We spent the morning at the track which is amazing!! I totally underestimated what a feat of engineering they are - huge huge structures. We are here at the same time as a couple of the Europa cup races; a bob skeleton race series in Europe so we got to watch some racing. This was really, really useful as we got to observe the athletes in a race situation. See how they prepare, warm up, visualise and race. The GB team are here racing too so we had some home talent to cheer on and one of the guys was 2nd!! A good sign that we are working in a good group.
Top start.
We then walked down the length of the track to understand the geography and begin the visualisation process. It is essential in skeleton to know the track inside out and have it memorised including the steers you plan to do. One of the biggest barriers for me so far has been not knowing how I'm going to actually get down the track. After a mornings worth of learning the track though I can now recall each corner and describe the steers. You learn very quickly. A big part of this was actually 'walking the track'. Once the racing had finished we put on our icers (sort of overshoes with spikes in to help with grip) and literally walked down the ice. We could feel where the track pulled you and where it flattened, see the oscillations of the sleds earlier today and we even got down on our tummies so we could get a more realistic perspective (you can see nothing).
View of corner 13
Some scarier moments though... We saw some pretty sketchy lines-one girl completely clattered the wall after the dreaded corner 13. And one of the British boys lost control of his sled at the top and had to start again. The speed is also unreal. How they can think from corner to corner I don't know. The speed of decision making is critical. So we are all coming to terms with the fact that we will hit the walls. And pretty hard. But tomorrow we have a padding workshop so that's something-yoga mats and tubigrip!!
Then as if learning 16 corners worth of info wasn't enough we had a sled workshop. Skeleton is so much more than sliding down a hill on a tea tray. Sleds need daily maintenance and you check the settings before every run - I've even got tools now. We are responsible for our sleds and they are fitted to each person so that it hugs you and is balanced to you. Anyway I hadn't had a sled fit so that was the first job for me. That was pretty exciting, shit got real. I now have a helmet and a sled. So I was fitted to my sled but it was still a shell. So out comes the tape and for the next 2 hours myself and Maddie taped the padding to my sled and saddle (the bit that keeps my in place and I hold on to). A rather tedious job but we got it done just in time for dinner which was a marked improvement on yesterday - pork (or turkey) with a peppercorn sauce.
Mid sled fit
We finished the day with a rather anti climatic (sorry Jack if you read this) demo on how to cover our spikes with shoe goo. 'Dump a load of it all over the front and let it dry then repeat!' Not overly technical but necessary to know all the same. And it provided some strong contenders for quote of the day (probably a bit rude for the blog tbh). Shoe goo I should explain hardens the front of our spikes so that they are protected when we drag our toes on the ice during a slide. With the workshop over we went back to the cabin for tea and biscuits (what else) and soon bed.
Tomorrow is our last day before we slide. So it's crucial to learn the track and be confident on our sleds. This means practising balancing on them and visualising steers. So picture this... Nine girls laid on sleds in a small room all twitching their shoulders or standing with eyes closed moving hands and swaying about as we go rounds corners in our heads. Undoubtedly it's a strange sport but we are learning fast and in 36 hours or so we will have all been down that track. Talk about fast progression.
Our start point. 8:30am Sunday.
I'll finish with the QOTD which has been provided by Maddie, during her sled check when asked what she was wearing down the track.
'I am going down naked' - I'll update you on that one (she was feeling a little tight on her sled). I think she will regret that, it's supposed to drop to -5 over the next few days.
Night x
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