On the way home for a few days after the European leg of the circuit, the team stopped off in London to load the crate for shipping to North America. After a short break it was time to head out for the second part of the season. The first destination was the newly built track at Whistler near Vancouver. We were all excited yet apprehensive about the new track. The Canadians had been on the track a lot since it opened and we had heard how fast it was and been told tales of numerous and horrific crashes. We figured it was scaremongering but you can never be sure! No other nations had been allowed to train which meant that most teams were in the same situation. As it was a new track to everyone, we had two weeks’ training before the race, one week of International Training and then the usual World Cup week.

The first day of sliding all teams had to start from the junior start. It seemed a bit strange seeing the World’s top drivers starting lower down but, given the track’s reputation, I’m sure a lot of the drivers were relieved! On that first day we could not believe the atmosphere in the start house. Fear seems to bring all the teams closer together, you could actually feel the tension in the room before the start of training and the amount of body padding some people were putting on was ridiculous! Some athletes just sat in silence with their heads down but there was also a lot of laughing and joking and some people talking a lot more than usual.  It was actually quite a refreshing change from some of the usual egos in the start house.

Nic had done a lot of track walks, studied some video footage of the track and felt very confident, which was especially pleasing for Gill and Jackie. Jackie was to brake first and it really was just braking as we had to sit in and be pushed off. Even though we were starting sitting in from corner three, the speed of the first run was comparable to other tracks when you go from the top. It was apparent that this was now definitely the new fastest track in the World. Gill did the second run and we were pleased to have safely negotiated the first day. There was only one crash on the first day of sliding out of 50 bobs, the only other incidents being teams braking too early and sliding back or braking too late and overshooting the finish. Given all the scare stories it was a huge relief for everyone that training was so successful.

The second day Nic was given the choice of continuing to slide from the junior start or going from the top. She was feeling confident so decided to make the move to the top. It was Gill’s turn to go first. We knew it was going to be much faster from the top as even looking at the track you can see where the sled will pick up speed. Corner two looked so steep that Jackie and Gill thought they might be tipped forward into a standing position in the back of the sled! The second day was just as successful as the first, improving from run to run and Pete and Gomer were pleased with our progress. Gill and Jackie were surprised how comfortable the ride down felt. They were expecting a rougher ride and to feel a lot more pressure in the back but the only point there was a lot of pressure was bend 15 and 16. Nic enjoyed driving, especially the challenge of getting to grips with a new track.

Our two resident camera women were also doing a great job. It’s quite a challenge to video as you are not allowed to stand on the walls like on other tracks plus the track is so steep its quite physical walking up and down. It was important that we collect as much footage as possible for analysis. With a new track this is especially important as the coaches are working from scratch to work out what the fastest lines appear to be.
    
During training we continued to make improvements each day. There were some particularly tough sections on the track and bend 13 was certainly unlucky for some. It was aptly renamed 50:50 bend as it was where most of the crashes occurred and it was 50:50 whether the sled would make it through upright or on its side! We enjoyed listening out each day as new names for the corners were revealed. On the first day of training they were predictably named corner 1, 2, 3 etc. By the middle of the first week the announcer was talking about ‘Wedge,’ Lueder’s Loop’ and ‘Gold Rush Trail’. By World Cup week they had added ‘Thunderbird’, ‘Maple Leaf’ and of course ‘50:50’ It did cause some confusion as, standing at the top of the track, we were not always sure which corner the new name had been attributed to – I’m still not sure where ‘Maple Leaf’ is!

After a successful first week at Whistler it was time for World Cup week.  Sean Olssen, who had been coaching the Europa Cup teams for the first part of the season, had been brought out to be an extra set of eyes on the track to assist Gomer and Pete. With three coaches on track plus the information gained by having three video cameras in action, we could cover a lot of the track to give feedback to Nic.

As well as training hard we did get the chance to relax. We moved into a different house after the first four days. It was only 10 minutes drive away from the previous one but was bigger and a lot more luxurious, a good find by Jo. It even had a hot tub that we made good use of, as did the girls from the GB2 team when they came round for video analysis. While the drivers worked hard on analyzing the day’s training, the brakemen kicked back and relaxed in the hot tub – it’s a hard life! If we were not in the hot tub we went into town. There were quite a few shops to browse around and we all stocked up on official Vancouver 2010 merchandise for friends and family. Jackie and Kat went for a trip on the newly opened Peak to Peak gondola, the longest gondola ride in the world, the day before the race. It had some spectacular views and it was a shame the rest of the team missed it. Kat and Jackie think it’s because they are all scared of heights!

After a good day of rest we were ready for the race. Gill and Jackie had had a push off earlier in the week and Gill had won so she would race. After the first run we were in 11th position after an error out of corner four caused a loss of speed at the top of the track. The second run was much better, moving us up two places to ninth, but we could not catch the leaders. Although disappointed we knew what had caused the result and looked forward to putting it right at the next race in Park City.

Before we left however there was the small matter of a ‘Leather, Feathers and Fur’ party to attend at the track. Jackie and Kat took the theme very seriously much to the amusement of the rest of the team. Jackie was banned from leaving the house in her first choice of outfit, a decision that she was later relived about as none of the other teams dressed up quite that much! I wish I could attach photos of Jackie and Kat wearing some of the discarded outfit ideas but I’m keeping them as future blackmail material!

World Cup Race 7 was officially over and it was time to move onto the final World Cup race of the season – Park City.