By Shauna Farnell BEAVER CREEK — Skiing in a blizzard is challenging.
You don’t have to be a professional racer to know this. However, while flying down a super-G course at top speed when the sky and the ground are the same color and huge flakes of snow are pelting one’s face, poor visibility can become a racer’s No. 1 obstacle.
The biggest challenge of a race-time blizzard is that conditions vary for every individual leaving the start house. Following the 2018 Xfinity Birds of Prey Audi FIS Ski World Cup on Saturday, Dec. 1, racers had some pointers about how they contend with flat light and blowing snow.
“There are a lot of different levels of visibility. There are different levels today for everyone at 45-second intervals. For me, it honestly wasn’t that bad. It was actually fairly bright,” said Canadian Dustin Cook, who was the fourth starter and ended up 22nd. “The light was flatter yesterday (during the downhill race). In flat light, you can’t really tell what you’re going over. You’re going over stuff and you’re not expecting it. Everything is a surprise. You definitely get more tentative. You get used to it to a degree, but it’s always pretty tough to ski. For sure certain guys are better at it than others … at sacking up for it.”
Adapting
Visibility deteriorated when France’s Alexis Pinturault left the start house wearing big No. 12, but he was happy with his performance (16th) during a snowfall that was momentarily blinding.
“Unfortunately, around bib No. 10, we started at the bad moments. It was snowing a lot and visibility was really bad. You see now it’s getting better … you can nearly see the start,” Pinturault said after his run, pointing up the course. “But it’s part of ski racing. You have to adapt.”
Racers use numerous strategies for adapting to poor visibility. Pinturault’s methods begin in the gym before the season begins.
“You have to do a lot with your feeling and sensation and how your body is reacting,” he said. “I think there are many different ways to improve. For example, there are some exercises in dry land training when you close your eyes so you don’t have the help of your vision anymore. You just have to focus on the feeling and the ear. Sometimes I’m closing my eyes and just feeling the reaction of my body.”
Cook trains in darker lenses because he believes it’s possible to adjust one’s eyes to function better in flat light.
“When we’re training on the glacier, I try to wear the darkest lens possible when the conditions aren’t that awesome, so when I get to something like this, it’s less of a surprise,” he said. “You’ll be slower in training, but then you’ll get to a race and you’re like, I’m glad I did that. You really can train (your eyes) to see better — and also your psyche to push it in tough light. For a recreational skier, it’s not a big deal, but for …read more
Via:: Vail Daily