I FEEL THE NEED THE NEED FOR SPEED!
The WMSC FIS athletes headed off on January 17 to Apex Mountain Resort for 2 weeks of training and racing in what, so far, has proven to be, less than ideal speed event conditions. The problem…fog! And lots of it!!!
The first 3 days were spent in a speed camp. Many of the first year athletes were exposed to their first experience on “the big boys”…downhill skis! But Mother Nature was not going to cooperate and training courses were shortened in length due to poor visibility. The weather finally broke and the racers got 2 good days of training runs, a mandatory requirement for Downhill races.
On Friday, the decision was made by the ROC and technical committee that the number of training days would be shortened and racing would commence a day earlier than planned because of an approaching front of bad weather. Mother Nature once again stepped in and, despite all efforts of the ROC, Sunday’s races were cancelled due to poor visibility and the safety risk to the athletes.
Monday comes…let’s try again!
Monday morning…the visibility looked good yet Apex had received 12 cm of new snow over night. Start times were delayed as athletes and course workers alike took to the hill doing slip run after slip run to get the course in race condition. But the fog rolled in again and the women’s race had to be cancelled.
After several delays, the men were finally given the go ahead and racing was on! However after 46 of 75 men had run, the course conditions deteriorated once again and the race was called!
Daniel Kwong placed 9th over all (Way to go!) and had this to say about his run:
“I'm pretty happy with my downhill run today in Apex. The hill was pretty foggy in spots and there was a lot of powder on the race run. We had to do almost six slip runs to prep the course but it was in perfect condition when we were done. My main focuses for today were to push my hands forward and to keep my elbows in during my tuck. I managed to do these when I was racing but only fifty percent of the time. Tomorrow I hope to continue skiing with those cues in mind and to have a more perfected line. Hopefully my results will only get better!”
Davis Wong, a first year FIS athlete, offers his thoughts:
“My first Downhill race was a very interesting experience. During the training days before the race I had very good starting bibs and it continued into the race. Due to my good fortune, and luck of the draw, I started 44th and was the second last racer before they shut the race down due to the fog in certain areas of the course. I was the only first year WMSC athlete to race today and I feel extremely fortunate. Although I did not have a good run, I am very happy to finally not be a 990 in downhill anymore !”
Good luck on Tuesday and let’s hope Mother Nature smiles on you guys!
The first 3 days were spent in a speed camp. Many of the first year athletes were exposed to their first experience on “the big boys”…downhill skis! But Mother Nature was not going to cooperate and training courses were shortened in length due to poor visibility. The weather finally broke and the racers got 2 good days of training runs, a mandatory requirement for Downhill races.
On Friday, the decision was made by the ROC and technical committee that the number of training days would be shortened and racing would commence a day earlier than planned because of an approaching front of bad weather. Mother Nature once again stepped in and, despite all efforts of the ROC, Sunday’s races were cancelled due to poor visibility and the safety risk to the athletes.
Monday comes…let’s try again!
Monday morning…the visibility looked good yet Apex had received 12 cm of new snow over night. Start times were delayed as athletes and course workers alike took to the hill doing slip run after slip run to get the course in race condition. But the fog rolled in again and the women’s race had to be cancelled.
After several delays, the men were finally given the go ahead and racing was on! However after 46 of 75 men had run, the course conditions deteriorated once again and the race was called!
Daniel Kwong placed 9th over all (Way to go!) and had this to say about his run:
“I'm pretty happy with my downhill run today in Apex. The hill was pretty foggy in spots and there was a lot of powder on the race run. We had to do almost six slip runs to prep the course but it was in perfect condition when we were done. My main focuses for today were to push my hands forward and to keep my elbows in during my tuck. I managed to do these when I was racing but only fifty percent of the time. Tomorrow I hope to continue skiing with those cues in mind and to have a more perfected line. Hopefully my results will only get better!”
Davis Wong, a first year FIS athlete, offers his thoughts:
“My first Downhill race was a very interesting experience. During the training days before the race I had very good starting bibs and it continued into the race. Due to my good fortune, and luck of the draw, I started 44th and was the second last racer before they shut the race down due to the fog in certain areas of the course. I was the only first year WMSC athlete to race today and I feel extremely fortunate. Although I did not have a good run, I am very happy to finally not be a 990 in downhill anymore !”
Good luck on Tuesday and let’s hope Mother Nature smiles on you guys!
Posted by: nloring
on 1/26/2010
