Ask LAV: Falun Relay
LAV,
You have to answer a question for me. I was watching the women's 4x5
relay and on the third leg the Fin and Norwegian were in the lead and
they were skiing together and suddenly they split onto separate
trails. Obviously one skier took a wrong turn (altho they were right
together when it happened). Did the Fin go off course or did the
Norwegian. And then they were suddenly back together. Did the
trails rejoin?
---
Well, they were trying this new type of ski race this weekend, see, where you have options and can pick which trail you take.
Just kidding. We were sitting in lunch after the race discussing this and how they'd have to disqualify the Finnish team. There was no way around it as far as we could see-- Roponen (FIN) straight up skied OFF the course. Then the Finnish team walked in with their flowers from the podium ceremony so we were nonplussed.
There's three concentric loops that ski part of the Mördarbacken- a big loop that's the whole dang thing, a medium loop that the 5km classic loop skis, and a small loop that's hardly troublesome at all. The three loops come together before the hill then break, dropping down to various levels before rejoining for part of Mördarbacken. Then the small loop peels off to the left, then the medium loop peels off also to the left and the big loop starts the hard core climbing. So, um, there are a lot of options at that part of the course. And every option was used at some point for some course this weekend. The skate leg that Roponen and Steira (NOR) were skiing on the third leg was two 2.5km loops, marked by the green arrows. Apparently this intersection was mismarked and the classic legs of the relay had gone straight (the way Roponen went) so there were no v-boards across the trail. (I think they quickly remedied that.) Roponen had even specifically asked before the race if they were following the green course so they couldn't dq the team. And they came into the intersection off a downhill pretty much neck and neck so they picked their route before they knew which way the other skier was going. Steira must have checked the course on the course maps.
Roponen took the middle loop and Steira dropped down on the big loop so Roponen had a little bit of an easier path but she also slowed down so that when the trail rejoined she came back in right behind Steira. Another lesson-- make sure you know what course you're skiing!
You have to answer a question for me. I was watching the women's 4x5
relay and on the third leg the Fin and Norwegian were in the lead and
they were skiing together and suddenly they split onto separate
trails. Obviously one skier took a wrong turn (altho they were right
together when it happened). Did the Fin go off course or did the
Norwegian. And then they were suddenly back together. Did the
trails rejoin?
---
Well, they were trying this new type of ski race this weekend, see, where you have options and can pick which trail you take.
Just kidding. We were sitting in lunch after the race discussing this and how they'd have to disqualify the Finnish team. There was no way around it as far as we could see-- Roponen (FIN) straight up skied OFF the course. Then the Finnish team walked in with their flowers from the podium ceremony so we were nonplussed.
There's three concentric loops that ski part of the Mördarbacken- a big loop that's the whole dang thing, a medium loop that the 5km classic loop skis, and a small loop that's hardly troublesome at all. The three loops come together before the hill then break, dropping down to various levels before rejoining for part of Mördarbacken. Then the small loop peels off to the left, then the medium loop peels off also to the left and the big loop starts the hard core climbing. So, um, there are a lot of options at that part of the course. And every option was used at some point for some course this weekend. The skate leg that Roponen and Steira (NOR) were skiing on the third leg was two 2.5km loops, marked by the green arrows. Apparently this intersection was mismarked and the classic legs of the relay had gone straight (the way Roponen went) so there were no v-boards across the trail. (I think they quickly remedied that.) Roponen had even specifically asked before the race if they were following the green course so they couldn't dq the team. And they came into the intersection off a downhill pretty much neck and neck so they picked their route before they knew which way the other skier was going. Steira must have checked the course on the course maps.
Roponen took the middle loop and Steira dropped down on the big loop so Roponen had a little bit of an easier path but she also slowed down so that when the trail rejoined she came back in right behind Steira. Another lesson-- make sure you know what course you're skiing!
posted by LAV at 00:45
2 Comments:
Watching the race, I loved that little bit. Roponen, to her credit, did realize she'd gone wrong and pull up, allowing Steira to come through and then following along in exactly the same position. Finnish modesty and all that, I'm sure.
Thanks for the explanation of the Mordarbacken climbs. It was obvious from the video that the racers were all going up parts of the hill, but I couldn't figure out, from the course maps on the organizers' website, just where the hell the hill was. Much clearer now!
Yeah, the courses were a confusing rats' nest until you'd been around them a few times.
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