup schedule came to SilverStar three years ago. I waffled over the decision, in the end didn’t go and regretted it as I watched the racing at home on TV. Following big league ski racing is a challenge here in Canada. For years all we got was perhaps some box scores in the local paper and eventually (usually in the spring) a magazine covering the seasons racing might hit the racks. Of late things have improved a lot with the internet providing streaming coverage of most races and more commentary and blogs than you can shake a stick at… but watching a ski race on a 2 inch You Tube screen just isn’t the same as being there. Time for me to right that omission in my sports viewing history. 
Flying out on Friday to Vancouver I left Ottawa behind with -30C weather (-39C windchill) and stepped off the plane to +8C and fog… this was turning out to be great all round! After the drive up the Sea to Sky and a short night’s sleep (still on east coast time) I was up and at Whistler Olympic Park early under beautiful blue skies. The parking attendant couldn’t believe a spectator had already arrived. “No racing for hours yet”, she said. True, but I wanted to take it all in. Crews setting the stadium, wax techs furiously testing skis, athletes arriving and warming up… all building to race time which came far too fast. I was somewhat disappointed that a good number of the top skiers opted to stay at home. Understandable that they have a busy schedule of races in Europe and one weekend on the other side of the planet would only serve to stress their systems and risk illness or injury which could jeopordize their year… I guess I’ll have to go to a race in Europe to see them all race on the same day. That said there was enough of an elite field here and the Canadian and US skiers are making inroads on the top flite of skiers so the racing was good none the less. First up was the Men’s Pursuit (15+15k) where the Italian squad made a strong team statement controlling the pace until team leader Pietro Piller-Cotter dropped the hammer with a few laps remaining and left everyone in his wake. After a brief break in the action (time to take in some Nordic Combined at the ski Jumps next door) the Womens Pursuit was off.
No team tactics here. The women took off from the opening gun stringing out the field. Justyna Kowalczyk pulled away from her only competition in the end for a good victory. And then the Nordic combined guys took the trails and put on a good show as an added bonus. Sunday – early again (still on east coast time) - I was back at the stadium ready for the Team Sprints which proved another good day of racing capped by Alex Harvey and George Gray pulling out a 3rd place in the final race of the day. Lots of photos of all the racing here
The venue at Whistler Olympic Park in the Callaghan valley is quite a good one with the Jumps, Cross Country and Biathalon all just a short walk from each other and the mountains making for a stunning backdrop. Talking to some of the volunteers it should be interesting to see it next year with temporary grandstands built for 12,000 spectators at each venue. Glad I came this year as I was able to walk around quite freely to various points on the course while the races took place. That surely won’t be possible next year. More interesting still will be the transportation of these spectators as there will be no one allowed to drive into the valley and park during the events. The venue is quite a ways from anything - even Whistler is 20 minutes drive - so there will have to be a significant number of shuttles set up. Vanoc has yet to clarify how exactly that will work (even to the volunteers) but I’m sure they will come up with something. After the races on Sunday I went off to ski some of the trails… but more on that in my next blog.
1 comment:
Something for us all to aspire to...a vacation at Whistler, that is!
Post a Comment