February 13, 2010 (Whistler, BC) – Today is the day of the opening of the Games. Starting tomorrow, the biggest sporting event in the world begins. All athletes, trainers and coaches have worked four years for this event. The closer the day-X moves, the more clearly you can feel the excitement of all the protagonists.

Today the weather varied. The morning was sunny and in the afternoon it rained at temperatures of +2 ° C. Tomorrow will be the first competition of the women biathletes and the much awaited Men’s Downhill. It is unclear whether the downhill will be held as the forecast is for poor visibility and wind. Let’s hope for the best.

Unfortunately, the weather plays an unusually critical role. Locals report that the last 70 years were not as warm at this time of year as now.

At the Toko team all is going very well. Heinz Kolly our Alpine specialist gets up every morning at 5:30, to supply all the teams with the necessary information early enough for their benefit.  Just as in the Nordic Venue, each team gets an accurate forecast, which we receive from Bern meteo every day for all the venues via email. Then we go to the course to provide specific data such as snow and air temperature and humidity which are measured in varied sections of the course. According to these results, the wax tip is created and distributed. Through the end of the day he provides each service man with the needed items from our cabin.

The Nordic race service staff Jens Rischmüller and Björn Pfestorf share the work in the biathlon, cross country and Nordic combined. Wax tests are carried out on the cross-country and biathlon trails appropriate to the start times. As in the Alpine, all the teams get the information they need to support them in wax, weather and start group choice.

My job here is quite clear: organization, media relations, and testing support as well as to advise the teams regarding weather issues, products and start group.
Like every day, I’m going back tomorrow to sign in with background information and news about the Olympic Games.

From Whistler and Callaghan
Steffen Hoos