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Snowbasin courses carefully groomed for speed, safety
By Ray Grass Deseret News Olympic specialist
SNOWBASIN — Some of the best news about these Olympics for Gray Reynolds is that there hasn't been any — bad news, that is. Not when it comes to the behind-the-scenes work his crews have put in to prepare for the Games.
Reynolds, general manager of Snowbasin, said that all the competitors and coaches have been nothing but "complimentary" on the races, and in particular the course.
"But it took a lot of people working long hours to make it all come together," he noted as he reflected back on the years of preparation for six events.
Snowbasin was thrust into the limelight early in the Olympics because, first, it hosted the kickoff skiing event, and, second, because it held what is considered the premier event of the alpine events — the downhill.
After the races last years, said Reynolds, "We all sat down as a team and went over what fine tuning we needed to do."
And then they did it.
Tim LaMarche, race director for Snowbasin, has been mothering the courses for the past two years — days and sometimes nights. Between LaMarche and his assistant, Ingor Botten of Norway, they've taken the rough layout of course designer Bernard Russi and turned it into true Olympic race courses.
Danzel Rowland, head of mountain operations, was responsible for overseeing construction and coordinating efforts of LaMarche and Botten.
One of the main design features is the safety netting that lines the downhill and super-G courses. Ben Tidswell and Ron Rupert have led crews putting up the netting, which is a science by itself.
The "A-netting" is the first line of safety for skiers. It's designed to "spring" skiers back on the course when they hit it. A blue slip screen on the bottom of the net has a small enough mesh so that things like skis, arms and poles won't get caught.
The second level of safety is the "B-netting." It, too, is designed to stop skiers from sliding out of the course and into trees and rocks. The poles are designed to sheer off at the base and leave no sharp edges when hit.
The "C-netting" is a backup to the other two safety nets. All of this had to be placed in strategic locations well ahead of the Games, tested and approved.
"All of which," said Reynolds, "took a lot of time."
The women's course had to be "watered" in order to firm up the surface. For this, crews carried a "water bar" that was hooked to a snowmaking hose. Pipes extending from the bar were stuck in the snow and water was injected under the surface. This makes a rock-hard surface with a little bit of snow on the surface to hold the skis. Mike Jenkins headed the snowmaking crew.
Ensuring that the spectators and racers are safe fell under the supervision of Tim Franchi, head of ski patrol.
Kyle Clarke, head of lift maintenance, saw to it that workers, media, racers and coaches didn't have to walk up the two-mile downhill course. Bob England has put in a lot of extra hours overseeing food preparations.
To put a number to the extra hours Snowbasin crews have been working over the past two years to prepare the mountain, said Reynolds, would be impossible to guess, "but people would be surprised at just how much work was involved."
E-mail: grass@desnews.com
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February 17, 2002
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