Skeleton PHOTOS!!!!! (I know, FINALLY)

Okay, finally got my hands on some skeleton pics - they've been sitting on my friend Maija's flickr account but I just didn't know it, and didn't ask for them until today. Viola! Right at my fingertips...

So this will be LONG since Maija is an excellent document-ator (word?) and took heaps of great photos. 51 to be exact - don't cringe, I'm only posting, oh, about twenty or so. :)


Here I am weighing my sled. First important fact: Heavier = Faster. The way the rules work is that you and your sled cannot weigh more than 92 kilograms, unless you yourself are a bit heavy, in which case your sled itself cannot weigh more than 29 kilograms. So, the goal is to weigh enough that your sled can be as light as possible, so that you can continue gaining weight (preferrably muscle of course) and be heavier down the track. I'm freaking out in this picture since the scale says 29.0 kilos, and any snow picked up on the track would put me over and DQ me - then I realized I had the runner guards on. Phew! My sled weighs 28.6 kilograms, and together we are over 102 kilos. (No, I'm not fat, anymore at least, just a lot of muscle, grin.) Perfectly legal, perfect weight. It's ironic, the petite girls and boys get the heavier sleds to carry around, while Brad and I have min-weight sleds. Nice!


Here we are re-taping Brad's sled after removing some weight. Men can have sleds over 33 kilograms if their combined weight is low enough, and since Brad is also above-weight, his sled MUST be below that.


Finding my balance point. Notice the dowel on the floor under the runners - the goal is to find the point where the sled balances perfectly (with you on it), which will give you more control. If you slide back off the balance point, you start skidding. That's why I have the yoga mat on my sled, to keep me stuck in place. I used to slip back so far I'd end up sideways in the track from the skidding!


Carrying the sled. I'm SO glad I have a min-weight sled - those things are so awkward to carry! I have to wear a back brace just to carry mine around, since my back is as most of you know a bit messed up. Carrying the sled out to the parc ferme - the sled must be in there 1 hour prior to the race. If you miss the cutoff, you can't race (supposedly, though they've been a bit lenient). Once in the parc, the only thing you can do to your sled is adjust the runners. Anything else is illegal.


Adjusting the runners. I'm tightening a bolt in the back of the sled to put pressure on the runners and give them a little bow, called rock. This affects the steerability of the sled. Too little rock and the sled is too stable and slow, too much and it's more steerable, easy to get out of control. I go with a nice safe middle rock, 8 millimeters.


Mental runs. Usually a good idea to take a couple mental runs down the track, remember trouble spots and decide ahead of time how to address them. I.e. I'd been hitting the wall out of turn 11 into turn 12, which was having the result of making my 13 bad, and almost flipping coming out of 13. Many sliders can fix problems like that immediately, since I'm new it takes me a few turns to recover, so I was focusing on a downsteer in 13 to correct the line.


Tightening the spikes to make sure none fall out in the track, strapping down my shoes, etc. Last minute prep.


Shoes. See the black tape on the toes? That's 'cause I tend to toe steer out of turn 6 (the biggest g-force turn), and turn 14, and would destroy the shoes with no protection. So, that's shoe-goo covered with gaffer tape. Hee hee.


Standing at the line, waiting for my start time. Once the track is clear all the way down, they will announce that "the track is clear at the skeleton start for Kimber." Then a second or so later a green light will come on and a 30 second countdown begin. Only when the green light is on can I set my sled down on the ice. Then, a few mock starts to break the sled loose, then pushing off! The next four photos are the start sequence. I start with two hands to break the sled loose, then switch to a one handed push to keep my running line straight and be faster, then right as I load, back to two hands, then a reverse pushup to load the sled. Kind of like the worm in break dancing.









Now Brad's start. He uses a two-handed push the whole way, but he can get away with it and be fast because of his long arms. The usual problem with two handed pushes is that it twists your hips and makes it hard to run straight - his long arms allow him to have the stability of a two-handed push and the straight on speed of a one handed push. Lucky!








And here I am, I think, going through curve three.


The finish results - very nice. As the newest slider racing, it was fantastic not to come in last! In fact, this is the race I finished 7th out of 10. YAY!
Brad in the background eating Rice Crispy treats - it was a potluck for the last night of sliding. Grin.


Thanks for the pics Maija, and for coming up to root us on! You rock....