Feeling for the Killington World Cup course workers.

Submitted by JerryKook t3_z6527b in vermont

I have worked this race before as part of the on hill team. This weather makes course maintenance a miserable job. Snow cats will bring up pallets of rock salt. Workers will take a 50 lb bag and spread it on the course. First there's carrying the 50 lb bag on skis.

Then there is the spreading of it. It gets in everything. It is not good for your skis. It can ruin your gloves. You end up breathing its dust.

When working a race there's a good chance someone one will tell you what you are doing it wrong. I have worked hundreds of races and know that it comes with the territory.

When the race is over, all the netting has to be rolled up and skied down. Skiing it down is harder in soft lumpy snow. I will only take one roll down at a time. Once I got passed by a stud taking 2 rolls. He crashed on the steep pitch and was concussed. There is also the safety pads and other bulky items that need to be brought down.

Ski races at all levels require a lot of labor. Bad weather makes it harder.

Edit course workers do not get paid. They get a free jacket, a hat, breakfast and lunch.

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Comments

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Most_Expert_8080 t1_iy0o57w wrote

That should be a paid job

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JerryKook OP t1_iy0rdkm wrote

After slipping the course all day destroys your edges. I used a pair of skis a day. Even free tunes would be nice.

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sorryidontdoreddit t1_iy1l6bd wrote

I’m feeling for all the folks working that event right now. Think of everyone to has to pull out all the audio, video, staging, power, vendors etc. Oof.

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Internal-Fudge8578 t1_iy27dtt wrote

I worked on race courses, including FIS events, for years out west and I always got paid but I would supervise 1 or 2 volunteers usually who did it for a pass or to watch the event. is everyone at Killington a volunteer? I’d be really surprised to hear there isn’t a pro crew holding it down and taking on the high consequence stuff. It is def hard work and when you’re doing it as a pro there’s an insane amount of pressure and responsibility put on you.

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JerryKook OP t1_iy2idbl wrote

I would say 90% are volunteers. Don't have real numbers. Plus they have to find their own accommodations.

The FIS races I have worked are also volunteers. Many of them are parents of the host ski club. At those races volunteers get a lift voucher for another day.

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Hell_Camino t1_iy2dhpz wrote

If it sucks, quit. If enough people quit, they’ll either pay more or improve the conditions of the job.

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JerryKook OP t1_iy2hp3t wrote

Everyone that works the race loves Vermont and ski racing, that's why they do it.

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Hell_Camino t1_iy2ism3 wrote

Cool. So, they get the intrinsic value of supporting their local community by helping to organize an event that benefits the area. That sounds like a good trade-off. It feels great to be immersed in a community that you care about.

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spacezucchini24 t1_iy3e8bz wrote

I was a volunteer slipper this year and in 2019 and it’s definitely hard work, but growing up in the ski racing world and now being a coach it’s such a cool experience! This year the tear down definitely was brutal with the rain but everyone busted their ass to get everything done quickly!

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Matt31415 t1_iy0opfq wrote

Extra rough today, since it started r*ining right as the race finished.

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JerryKook OP t1_iy0qdi0 wrote

Ughhh. They need to get everything down to be loaded in the WC trucks. Fortunately when it's at the bottom the WC professionals take over.

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ClassyKilla t1_iy0uhs6 wrote

Huh? Salt? How does that make sense, and what does that do?

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JerryKook OP t1_iy0wjk1 wrote

It melts the top layer of snow. The water seeps down freezes. Creating an icy layer. When skiers ski make turns in the same spot in soft snow deep trenches are formed, known as ruts. Ruts give the early racers a huge advantage. If a racer gets in trouble and has to ski out of the course, a rut will act like a ski jump and launch the racer, which is very dangerous.

Salting a race course with soft snow will make it fairer and safer for all racers. It does make a huge difference.

Salting has been banned on glaciers for years.

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asmithey t1_iy0x11p wrote

Melts the top soft and porous layer. Salt then dilutes enough that the top layer refreezes into a harder layer.

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gmgvt t1_iy5s108 wrote

Any possibility this race could ever get rescheduled to later in the winter when we would be more likely to have better conditions to start with? I mean, this year I can only imagine the scramble they must have had once it finally got cold enough to start making snow -- two weeks before this event it was 65 degrees up there!

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