Cypress

The first thing I notice as I arrive in Vancouver for the Pre-Olympic World Cup is how warm the weather is. It's overcast, warm, and people are out playing in the park. We're staying in the downtown Marriott. I feel far removed from winter, and even more removed from a ski world cup. However, as we drive up the hill to Cypress, the site for the 2010 Freestyle venue, I am surprised at all the snow and the length of our Ski Cross course. Cypress is only a half hour outside of Vancouver and it is more than adequate to hold an Olympic caliber event.

The course is 1 minute, 15 seconds long, and it has numerous jumps, big berms, wu-tangs, and whoops. It looks like a fun course.

The snow is wet and transformed. It's strange. It's impossible to make a snowball out of this stuff. It just crumbles in your hand.  I liken it to a sandbox. And since it doesn't freeze at night it looks like this is what we'll be racing in.
 
I take some practice runs with Daron, Jake, and J.J. Daron and I both have our helmet cams on. I post the runs on my Facebook page and you can also download them on my public folder at http://idisk.mac.com/pcpuckett-Public?view=web. It gets a little shaky sometimes but it's still pretty cool and it gives you an idea of what we're looking at. The camera does flatten things out but it still gives you an idea.

I leave the hill with a sore knee and bruised shins. Par for the course.