North American FIS TD Update 2010

Presented by:Darrell MacLachlan #908& Doug Campbell #1019

October 2010

Vancouver 2010 OWGThe Making of a Slalom Course – Men’s

Slalom

Vancouver 2010 OWGThe Making of a Slalom Course – Men’s

Slalom

The Team The Venue The Schedule The Weather Track Preparation The Slalom

– The Weather– The Plan– The Result

The Team

The success of the Alpine events, and in particular the snow preparation, was the result of the effective collaboration of many people including:

The Team

FIS Race Directors and Jury ROC Management Group 1064 On Hill Volunteers Vanoc Staff

ROC: Management Group

LADIES’ ALPINE•Bruce Holliday (CoR), Vernon BC•Jim Brewington (ACoR), Calgary AB•Rick Hume (CoC), Whistler BC•Craig Smith (ACoC), Calgary AB•Andy Wolff (ACoC), Ottawa, ON

MEN’S ALPINE•Darrell MacLachlan (CoR), Calgary AB•Gary Taylor (ACoR), Lions Bay BC•Mike Irwin (ACoR), Calgary AB•John Benbow (CoC), Whistler BC•Mike Kirker (ACoC), Calgary AB•Doug Campbell (ACoC), Stirling ON

The Team

The ROC Management Group and FIS Race Directors worked closely with professional track coordinators Dan Gallaugher (Men) and Dale Stephens (Ladies) and Vanoc staff.

The Volunteers

Section Chiefs: 12 Ladies, 8 Mens Hill Coordinators: 3 Ladies, 4 Mens Crew Chiefs: 27 Ladies, 26 Mens 1064 on Hill Volunteers split between tracks

The Venue

The common finish area for the separate Men’s and Ladies’ tracks proved challenging

Slalom posed the challenge of preparing and preserving a race surface for both genders to be run on the Men’s track on consecutive days.

Whistler Creekside

Separate tracks for each gender except for Slalom

Common Finish area

Mens DH Ladies DH

SL

FINISH

GS (M)

SG/SC(M)

GS(L)

SG/SC(L)

The Schedule

Slalom, the final event at the Alpine venue, Ladies and Men run on consecutive days

The Weather

The WeatherAlways the big story at Whistler

Typical Weather During Speed

At the Start…

15:59 17:00 18:00 18:59 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 00:00 03:00 06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00 00:00

-6

-5

-4

-3

-2

-1

0

Temperature (Celsius) vs Date (m/d/y) & Time(PST) 2010/02/13 to 2010/02/15

Date (m/d/y) & Time(PST)Te

mp

era

ture

(C

els

ius

)

15:59 17:00 18:00 18:59 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 00:00 03:00 06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00 00:000

2

4

6

8

Snow past hour (cm) vs Date (m/d/y) & Time(PST) 2010/02/13 to 2010/02/15

Date (m/d/y) & Time(PST)Sn

ow

pa

st

ho

ur

(cm

)

Typical Weather During Speed

While at the Finish…

15:59 17:00 18:00 18:59 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 00:00 03:00 06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00 00:00

-4

-2

0

2

4

Temperature (Celsius) vs Date (m/d/y) & Time(PST) 2010/02/13 to 2010/02/15

Date (m/d/y) & Time(PST)

Te

mp

era

ture

(C

els

ius

)

15:5

917

:00

18:0

018

:59

20:0

021

:00

22:0

023

:00

00:0

003

:00

06:0

009

:00

12:0

015

:00

18:0

021

:00

00:0

00

2

4

6

8

Rain past hour* (mm) vs Date (m/d/y) & Time(PST) 2010/02/13 to 2010/02/15

Date (m/d/y) & Time(PST)

Rai

n p

ast

ho

ur*

(m

m)

The WeatherHeavy Rain in January during preparations (XY junction viewed from Coaches Corner)

The WeatherIn the early going we had so much rain we had to build diversionary canals…

The WeatherFor the Ladies Track we had different problems

Men’s ROC Management GroupThe Green Hats (other 2 found now 2 more missing)

Ladies ROC Management Group

It wasn’t easy being green….

The ROC benefitted from professional working relationships with FIS Race Directors Developed over the past few years at Whistler…

Two Day Ladies GS

Collaboration with FIS Race Directors

Track Preparation

The men’s downhill track was water injected with Steinbach beams during every window of opportunity.

The slalom segment of the track was injected a total of 4-5 times from fence to fence.

Track PreparationWater Injection

Track PreparationWater Injection

Track PreparationWater Injection – 6 beams wide

Track PreparationDay and Night

Track Preparation…and more nights

Track Preparation…and more nights

Get Rest Whenever You Can

Downhill Start Area

Dan’s “Tractors” at DH Start

Winching the DH Start

Winching the DH Start

The Entire Track Could be Illuminated with Diesel Construction Lighting

Olympic Fog

Dressing for the Weather While Respecting Vanoc Uniform Protocol

DH Inspection

View to Finish Stadium from Slalom Start

Volunteer Slip Crew The Slip Crew headed by Andrée

Janyk contributed an outstanding effort day and night.

During track preparation:– Snow accumulation on the upper

mountain could be slipped clear…– From mid station down, the

accumulation of wet snow mixed with rain was ski-stepped, wall to wall, around the clock.

Ski SteppingTeamwork - 5 cm sideways at a time

Ski SteppingAll night long…

Manual Snow Removal

FIS Race Directors Enforce Vanoc H1N1 Pandemic ProtocolAlternative to handshakes and hugging

After a successful GS

By the end of the speed program, the FIS Pros had completely assimilated with our culture

The SlalomEarly Injection

Water injection continued on the lower track in preparation for the slalom events.– The early injection provided a solid

foundation upon which a track could be prepared for slalom

The SlalomLater Injection

– The later injection, despite near 100% relative humidity and thoroughly saturated snow, produced a positive effect by drilling holes which allowed scarce frost to penetrate, and which facilitated some evaporation, to maximize cooling of the snow surface

– This injection was performed tightly and quickly, drilling but not filling the holes

The SlalomCoordination – Ladies’ and Men’s

The track was partitioned with the Ladies running skiers left on February 26th and the men running skiers right on February 27th

The SlalomWeather

No freezing temperatures on the track for 48 hours prior to the men’s slalom.

The PlanHans Pieren FIS Race Director and the ROC Develop a Plan

The Men’s SlalomRace Day Snow Preparation Procedures

Following athlete inspection:– Shovel crews remove 12” berms

created during inspection (also reminding less experienced racers that inspection was closing in 10 minutes and they still had half the course to go).

– 40 boot packers create 2 cm impressions in the surface.

– Snow hardening product is broadcast by hand

The Men’s SlalomRace Day Snow Preparation Procedures

Following athlete inspection:– Continued…

– 20 slippers close the boot-packed surface behind the application

– Water is spray applied with fire hoses to activate the chemical

– A 2nd surface broadcast and light slip to close

– Security to protect course during reaction between snow, air and water

Rallying Men’s track volunteers at mid-station tent to begin hand clearing snow from track at the conclusion of Ladies’ Slalom

Mobilizing the crew

Men’s SlalomAthlete Inspection

Men’s Slalom40 boot packers follow inspection

Men’s SlalomApplication of Snow Hardener Follows Boot Packers

Men’s SlalomApplication of Snow Hardener Follows Boot Packers

Men’s SlalomSlippers follow applicators follow boot packers

Men’s SlalomWater follows slippers follow applicators follow boot packers

Men’s SlalomHands-on FIS Race Directors

Men’s SlalomBoot Packing Army Marches Downward

Men’s Slalom100 Course Crew arrive at the finish 10 minutes before first forerunner

Men’s Slalom100 Course Crew arrive at the finish 10 minutes before first forerunner

10 minutes to get Jury, FIS pros and key course crew back to start.

Men’s Slalom

The Result…..

Men’s Slalom The Making of a Slalom Course – Men’s Slalom

Summary– Develop relationships with your TD,

ROC, Jury, Coaches and Volunteers– Gather expertise and ideas– Sometimes anything is possible once

you commit to a program and get enrolment and the commitment of others

Men’s Slalom The Making of a Slalom Course – Men’s Slalom

Thank you!

Questions?