I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

Well, let it not be said that winter is still months away. While we have been completely spoiled here in Utah with extremely mild weather (read: eternal Fall), last night in Park City we had a bit of a break from our snow-drought. It wasn't terrible, mind you, but it sure made the drive up to the track interesting and the rides down the mountain a little slower, even in a 800+ pound steel and fiberglass missile.

Even so, we managed to have some fun last night, despite the dreary conditions. After a 20-minute search for a four-man bobsled (which we found out today ended up being hidden in a bin at the finish area), we instead pulled out the two-man and rushed to the start area to put on the runners (sled's blades) and get ready. With three minutes or so to spare, we tightened the last bolt and threw on our bobspikes (special bobsled shoes).

Since I had three brakemen last night I took five runs, and cancelled a sixth due to the deteriorating conditions. When we dropped about 1.5 seconds between our first and last run of the day, I knew that the sixth would be a waste of time and energy. We would have done nothing more but plow the track! But considering most of the other athletes were getting 55-58-second runs, our downtime of 53.92 and 53.52 weren't so bad (although far slower than our normal times). But the snow just kept piling up more and more. On our last run we just plowed the braking stretch and as I got out of the sled and looked back down the run towards the finish line, I could clearly see where our sled had blown through drifts of snow in the uncovered finish area. Ya, it was time to just pack it in at that point.

But it was a fun night after all. Last night was Brad's (brakeman/pusher) birthday so we pitched in and got him a card and a gift card. We also had our good friend Nicole Anderson come up to do some filming of our starts (since her camera couldn't get wet she had to hide under the start area's awning). We also had one of Brad's buddies, Brandon, come up with us and get his first taste of the world of bobsled. Although we only took a few steps and loaded in, Brandon had a blast as we flew (or is it plowed?) down the track. Well, minus the fact that he was sitting on the brake handles thereby putting some bruises on his backside.

And here you all thought our sport was just fun and games. At least we got to wear layers last night and not just spandex. Those poor skeleton athletes...

Next up: four-man bobsled on Friday night with one of our new athletes, Dan. Wish the guy who sits in front of him luck (since Dan will have 600-steel spikes on the bottom of his feet when he jumps in)!

Ciao!