Day 2: More cable installations, courses getting firmer

On Saturday, we continued our work on timing cable installations.  There are 13 start locations, 12 intermediate timing points, 4 speed traps and the finish to set up.  The permanent wiring is already in place, of course, but we have to install the "drop" cables that run from the main "backbone" cable out to all of these 30 locations.  It takes some time to get the cables in position, connected and tested, and we have to work around restrictions on when we can move to various positions on the courses.  We got lots done today and are moving along on schedule.  Meanwhile, the course workers continue to put up the "b" netting safety protection and hand-groom sections of the courses.

The tracks also firmed up quite a bit more today, which is quite a relief.  There's plenty of snow coverage on the courses, but with the warm weather, the conditions have been very soft on the lower portion of the mountain. Well-timed grooming by snowcats and cool weather overnight is helping to firm up the snow, which is much needed in order to be able to run the races starting next weekend.

This photo shows me standing between the start posts at the top of the Dave Murray men's down nohill course.  I've skied this course before, but today, when I stood atop "Fallaway" and imagined what it would be like to come into that very steep pitch at high speed and fight the strong pull of gravity to make a strong left-hand turn onto an abrupt flat, in order to carry speed entering "the Sewer", I was really awestruck.

One of the people working with our crew over these past two days is a young lad from Scotland named Roger.  He is actually assigned to Print Distribution, but has been loaned to our crew to help with our workload.  He originally came to Whistler several years ago to check out the mountain biking and has spent time here in both winter and summer seasons since falling in love with the area.  He still resides in Scotland, but is here as a volunteer for the month.