OSLO 1952 Downhill, Men / Utforrenn for herrer

Downhill and Giant Slalom Races at Norefjell.
Plans were made for the training period to
start on February 1, but it became necessary to
keep to Rødkleiva for the first days. On February
6 the Norefjell runs were opened.
Preparation of the trails took place at the same
time, and training runs, therefore, could only be
made at set times on the main courses, usually
one complete run a day only for each competitor,
some days only on part of the courses.
Preparing the trails was strenuous work. Movable
motor pumps and miles of hoses and pipelines
were brought in. Brooks were dammed and
frozen lakes were opened up, and the pipes were
laid from them to the trails. Tree stumps and
rocks were then sprayed with water, and the ice
layer which formed made a smoother surface
and a good base. Obstructions were covered with
straw mats which were frozen in position. To
transport snow from the surrounding woods long
slides of corrugated iron were made. Snow wasscooped up onto these slides, and pushed to the
courses, where assistants spread it out and tramped
it down.
The uppermost part of the downhill course is
above the tree limit. Here snow was spread out
three times. Twice the winds swept it away, the
third time it stayed in place.
Scores of helpers were needed, and without
military assistance the task could hardly have
been accomplished. A large number of volunteers
also took part in this work. The maximum number
of men was 600. For the officials, assistants
and workers, those were long days with plenty
of hard work and considerable nervous strain.
The necessary training restrictions created some
uneasiness among competitors and coaches, particularly
to begin with; but as all suffered the
same handicap, and training conditions improved
as the preparatory work progressed, tempers
quieted down. The day-to-day training programme
was laid down with the approval of the
technical adviser, Otto Menardi, who gave the
officials the very best support through his firm
and confident attitude.
When competitions started on February 14, the
courses proved to be in very good shape, and
provided good and equal conditions for all. Some
even maintained that these "hand-baked" courses
were smoother and better than ordinary hardtramped
snow courses.
Significantly only a couple of minor injuries,
which were not caused by the runs, occurred
during the training period, none in competition.
Downhill for ladies and men was to have taken
place on the same day, Sunday February 16, but
for technical reasons the races had to be spread
over two days, the ladies' race being moved to
Sunday 17. Thus the programme was:
Thursday February 14: Giant Slalom, Ladies.
Friday February 15: Giant Slalom, Men.
Saturday February 16: Downhill, Men.
Sunday February 17: Downhill, Ladies.
All races were run at the appointed times and
no difficulties of any kind occurred. The weather
was favourable with light clouds or none, and a
few degrees below freezing.
The ladies' giant slalom course was made with
59 gates, and the men's with 62. In the downhill
courses for ladies and men there were 18 and 11
compulsory gates respectively, for guidance and
protection against dangerous spots.

Category:

Sports

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[pigolabenny]

Mitico Zeno!

[esplorantes]

Che eroi gente !!!

...e se cadevano, non si sganciava proprio un bel niente, altro che attacci di sicurezza...

Grande Zeno !!

[Super19101972]

Il primo campione italiano di sci.

[FAZIOLI955]

La vittoria del grande zeno colò!