Spectator's Guide to Cross Country
By Cory Smith

February 9, 2002

We have received a number of inquiries looking for information on spectating at Soldier Hollow. It seems that many of you are heading out here to see some races in the near future and want to get the low-down on what to expect. So, in the name of research, I jumped into the spectating masses today at Soldier Hollow for the first events of these Winter Olympics.

In order to get to Soldier Hollow, you have to drive to a Park & Ride lot in Heber, then go through security before boarding a shuttle bus to the venue. Once at the venue, you go through a ticket gate and head out to find your spectating spot on the trail. The guide book says to allow 1:45 to get through all of this, not including traffic delays. The first race this morning, the 15K freestyle, was to start at 9:00 AM. We decided to leave Park City at 6:45, which we figured would give us a half hour of leeway time in case of traffic. The traffic was surprisingly light all the way to and through Heber. In fact, so far the Olympic traffic has not been very bad anywhere, expect for the areas immediately surrounding the venues at the beginning and end of events (even last night when I was in Salt Lake, I was able to drive and park within 5 blocks of the Opening Ceremonies without any problem!). When we got within a half mile of the Park & Ride there was a bottleneck as the volunteers directed traffic to parking spots. It took us about half an hour to actually park our car. It was now 7:55. Our estimation of traffic delays was right on, so we were still on schedule to make it to the start.

It took another 15 minutes to get through security. Security was just like at the airport, except that it takes a bit longer for each person to go through due to layers and layers of clothing with bits of metal on them. They do not allow you to bring in any large backpacks or toys (Frisbees, footballs, etc.). As soon as we made it through security, we boarded a shuttle bus. There were plenty of buses, so there was never a wait for one to show up. We arrived at the venue at 8:30, which gave us plenty of time to go through the gate, check out the souvenirs and concessions, use the Porto-Potty(there are plenty), and stake out our viewing spots on the course.

The women's race started right on time and was incredibly exciting to watch. It was a 15K freestyle mass start - the first time in recent memory that a mass-start had been used in the Olympics. From our vantage point, we were were able to see the racers at least three different times on each lap. It required a bit of sprinting from point to point, but it made the race even more exciting. I think I got a great workout just running all over the hill. The stadium bleachers were only about half-full, but there were people lined all over the areas of the course that were accessible. Despite people all over the course, it was pretty easy to pop in and get a spot at the fence in most places. Only in the two or three most popular places were people lined 2 or 3 deep.

The top fifteen or so women skied together for the first lap, then on the second 7.5K loop things began to break up a bit. Julia Tchepalova set the pace for quite a while, being spelled at times by a number of her Russian teammates, Stephania Belmondo, and Katerina Hanosova. At about the 12K point Stefania Belmondo managed to break a pole (I didn't see how it happened from where I was) but she quickly received a replacement and regained the 10 seconds or so that she lost rather easily. Then, with a kilometer to go, Belmondo made her move near the top of the course's biggest climb. The only person who could match her pace was Larrissa Lazutina. They quickly distanced themselves from the pack and came into the final homestretch side-by-side. They stayed together for about 30 meters, then Belmondo made her move and quickly opened a gap. With 20 meters to go, Belmondo had it in the bag and cruised home for the Gold Medal. For the U.S., Nina Kemppel skied very steady the whole race and picked up a 30th place. Barb Jones also skied well and Kristina Joder, who volunteered to do this race when most of the other women did not want to do it, hung tough for a good result.

After the women's race, we had a two and a half hour wait until the men's race We figured that this would seem like an eternity, so we tried to distract ourselves by heading to the concessions area. By the time we got there the line was already about 50 meters long and moving very slowly. We didn't feel like waiting in line for food, but since we were not allowed to bring food in with us, we were hungry and had no choice but to wait in line for some sustenance. It quickly became apparent that we would have no trouble spending our two and a half hours because the line was extremely slow. It took over an hour to get food, and the food was not all that good - just hot dogs, BBQ beef sandwiches and nachos. We discovered from a couple friends that it was possible to sneak food into the venue in our jackets because security was not really worried about food. So for the next race I will come prepared with sandwiches, rather than fight through stagnant lines for a $5 hot dog.

By the time we had eaten our food, it was time for the men's 30K freestyle race. We headed back to our spot on the hill and got the cameras ready. I expected the men's race to play out similar to the women's. A group of ten or so skiers would break away in the first half of the race, and then on the final lap the hammer would drop and it would be a fight to the finish. But apparently Johan Muehlegg had other ideas. Only 5 kilometers into the race, he made his move and quickly distanced himself from the pursuers. Everyone was surprised by the move and everyone was expecting that he would pay for such boldness at this altitude and would be reeled back in. But it never happened. After two laps, his lead was 1:20. After three laps it was 1:45. Superhumans like Eloffson, Botvinov, and Alsgaard were looking tired and weary. After having Muehlegg do this to me and others in last year's World Cup and last week's Idaho International Grand Prix, it was good to see that he could make even the best in the world suffer badly. Muehlegg was V2ing up almost all the climbs. He was simply amazing. I have never seen anyone dominate a race like that. On the third lap, Eloffson, like many others, had had enough and dropped out. The sprint finish for second and third was exciting, with Hoffman and Botwinov taking those spots. For the U.S., Justin Wadsworth could not overcome his cold and had to drop out. Carl Swenson looked good for the first lap and a half, then began to drop rather quickly. Andrew Johnson started rather well, settling in the 30s. But as others began to tire, Johnson kept skiing consistently. He knew this course well and knew exactly how to ski it. He picked off skiers rapidly on the last two laps and finished 22nd, an outstanding result. Lars Flora skied well against tough competition.

After the race I was really worried about getting caught in a traffic jam as everyone made a mad dash for the exit. Instead of fighting the crowd, we hung out a little longer and watched the flower ceremony and highlights on the bigscreen scoreboard. Once the crowd had thinned a bit, we made our way back to the shuttle buses and then to our cars. I was amazed to find that after a short 3 minute wait to get out of the parking lot, we had smooth sailing all the way home. The race ended at 2:00 and I was home in Park City by 3:20. Not bad at all.

In all, it was an incredible day. I knew the racing would be exciting, but I had been worried that logistical problems would damper my spirits. Not so. Everything was well organized and it was relatively easy to get to and from the event. All in all, it was a nearly perfect day, even though I had hoped for slightly better results from the Americans. They skied well and did us proud.

I can't wait for the next race.