The snowboardcross racers in Telluride for the World Cup this weekend will try to stay upright over the jack-in-the-box table-tops and tricky rollers peppering the course. And they will lay out horizontal to the plane of the earth as they whip around giant, fun-park hairpins. That’s the part of the course I’d like to experience, the high tea-cup walls where, like a swirling liquid, I’d be pinned by an alternate gravity to the smooth curved sides.

The giant-slalom racers, who will be competing Tuesday and Thursday, do something analogous on their boards. Only they don’t have the FIS homologated walls to bank against. On an utterly featureless slope, they will have to build their own walls with the biting edges of their boards. For every turn around every gate they will simultaneously create and stand against their own carved mini-walls.

This is the definition of carving: the weighted curved edge of the tool cuts its little trench in the snow. The rider has only to shape the radii of his trenches, aim them where he will, and (here’s the difficult part) manage the centrifugal forces from one high-speed arc to the next. (Newton’s first law: a body in motion “wants” to move uniformly straight ahead. . . You’re trying to ride the curves; physics wants to throw you straight off the side of that race course.)

I watched the PGS athletes train on Misty Maiden on Monday. One by one they peeled down the steepest part of Misty under the watchful eyes of their coaches and videographers. Every turn left an etched line, shaded by the low December sun, until the whole hill was marked, as if by thousands of fingernail clippings—or perhaps more appetizingly—thousands of razor-thin crescent moons.

Average skiers making the same number of turns would have pushed up nascent moguls. But these riders left none. They were not pushing any snow, not skidding at all. They could draw on this slope for days—indeed they did—without pressing up a single manmade bump.

It was fun to hear the babble of different languages in the lift lines: German, French, Canadian, eh, Japanese. Russian. From overhead on the chairlift, I spied a couple of intense and very different coach-athlete discussions. In one, an Austrian coach chopped the air with emphatic arms as his diminished super-hero charge took the criticism on slumped shoulders. In another tête-à-tête, a female racer crouched unmoving on her board’s toe edge, craning forward, waiting intently as her coach, young and blond and sitting like Buddha in the snow, fingered his stubble in search of the right words.

The intensity, the athleticism, and the foreign demographic make Telluride and Mountain Village feel like a credible international resort. It’s very cool. And no doubt very expensive to bring what used to be called the White Circus to town. (The cat time alone must be daunting.)

It is a circus, with crews erecting tents and the start-finish lines, setting the timing lights, digging in safety fences, building the courses themselves. I wonder: does the World Cup send professionals to sculpt the boardercross course with its complex jumps and curves? Surely they are using Telluride’s grooming machines, but are they directing local cat drivers or applying the finishing touches themselves? It looks as if several course features have been abandoned already, bypassed by the final layout, left out to the side like oxbows cut off from the main river flow. Was that part of the course-setter’s art, the calculus of vertical drop and expected snow temperatures and textures, tweaking the roller coaster for perfection?

I have a million questions. Like, do the PGS men and women run the same course? Do they alternate starts, or run one gender first? Will people without lift tickets be able to get to the Gorrono finish corral to see the action in person?

I could call Maryhelyn Kirwan, Telski’s communications director, but I doubt I’d get through. I’ve covered World Cups at other venues, and I can tell you that managing an international press room is akin to running a month-long war. European snowsports journalists and fans back home (you’ve heard this before, but it’s true) take all of this way more seriously than we do.

No, I think I’ll leave Maryhelyn to her already overflowing plate. I’ll just have to come up to the mountain and see for myself how the competition goes down, how deep the ruts get, how huge the forces, and how much fun those momentum hounds have, playing with gravity as if it were theirs to mold.

‘15 dni z 2 zdjec w lenk-adelboden’

kliknij, aby powiekszyc

w rolach glownych wystapili :

zuzanna smykala

agata buga

marcin bocian

michal gaczorek

maciej jodko

jan poninski

]]> http://separtysci.wordpress.com/2009/03/20/novinky-z-lenk/ Fri, 20 Mar 2009 18:48:37 +0000 szarzynski http://separtysci.wordpress.com/2009/03/20/novinky-z-lenk/

kliknij, aby powiekszyc.

moja dzisiejsza uwage przykul czerwony helikopter.

]]> http://separtysci.wordpress.com/2009/03/03/johny-wyjasnia/ Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:23:52 +0000 szarzynski http://separtysci.wordpress.com/2009/03/03/johny-wyjasnia/

film ten, dzieki ktoremu nastal przelom w ewolucji bramek boardercross’owych przedstawia johnego, ktory wyjasnil nam jak wybic sie z bramki i zrobic konkurentow w przyslowiowe bambuko.

riders ready ! attention !

film ten, ktory za niedlugo moze zostac zablokowany z uwagi na wystepujace w nim nieladnie brzmiace brzmienia popelnione przez pewnego rozemocjonowanego fotoamatora przedstawia zuzke na zawodach boardercross’owych, ktora wyjasnila jak nabrac pelnego furkotu na cornerze. [skladnia!eh] swoim panoramicznym okiem film nakrecil majkel

If you are wondering how the FIS world snowboarding championships are going we are pleased to bring this report of  U.S success.

Nick Baumgartner (Iron River, MI) dialed in his first World Championship medal, finishing third in the snowboardcross competition in Korea Sunday. Austria’s Markus Schairer won the event.

“It feels good. It’s a great medal to have. It was my first time being at World Championships and it’s great to be on the podium,” Baumgartner said. “I had some high expectations. This has been my best start to a year yet and all the training in the off season paid off.”

U.S. Snowboarding Snowboardcross Coach Jeff Archibald believes this finish will keep Baumgartner’s performance level up for the season to come.

“It’s been coming for Nick. He’s just been making little mental errors, but his snowboarding has been at a podium level all year today was the first day he put it all together and that was really cool and I think it will carry throughout the year,” Archibald said.

According to Baumgartner, the final race was intense with a lot of risky attempts made to get himself in the lead.

“It was a great race. I got stuck behind and tried making a pass three times. Then I bumped into one of the corners and it was really hairy, but I held it together and stayed in third. Those guys raced hard,” Baumgartner said.

“It was a tricky course,” added the U.S. coach Jeff Archibald. “There was nowhere to pass, so it was basically a hole shot race – who got  first out of the gate.  He just got on the course and rode super solid.”

Baumgartner led as all of U.S. Snowboarding’s snowboardcross athletes made the finals and finished in the top 15 with Seth Wescott (Sugarloaf, ME) finishing fifth, Graham Watanabe (Sun Valley, ID) sixth and Nate Holland (Squaw Valley, CA) in 13th.

For Archibald, Wescott and Watanabe’s battle in the small final was one of the best races all day.

“That was a really good race. It was one of the only ones where people were able to pass,” Archibald said. “Graham had a really good start in that race and Seth passed him on the inside and then they rode solid the whole way down.”

In the women’s competition, Helene Olafsen of Norway won while Switzerland took the second and third place spots with Olivia Nobs taking the silver and Mellie Francon bronze. No U.S. women competed in the World Championship snowboardcross race. Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton Mountain, VT) stayed in the states to focus on the upcoming X Games – a focus Baumgartner now shares.

“Next weekend is the only thing I am worried about right now – going for the gold at X Games,” Baumgartner said. “This finish is a great accelerator for next weekend. This really gets me amped for it.”

2009 World Championships for snowboarding continues Tuesday with parallel giant slalom.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
2009 FIS SNOWBOARD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Gangwon, Korea – Jan. 18, 2009
Snowboardcross
1. Markus Schairer, Austria
2. Xavier De Le Rue, France
3. Nick Baumgartner, Iron River, MI
4. Tom Velisek, Canada
5. Seth Wescott, Sugarloaf, ME

Men’s

Women’s
1. Helene Olafsen, Norway
2. Olivia Nobs, Switzerland
3. Mellie Francon, Switzerland
4. Maelle Ricker, Canada
5. Sandra Frei, Switzerland

So you don’t know what snowboardcross is – introduced for the first time at the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy 2006 when there was a most infamous incident for poor Lindsey Jacobellis. The video from Bazjat shows why it is never a good idea to crow before the roost, to think its over – it never is until the fat lady sings – to be the hare and forget about the tortoise. Poor girl – but snowboardcross, as you will see, is a race down a set course on snowboards – winner takes all – quite simple really – but extreme.

We would also like to thank First Tracks online Ski Magazine for bringing us this story.

Domenica 31 marzo si sono conclusi i campionati italiani in Val Passiria. Ultima disciplina a chiudere il campionato italiano è stata lo snowboardcross (o boardercross), la mia disciplina.
Il tracciato non era dei più belli, ma Luca Pozzolini, il mio allenatore (tecnico della squadra nazionale), insieme a Gert (responsabile settore giovanile, e allenatore del comitato Alto Adige) hanno aggiustato al meglio la pista.
La gara è stata divertente..
In finale siamo arrivate io, col primo tempo, Greta Felder (la mia compagna) col secondo tempo di qualifica, Karin Bernardi con il terzo e Giovanna Costa col quarto tempo.
Al traguardo siamo arrivate in quest’ordine:
1 Raffaella Brutto (io)
2 Karin Bernardi (grandissima Karin!)
3 Giovanna Costa
4 Greta Felder (ahah)

La classifica femminile junior rimane invariata, perchè tutte e 4 siamo junior!

E’ stato bellissimo arrivare al traguardo e abbracciare Karin per il nostro ordine di arrivo ed aver lasciato dietro Giovanna (era il suo obiettivo) e Greta fuori dal podio. Eravamo veramente felici! Spero di riuscire a trovare un video di noi 2 che ci abbracciamo al traguardo! C’era la RAI che ci ha ripreso.. speriamo he lo mandino in onda perchè è stato davvero un bel momento..

Invece è stato ridicolo il fatto che la Giò non fosse contenta del suo terzo posto… Diceva che forse aveva fatto cadere Greta e le ha chiesto di rifare la manche, io e la Karin le abbio risposto con un semplice “col caxxo!”. Le abbiamo dato della pazza! Lei ha un crattere buonissimo… ha detto che non le interessava il risultato.. ed io e la Karin abbiamo risposto con un ”a noi si!”
Subito dopo la finale il cameraman della RAI ci ha ripreso a noi 3 e Greta era li che ci guardava e ha detto “a me no?” ed era dispiaciuta.. Ma poi la Giò, brava come sempre le ha detto “si,si dai vieni!” Si sentiva in colpa di averle fregato il podio! Ahahah!

Nei maschi lavittoria va a Luca Matteotti:
1 Luca Mattotti (5o tempoi in qualifica
2 Emanuel Perathoner (1o tempo in qualifica)
3 Federico Raio (15esimo tempo in qualifica)
4 Schiavon Aberto (3o tempo in qualifica)

Per la classifica Junior invece:
1 Luca Matteotti
2 Cristian Belingheri
3 Fabio Cordi
4 Omar Visintin(dopo la doppietta Slalom e Gigante mi aspettavo un primo posto anche in boardercross, ma povrino, è stato un po sfigato!)

Qui di seguito metto altre foto:

La Giulia (Manfrini) in qualifica. Ottavo tempo, poi si è piazzata al quinto posto.

Quarti di finale: Karin in testa, Giulia Lorenzetti in seonda posizione:

Finale: Karin, Io e la Giò

Sempre finale: Karin ed io

In attesa della premiazione… In evidenza le medaglie e le coppe di vetro che ci aspetteranno di lì a poco…

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Tomorrow I’ll be on my way to Telluride, Colorado for the first stop of the US Ski Tour/ Jeep King of the Mountain. For those of you who don’t know yet- the Jeep King of the Mountain and the US Ski Tour has merged this year.   “The new tour, official tour name TBD, will feature a total of eight competitive events, including Ski Cross, Snowboard Cross, Ski Halfpipe and Snowboard Halfpipe. The Tour will stop in Telluride, Colo., Park City, Utah, Squaw Valley, Calif., and Sun Valley, Idaho. More than just a competition circuit, this new tour aims to celebrate Mountain Culture and environmental awareness with weekend long events that include top music acts, film and photography exhibits, environmental awareness symposiums, and other activities.” read more on www.jeepsports.com