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world cup pipe

The first shipment of pipe for the snowmaking system on Whistler Mountain’s Dave Murray Downhill course arrived Tuesday. The snowmaking will be fed by a reservoir being constructed just below the T-bars.

The first shipment of pipe for the snowmaking system on Whistler Mountain’s Dave Murray Downhill course arrived Tuesday. The snowmaking will be fed by a reservoir being constructed just below the T-bars. Crews have been doing summer grooming on the Fallaway, Weasel and Sewer sections of the course. The summer grooming has included removal of large rocks and obstacles and spreading a layer of fill, all to ensure the course can be run with a minimum cover of snow. The bottom of Fallaway is also being widened and the Sewer is being widened in some areas to allow more turns to be set in one of the fastest sections of the course. The feeling among FIS officials in recent years has been that downhill courses should no longer have perfectly straight sections where the racers try to ride a flat ski. The additional turns are being added to the Sewer partly to control the racers’ speed, but also to keep the racers’ on their ski edges, rather than riding a flat ski. With the radical sidecuts now used on downhill skis and bindings mounted on platforms on the skis it is very easy to catch an edge while trying to run a flat ski. Meanwhile, the deal with the Hong Kong Bank of Canada for the $3 million loan, needed to pay for the snowmaking and course improvements, has been completed and the money should be transferred today or next week.