Posts Tagged ‘Vancouver’

Its amazing how quickly 16 days goes by. It seems like yesterday that we were discussing who was going to win what and now its all over. But what a fantastic and fabulous games they have been. We have seen incredible performances on the ice and snow – new champions have been found and for Canada and the people of Vancouver we raise our hand in salute.

There were of course those who didn’t want the games in Whistler – we respect their view and can only hope that the great success in respect of both the games and the Canadian athletes will have those dissenters nodding their heads with respect.

It is of course very unfortunate that history will report on the Whistler Olympics being where Nodar Kumaritashvili, the 21 year old from the Republic of Georgia, died when his luge flew off the track and crashed into a barrier. Some have said they have no words after such a tragedy but we remind all readers that the luge is an extreme sport – it is fast, very fast and very dangerous. Nodar was travelling at over 90 mph when he came off the track – it was a damned accident and when accidents happen at that speed the results are often fatal.

Ultimately the accident happened because a mistake was made – too fast too soon. We add our most sincere condolences to the family of Nodar Kumaitshvili and dedicate this blog to his memory. We believe he died doing what he loved to do……………

photo courtesy of www.piquenewsmagazine.com/pique/index.php?cat…

But despite this tragic accident we want to add our shout of tribute to Vancouver – you can be proud of yourselves.

The tragic news that 21-year-old luge racer Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed whilst practising for the Olympic luge at Whistler, Vancouver is more than tragedy. Kumaritashvili was injured when he flew off the track and collided with a steel pole, he died as a result of these injuries. He was travelling at 89mph when he crashed.

Inevitably questions have to be asked. Investigations were conducted the same day, concluding that the accident was not caused by deficiencies in the track. As a preventative measure, the walls at the exit of curve 16 were raised and a change in the ice profile was made. To reduce the speed the athletes were reaching the mens’ start was moved to where the ladies were launching and the ladies and mens doubles will now start from the junior start after turn 5.

Was the track too fast? The Whistler luge course includes 16 turns and a 498-foot drop and was considered to be the fastest track that has ever been built. These guys are covering a mile in approximately 50 seconds, attaining speeds in excess of 90mph and enduring a G force more commonly associated with sitting in a rocket.

The president of the ILF, the official governing body of luge, warned that the Whistler Sliding Center track was too fast back in 2008. At the time, he recommended capping maximum track speeds at 85 mph for future tracks. Yet for whatever reason, ILF president Josef Fendt failed to sound the alarm in 2010, even though sliders were clocking well over 90 mph in practice.

What ensued is a tragedy not only for Nodar Kumaritashvili’s family but for the wider Olympic community as a whole and particularly the authorities running the games. But ultimately we suggest that it is in man’s nature to go faster, or to want to go faster, and to put a speed limiter into an event is, in our view, a contradiction of what luge is all about – going flat out. How molly coddled do we want to become or should we keep the extreme element that is at the moment very much part of luge.

We have the deepest sympathy for Nodar Kumaritashvili’s family and send our most sincere condolences. We dedicate this blog to the memory of Nodar Kumaritashvili – he died doing something he loved – RIP.

We all know there is a very big sporting event which starts at the end of the week – yes the Winter Olympics –  to be held at Whistler, Vancouver. Of the 15 sports to hold events none is perhaps as crazy as this one – shovel racing. What? Shovel racing – yes its a case of going flat out down a hill whilst sat on the blade of the shovel.

Is it not time that the powers that be introduce a gold medal for shovel racing? Oh come on – it is not serious enough – lighten up guys – you have to see the funny side of the sport – check out this video from NickGASfan

Well that is how things were but we are able to provide an update courtesy of Miguel Bustillo of The New York Times who has reported on the resumption of shovel racing at Angel Fire Resort in New Mexico this past weekend.

After 25 years people had become a little bored with sliding down the mountain on the shovel and had become rather more creative in their design. As long as the blade of the shovel was on the snow what was built above the blade did not matter.

Faster and faster speeds were recorded and the sport became more dangerous and extreme as people created contraptions like those seen in the video above and therefore in 2005 the authorities had to stop the racing for fear of liability concerns and insurance claims.

This past weekend, Angel Fire resumed shovel racing’s “World Championship” for the first time in five years, but with a big catch: Only old-fashioned metal grain shovels were permitted. Customization was confined to paint and wax.

“People get worked up about losing the modified shovels, but at least we don’t need an aircraft-carrier net anymore to stop people from crashing into the resort,” said Gail Boles, a 47-year-old pharmacist from Taos and former world-champ shovel racer in both the modified and traditional competition.

For now, die-hards hope that the return of “production” shovel racing, the name given to competition featuring mass-produced hardware-store shovels, will spur interest in the more extreme varieties.

For competitive reasons, aficionados are loath to reveal the finer points of shovel-racing technique, but the basics are simple:

Place your hindquarters in the shovel’s rounded end, with the handle between your legs. Straighten your body and lean back as close to the ground as possible. Push off. Pray.

Steering can be attempted by subtly lowering a hand into the snow to correct course, but a speeding shovel has the maneuverability of a shooting cannonball.

Cardinal rule: Never grab the handle, as it only veers you more wildly off track.

More than 100 riders raced time trials beneath turquoise skies this weekend. Shovels flew and no one got hurt. Jeff Hamblin, who clocked a time of 13.4 seconds and reached a top speed of 63 miles per hour, won the men’s championship.Kelly Haukebo, 46, an Angel Fire real-estate agent won the women’s world championship.

Amazingly we have not been able to find a video of the event held last weekend – ESPN used to include shovel racing in their Winter X games but they decided to drop it for demographic reasons – is it that shovel racing is just too extreme – well you could say you were flying by the seat of your pants!

We have devoted some column inches over the last couple of weeks extolling the virtues of Whistler, Vancouver which is to host a feast of extreme sports in the Winter Olympics and which start a week today with what, we are sure, will be a spectacular opening ceremony.

But Whistler is not only famous for its winter sports activities. It is a different mode of transport about which we write today. If you are seeking your thrills – and no doubt a few spills – you will have to change your mode of transport from the ski/snowboard to the mountain bike. In the summer the Whistler area becomes a haven for bikers of all levels – be you beginner or expert you will have a great time in the warm months of summer.

So just in case you mountain bikers are feeling left out we thought we would give you a little information on Whistler – or ‘a mountain bikers heaven’ as some would rather have you call it.

The Whistler website reckons a lot of work is being done to the intermediate trails in Garbanzo, to a new Whiskey Jack single track trail and increased maintenance of existing trails. Sure sounds mouth watering and if you include the A line opening you can look forward to an exiting year mountain biking at Whistler.

Photo courtesy of Whistler Outfitters

Whistler Mountain Bike Park lift tickets provide access to over 4,900 vertical feet of lift-serviced gravity fed, adrenaline fueled descending trails. Something for every level of rider. Gentle, banked cruisers through the Coastal forest. Tight and twisty single track – perfect for intermediate riders. For the armour clad, full face wearing, 50lb. bike groupie there are steep rock faces, gnarly, root strewn lines, drop offs of all descriptions and more.

Day ticket prices vary depending on the time of year you vist. It is best you check the website http://www.whistlerbike.com/tickets-passes/lift-tickets/index.htm but they vary from $52 to $45 for an adult and $46 to $40 for a youth. These prices are based in the Loonie (Canadian dollar for those not acquainted with the vernacular) but there isn’t much difference these days.

If you need to rent a bike there should be no problem – rental shops offer downhill and valley bikes at $100 for the day and should you require armour that is also available!

In this great video below from SnowboardPowder you can experience through the eyes of a helmet cam some of what Whistler has to offer: here we see both the upper and lower A line followed by Double Vision and then Spinal Tap – wicked!

If that hasn’t whet your appetite nothing will.  Below are the 2010 opening times: -

The Bike Park opening day is set for May 15, 2010.

Yesterday we talked about the skeleton event at the forthcoming Winter Olympics to be held in Whistler, Vancouver, Canada and today we turn our attention to an extreme sport that is closely related to skeleton – the luge.

In luge – the French word for “sled” – racers begin by sitting on open fibreglass sleds. Pulling on fixed handles in the ice, they burst out of the start. After this explosive start, they use spiked gloves on the ice surface for extra acceleration before lying down on their backs, feet stretched out in front of them, heads back to be as aerodynamic as possible. Luge racers steer using their legs and shoulders, and brake by sitting up, putting their feet down and pulling up on the sled runners.

Therefore the fundamental difference between skeleton and luge is that the skeleton pilots go down the track head first lying on their stomachs whereas the luge pilots are feet first lying on their back. Which is crazier we are not sure – but a similarity would appear to be that you can see very little be it luge or skeleton.

Luge races have grown considerably faster with refrigerated luge tracks and aerodynamic equipment, so that speeds now regularly reach 140 kilometres an hour or more and G-forces reach over 5G.

The singles events consist of four heats over two days. The individual with the lowest combined time over the four runs wins. Men and women compete on the same track, but the women and doubles begin further down the course. The four-run format is unique to the Olympic Winter Games and designed to reward consistency, endurance and ability to withstand pressure – particularly on the second day.

The doubles event consists of two runs over one day, with the fastest total time determining the winner. All events in luge are timed to the thousandth of a second.

Two athletes — Peter Minsch of Switzerland and George Robertson of Australia — who in February 1883 instigated what was called “The Great International Sled Race”. Their time: 9 minutes and 15 seconds, to slide down a four kilometre track joining the Swiss villages of Klosters and Davos was nothing very special but that didn’t matter – it was the idea that mattered.  But it was not until 1964 that luge for men, women and doubles made its Olympic debut at the Games in Innsbruck.

The action kicks off right at the beginning of the games with the men’s singles competition being held over the 13th and 14th Feb. Then it is the turn of the girls who race over the 15th and 16th of Feb – and finally the doubles who compete on Feb 17th.

The favourites for medals in the luge are the Germans who have dominated the event for the last 10 years and in all probability they have a very good chance of winning again. But strong competition usually comes from Austria, Italy, Russia and the USA but with home advantage see what the 2010 Olympics Luge Coach Wolfgang Staudinger says about the Luge Canada team’s chances at the Vancouver 2010 Games. Thanks RayVanEng for the video.

The Canadian team have monopolised the tracks at Whistler in sports such as the skeleton – gaining an advantage over their opponents. All the other visiting nations will have just six practice runs under Games conditions when they get to Whistler to take them to a total of 40 descents each on the track before the skeleton gets under way on 18 February. The Canadians will be up near the 400 mark.

There are two individual skeleton events in the Olympic Games: one for men and one for women. Both events consist of four heats held over two days, timed electronically to 0.01 seconds. The individual with the lowest combined time wins. The tracks run from 1200 – 1650 m, 1200 m of which are downhill

Men’s skeleton was raced at the 1928 and 1948 Olympic Winter Games, both in St. Moritz. Skeleton then re-appeared as a permanent Olympic sport for both men and women at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

Skeleton got its name from the sled used — originally metal, now fiberglass and metal — as it resembles a human skeleton. To start, a skeleton slider grasps the handles on either side of the sled, runs as fast as possible for approximately 50 metres, then dives head first onto the sled. Sliders lie on their stomachs and steer by shifting their bodies very slightly.

Like the other sliding sports of bobsleigh and luge, the start is crucial in skeleton — where a tenth of a second lead at the start can become three-tenths of a second by the bottom of the run. These athletes train much like sprinters to develop the powerful legs they need to explode onto the track. But speed is not the only factor: they must also find the best line and steer smoothly through each turn to keep their speed high.

Canadian skeleton slider Mellisa Hollingsworth won a bronze medal for Canada at the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games shortly after winning the overall World Cup title that season and will start as one of the favourites for the women’s event in Whistler.

She will have to be in top form as speeds of up to 140 kmh can be achieved on what is believed to be the fastest track in the world. Athletes  from Germany, Latvia, United States, Great Britain, Italy, Austria, Canada, Korea, Australia, Russia, Norway, Japan, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, France, New Zealand, Ireland, Slovenia,  Bermuda will be lining up to challenge her.

And why not use the home advantage – wouldn’t you – and what else is home advantage for? The Canadians deserve a good return in terms of medals for putting on what we are sure will be a great Winter Olympics – bring them on!

The video below from Blickinsfreie shows you how skeleton is done.

This video from newsliders gives you an idea of the speed you attain as it is filmed from a camera attached to the helmet of the skeleton pilot – terrrrifying!