Exploring the venue

Early after our arrival to Sochi, we set off to explore how best to get to the nordic venue.  At first it took  quite a bit of time (an hour or so), but as we figured things out, it got down to about 30 minutes by foot and gondola or 20 minutes by car.

What we immediately discovered was that spring has indeed apparently arrived here.  It was warm, hot even.  And the snow soft, wet, and slushy. It has been pretty impressive how the organizers have been able to create reasonably good conditions for all the races.  Still some tricky spots, but much better than I would have imagined.

Katerina and Dia on our first walk from the top of the gondola to the trails.  No need for jackets.  For much of the week, skiers and staff have been skiing in short sleeves.  Even I was down to one layer.  

The Olympic biathlon venue.  We didn't use this venue or the trails here for the paralympics.  The sit ski course used some of the upper trails that ran just above the shooting range.  Otherwise, we would only meet here for the daily coaches meeting. It was pretty impressive though.  The cross-country and biathlon venues were really constructed on the top and sides of a large ridge.  The trails are fun to ski though.  Challenging to race on, with not a lot of segments for rest, but fun with good turns and long uphills following by staggered downhills. On the standing course, there is primarily one long uphill out of the stadium with two trails ascending it, depending on which distance the race uses for the day.  Then some winding, out and back trails, followed by a long descent back to the stadium.  That descent tended to the be the trickiest point, as it was often the softest part of the course and in the direct south sunlight.  The courses are definitely good for spectating as usually the races bring skiers back into the stadium 2-5 times depending on the race.  

Dia has been learning to skate while here and tapping into her Dutch roots.  We try to encourage her to channel her inner speed skater and once she started skating with no poles, it was easier for her and she got a feel for it.  :)

Some of the trails just after the big climb. In the distance is a chairlift that apparently ran periodically though I have never seen it active.  Again, it's hard to tell if it existed before the Games or is part of the plan to turn this into a destination ski resort.

An vista of the mountains from the nordic trails.  It's hard to capture the true sense of relief of the mountains, but it's impressive.  Very beautiful.