Olympics

[Cloud]

Olympic sock races!

[classicman]

Originally Posted by glatt

True! During the half pipe qualifications last night, I saw one of the Americans pull his iPod out of his pocket, fiddle with it, and then start bopping his head around like crazy.

Like figure skaters in a way, I believe they time things with the music.

Originally Posted by Cloud

Olympic sock races!

Don't tell mom

[glatt]

Talking about all this stuff reminds me of the time I went to the ski jump in Innsbruck. Bergisel ski jump in Innsbruck is open year round for training. You don't need snow to use it. They have a slippery plastic on the jump itself, and the landing area is covered in a very long stranded astroturf style carpet. Every once in a while, sprinklers turn on and wet it down, just like the produce section of the grocery store. Speaking of food, there's a cafe at the top with spectacular views of the valley and of the jump itself. You can see the athletes up close as they go through their training runs.

[glatt]

There's a little elevator/train car that takes you to the top, and the public rides the same elevator as the athletes. Kind of neat. It's probably limited access during actual competitions. Then outside the cafe there's a little observation platform where you can watch the guys getting ready to jump.


A running joke at this place is the grave yard just beyond the landing area. If you land wrong, they say you will end up in the graveyard. But it's actually about half a kilometer away.

[glatt]

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