NHL All Star Skills Competition

Some times, you are just in the right place at the right time.  While I was in Austria for the Downhill, Andy asked if I would do the NHL skills competition in Raleigh North Carolina.  I was on the fence about it, as we had been really busy and I did need to get home.  In the mean time, I recommended that Ken from North Bay, ON have a crack at it.  You can read Ken's blog here.

Long story made short, late on Friday I grabbed a flight from Buffalo to Raleigh the got me to my hotel about 3am Saturday morning.   After a few hours sleep, Ken and I had a rehearsal at 8am to test the fastest skater and the hardest shot.  This was videoed and you can see some of it on the NHL network, including JR missing the net completely and blowing all the wires out of the radar magic box.

Carleton makes a big save with a rebound

One cool thing you didn't get to see on TV was the team Mascot's game.  Imagine all these guys running around in full costume and playing hockey.  Some of them can skate and play hockey as well.

Now, I've always wanted to take pictures from the corner of the ice in an NHL hockey game.  Here was my chance.  But, I got the mascots.  ;)

Showtime!  Timing is 99.99% boredom and 0.01% shear terror.  We got 100% of the 0.01% for this event (not that the organizers could tell).  Ken describes some of this in his blog.

Chara with a warm up shot

Ken also built and designed the interface box that works with the radar gun.  All I can say is that his code running in assembler is pretty darn fast.  The radar gun spits out lots of speeds.  Ken's box has to analyze all the data and save the highest reading and then send it to the display.  Since I was shooting pictures at a 8/second rate, I could tell that the update to the Alge display was there about the same time the puck started to slow down as it hit the back of the net.

Zdeno Chara and Ken debating hardest shot

Every event has a highlight of some sort.  We got to brush elbows with some pretty cool guys.  All were very friendly and you could tell they love the sport.  Just after Chara does his record breaking shot (105.9 mph/170kph) he came over to sit on the boards by the timing box.  He even asked permission.  :)   He and Ken get into a discussion who the record holder was and by how much.  Eventually Chara did set Ken straight on his facts.

I was able to grab Ken's camera (actually, it was his son's) and get this picture for Ken.  I'm sure that he will have it printed and framed for his (Ken's) own personal birthday present.  

I have more pictures here.

Ken had the trip home from hell.  We were both at the Airport in Raleigh at 8am Sunday.  I had an 8:30 flight, while Ken had a 2:30pm flight.  He did try to get his flight changed, but no luck.  When he got to JFK they had cancelled the next flight to YYZ which delayed him an hour.  That caused him to miss his flight to North Bay, so he had to spend a night in a hotel at YYZ.  Last I heard, he got home about 8:30am on Monday, in time for him to go to his real job.  BTW, Sunday was his birthday!  Happy Birthday Ken.  Join the timing team and see the world.  You've now made it to the big leagues.

Downhill is done

As I write this, most of you are likely watching the race on CBC.  For me, I've been off the hill for 4 hours, and just finished a wonderful dinner here at the Villa Mellon.

As we lead up to a race like this, the puzzle starts to go together.  We connect starts, finish lines, intermediate eyes, display boards, photo finish cameras and more.  And, that is just the timing side of the show.  Then, all that data gets merged together and fired over to the data guys.  They fire out to the internet, huge video walls, and much more.  That doesn't even include the TV part.

But... leading up to the first forerunner down the course, you never do a full dress rehearsal and you are pretty sure that everything will work, but it takes the first racer on the course to confirm you have all the pieces fully connected and communicating to each other.  The team I am part of has done this a few times and have been pretty successful and thinking ahead and limiting all problems before you can see them on the air.

Yesterday we had the Super G race and today the grand daddy of the them all, the Downhill race.  Tomorrow is 'just' a Slalom race.  The Slalom race is in some aspects pretty simple, but it can also bite you in the ass as there is so much going on on the hill at any time.

A view from beside the start hut

It also means that from about Friday morning until Sunday night we are going full out.  Sadly, there is no time to walk to downtown Kitzbuhel and see the sea of drunken humanity.  Coop described one person he saw that was clearly not on this planet.  All he was capable of doing was walking (not in a straight line) and blowing a horn that he had.

The team I work with are rock stars.  Each bring something unique to the show and make this just a fun place to be even if you don't get lunch for 3 days and all you had for breakfast is a bun.  We all survive.  We all support each other and all cover each others back.  We do this because we love what we do and to bring the best we can to our customer.

No training run today

This morning (Wednesday) started pretty early... about 6am.  That would be midnight for those of you in an eastern time zone.

We all left about 6:30am with it pouring rain out.  The odds are if it is raining that there will be no race today.  That was ok with me as it allowed me to spend some timing working on some of my batteries for the on hill equipment.

As well, the team got to make sure that all the rest of the hill was working.  That includes getting the backup or bad weather start wired up.  For me, it was the ability to get the Slalom finished sorted out with all the wiring pairs.

Let's move forward to today (Thursday).  We did manage to get a training run in, but not without its issues.  

My radar on the video wall

First, it was an early start just to get a training run it.  I went up about 7:30am and got both my radar sites working.  My radars are used on the bottom half of the course and the run into the finish.  On the finish run, the speed is displayed on the very large video wall.  That 'tv screen' is about 40 feet high.

Next I hear that the lift is stopped.  Make that broken.  No idea of the ETA.  I happen to be in the finish hut to hear on the radio that the top 30 racers will be taken to the start by helicopter.  The others by bus.  Bus???   Apparently you have to take a bus to Kirchburg and then take the lift to a different top.  Our 20ish year old starter, Ernst, got a helicopter ride to the start.  Pretty cool for him.

Now, for the bad news.  We had a very bad crash on the first jump.  This course is one of the hardest courses in the world.  You start on a very steep hill.  Then, 2 seconds later, it gets steeper.  8 seconds after you start, you hit the first 'jump' doing about 120kph (we used to have a radar gun here, but they didn't want it this year).  You have to hit this one right and land it perfectly.  Such is not the case for Hans Grogger.  He landed very wrong and has head injuries, broken leg, and much more.  We just heard that he is now out of danger.  He did require cranial surgery.  I hope he pulls through and that it all works out.

Other than the snow that happened during the race, it was pretty calm after that.  You can watch the live camera on the start area if you like at http://hkrlive.com.  Remember, we are 6 hours ahead of eastern time zone for those of you on the other side of the pond.

This course is the real deal.  I mean the real deal!!  You ski this to the bottom in less then 4 minutes and survive, you are nothing short of amazing.  Finish in the top 10, and you can walk on water.  Yesterday just about anyone could have skied this course.  Today it was rock hard ice, much like an NHL hockey rink.  

I guess this is why they invite the guys from Eastern Canada out here.  We are used to skiing ice.

I am trying out a new camera by Sony (hard to believe that anything from Sony actually works).  This is from the Nex-3.

Panorama view of the finish.  Click to enlarge.

Tomorrow is the Super G from a brand new Super G start.  They had a very large wind storm that ripped out acres of trees, all of them in the area of the Super G start.  It really changes the complexion of the hill in the middle.

Just a tad warm here

This morning (Sunday), about 9am, on our walk over from the Villa to the hill, we quickly noticed that it did get below freezing last night as the road was nothing but black ice on the walk down the hill.  For some of us, the walk went a little quicker then normal.

Today, it hit about 11C.  Phips, the Start Referee who has been here for most of the 70+ races said that it was like "Africa" at the start house.  And, this is January.

Not Good! -- Thanks to Brian Cooper for the picture

More importantly is the fracture on the hill just below the Hausburg jump.  With all the heating and freezing going on, who knows what might happen at that point.  They have been using Helicopters to move snow into that area since they can't make snow.

I had to walk down beside that area today (now Monday) in a field that has no snow and the ground was all totally fractured as well, which looked like it was setting up for a big mud slide that would end up in the finish area.  However, for all I know, it could look like that all  time.

Monday was just about the same temperature.  Just beautiful weather.  Just not for a ski  race.  If you like spring skiing, it was wonderful!  The rumor is that it is supposed to snow LOTS on Wednesday and Thursday.  The will really cause some problems, but nothing that our team can't solve.  As long as the snow can be removed from the course prior to the race, then it will be a great race.

Jet Lag ....

After a slightly longer trip that normal due to some train delay (yes, they do happen in Europe), I did arrive at the Villa Mellon and was greeted by Herta the moment I walked in the door.

I did manage to sneak in a quick nap before being whisked out dinner at some castle that was built about 1439 (I have to get more details on that).  When it comes to eating meals here, nothing is done quickly.  First, you have to mill around the bar, then it is the next 4 courses plus the 2 dessert servings.  And, for the first time in ever for me in Europe, I had a great beef meal!

James Broader (aka "The Mighty Skunk")  - dessert

By this time, I had been up for over 30 hours.  I'm seated on a bunch seat with 12 other people, and the bench seat has pillows.  Talk about control not to lean over and put my head on one of those pillows.

The weather here is way too mild.  It is above zero and I can hear the water running down the roof (very relaxing sound).  However, this will take its toll on the race which is to run 1 week from now.

And, in case you missed it, read what the Skunk had to do upon arriving here!

Road Trip

It has been awhile since I have traveled by plane.  However, I am fortunate enough to be invited back to Kitzbuhel for the 71st running of the Hahnenkamm.   HP was kind enough to let me have time off to attend this event even though I started with them at the beginning of December.

Having long since lost my Elite status for Air Canada, I was forced to travel in cattle class.  Working the system some, I did get an exit row seat, but the next time I should order the seat that has heat.  I was wearing everything I own about halfway through the flight.  I swear the air temp was about 15C or less for over half the trip.

I did watch the Social Network on the way over.  If you are a Facebook user (over 1/2 a Billion people are), you do need to watch this.  I wonder how much of it is true.

Since I am not in a rush today at all to get to Kitzbuhel, I sat down to wait for my bag to show up.  Yep, no Elite status with Air Canada, yet my bag is the first out.  Go Figure!  A few years ago, with my bag tagged priority I counted the number of bags ahead of mine.  It should have been in the first 20 or so.  Mine was 187.

While having breakfast here in the terminal, I was able to watch the first half of the Super Combined from Wengen.  The course looked pretty good and the Slalom race is later today.  The big DH at Wengen is tomorrow.  This is the longest course on the circuit and the guys are just exhausted at the finish.

In the center part of the terminal, Audi has a display (or is it store), complete with a mountain you can drive up and down on.  They didn't seem to like my Ontario driver's license, so no test drive for me.  I tried to see if I could take it home, 'duty free', but that didn't work either.

It also looks like the internet is becoming more available here.  Even Starbucks has free Wifi.  Just last year you'd have to pay for it.

My train to Kitz isn't until 12:44pm local time (6:44am for those you back in snowy Toronto).  It is warm here... about 10c.  Not good if you are doing the largest ski race in the world.

While purchasing my train ticket, the agent seemed to have trouble with my credit card and kept re-swiping it.  Apparently she charged me 3 times for  my ticket, and then immediately apologized.  She said it was easier to just give me cash in return, so being half asleep, I said sure.  Then, I remembered some scam about this sort of transaction showing up on my visa as a cash advance, which would not be a good thing.  I will have to call Visa when I get to the Villa Mellon just to be sure.