DEON Posted February 15, 2009 Report Share Posted February 15, 2009 CANCLED due to conditions The border cross was setup on the race hill, it got taken down friday night, they tried to let it setup today but when teams were allowed to free ride the hill they felt that it was unsafe and teams were tired of running on corses that were not ideal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted February 15, 2009 Report Share Posted February 15, 2009 Wow, that sucks! This morning I looked at the course area, from a far though, and it looked pretty smooth. Yesterday the snow conditions were totally hero. What was unsafe about it? Not packed enough after flattening the BX features where it intersected PGS slope? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBee Posted February 15, 2009 Report Share Posted February 15, 2009 I'm not familar with the setup at Cypress, but was it the same setup they are going to use for the Olympics ? This was the last chance to prove out the facilities before the Big Event... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave* Posted February 15, 2009 Report Share Posted February 15, 2009 Yesterday morning ( saturday ) at 0830hrs the groomers were just finishing flattening out the BX coarse. Things would have been very soft. Rode the chair with one of the coarse marshall guys at about 1030 hrs and asked when the PGSers would get to practice , Apparently the FIS rep had looked at all the safety fence set up that morning wasnt happy and made them redo all the fence work. That held up the practice session until about 1230hrs on very soft cord ( hadnt been salted/fertilized yet), they got about an hour and a half of laps, no gates, a surprising amount of arm flailing going on, one of the girls from work watched them practice with me for a few minutes, her comment was they must be the Bulgarian team. I am embaraased as a local that Cypress booted all the PGSers off the hill ( not just the Canadian Team as we had heard) , its sad that the actual site where the event is held wont allow the athletes to ride on its mountain, they all had to go over to grouse to practice is the story per the coarse marshall guy. Even the half pipe was set up from a spectators standpoint as a bit of a gong show. IMHO doesnt bode well for the olympics. Hung around and watched the final throw down of the half pipe, Sean White had the gold wrapped up with his first two runs it turns out, he still busted huge on his last run . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEON Posted February 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2009 Sent on behalf of the Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC)<o></o> For immediate release<o> </o>February 15, 2009 <o></o> VANOC wraps up operational testing at Cypress Mountain Snowboard sport event; today’s Feb. 15 PGS snowboard event cancelled due to soft snow conditions<o> </o>Vancouver, BC – Yesterday, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) completed day three of its field of play testing at World Cup snowboard competition at Cypress Mountain. Despite successful snowboard cross and half-pipe competitions over the past two days, the local organizing committee together with the Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS) has cancelled today’s (Sunday, February 15th) event -- the men’s and ladies’ Parallel Giant Slalom (PGS) -- due to unsuitable competition terrain resulting from a combination of factors including mild weather and limited time to prepare the course both in advance of the event and in between the last two events. Spectators with $10 tickets for today's event can return to the West Vancouver Aquatic Center for a full refund. “We're pleased to have been able to stage three highly successful days of full competition, and feedback from all participants on the field of play has been positive." said Tim Gayda, VANOC vice president, sport. "Our hill prep crews have been working 24/7 to ensure a successful week of training and competition -- our hats are off to them for an outstanding job. Cancelling the PGS is due to a few factors, including that we had limited time in advance of the event to prepare the terrain, and a shorter conversion time than at Games-time to alter the terrain from snowboard cross to PGS. This, combined with mild weather has resulted in a field of play with snow that is simply too soft to sustain a World Cup PGS competition today. This will not happen next year for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games as we’ll be on the mountain much sooner with significantly more time to prepare the competition hills and we will have twice as much time between these two events to convert the course. On behalf of everyone who worked on this event, we share the disapointment of the athletes who were ready to showcase their sport and the spectators who were looking forward to attending."<o> </o>"Vancouver has been a spectacular host to the snowboard athletes for the past several days and we are fully satisfied with this venue for the 2010 Winter Games." said Marcel Looze, snowboard race director with FIS. "While it's always disappointing to cancel an event, it’s the right decision in these unique circumstances and we look forward to seeing everyone at the PGS snowboard competition at Cypress Mountain in 2010." What i got from some of my coaches was that the snow was just destroyed, what i mean by that is there was no moisture in it, it was just sugar, had it rained or even snowed in the last few days they could have done it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gtanner Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Hi Guys, I've been working the WC for the past 4-16-hour days and thought I'd give some insider perspective as to what was happening. The training yesterday was delayed because the FIS rep took a run and wanted to give the snow some time for the sun to firm up the snow (like Deon said, like sugar). After training, the run was destroyed. They tried to re-groom with some fertilizer, but to no avail. The call was made at around 10pm to call off the PGS. This morning, I got to the hill at 6am to work the race and we pulled all the netting. I did manage to get two high-speed runs down the race run (on plates of course). The snow was pretty firm, but I did crank one extra hard heel-side at the top of the last pitch and broke through. There was a 3-4" layer of crust with sugar underneath, so if we did run the race, then the course would be destroyed after about 6 riders. The safest thing to do was cancel the race. Ideally, Cypress could have had more man-made snow base for bonding and quick set-up of loose snow (words of the head groomer from Cypress...not my personal opinion). So they will be getting new snow making stuff for next year. As to the Olympics plan, I had a chat with the event organizers and they gave me the inside scoop. The plan is to have a 14 story tall grandstand that essentially takes up the entire green-run that runs behind. They will also double the size of the pipe walls (i.e. make them wider) to allow for more spectators. The plan is for 5000 people in the stands and 7000 up on the pipe and around the side bank (on skiers left). As an FYI, the only ski/snowboard access will be for course crew...public will be walking and the hill will be closed. Also, the run "rainbow" will have a series of three PGS training courses throughout the week prior to the race, and a mirror BX course will be set up off that chair aswell (only 4-6 features...not full course). Anyway, sounds like there is a plan. The organizers are picking through those of us that volunteered to pick a "dream-team" for the Olympic week (we had volunteers that had requested figure skating and not snowboarding...not the best fit considering many couldn't ski/ride). So we're all stoked for the games (362 days), but I was definately dissapointed that the PGS was cancelled. I hear that the plan is to run a double PGS event at the Stoneham event (double opportunity for you Kristin). According to one of the head CSF officials, there will have to be anther FIS event prior to the Games as a trial-event. So the plan is to move a NOR-AM later this year or have one of the Dec/Jan Nor-Ams at Cypress...otherwise they will have to get a special variance from the Olympic committee. As for the gear... 70% kessler 20% SG 5% Oxess 5% Black Pearl (these look SICK!!!!!!) (60% VIST, 30% Hangle, 10% ???) sorry no pics. Anyway, I've rambled on enough. Let me know if you have any other questions about the event. I was working the pipe for three days and PGS for the last. Later, Gord Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBee Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Thanks Gord for all the details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil sunday Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 great update gord! thanks!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarvingScooby Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Still kind of "embarrassing" :freak3:have to cancell the event for what ever the reason but SAFETY first and make sure no :nono:more EXCUSES for 2010!! Cheers Roy Cypress still the BEST slopes for local... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DT. Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 hey gord do you have anymore info about this potential nor-am at cypress? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gtanner Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 Sorry DT, no dice. It was a passing comment made by a high-ranking CSF event co-ordinator that is definately "in-the-know"...if I do hear anything I'll post. Beautiful day at whistler today. My coiler is still awesome, but I may demo a Prior metal on Wednesday. later, -Gord Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEON Posted February 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 I trained with the Canadian National team on the run right beside the US team yesterday and everything was fine, its to bad they didn't postpone the race till yesterday According to Mark Faucett we could have held the race, it would have been like every other race this year, high banks and bad snow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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