Tunnel Skiing

As Andy Newell said this morning, “Skiing in a tunnel is like skiing in a refrigerator.” That wraps up what it feels like pretty well.

The Oberhof tunnel has 1.2km of skiing. It is much newer and nicer than the other tunnel I’ve been to in Torsby, Sweden. We were in Torsby last November and the snow was soft and sugary. Here in Oberhof it is great, very close to what we race on in the winter.

Plus they have windows here in Oberhof. They were making snow in the tunnel today so it was a little hazy and slow in that area of the tunnel.

They were taking a bunch of old snow out of the tunnel today. It is tough having them run trucks in the tunnel. You smell the fumes when you’re skiing. It can’t be healthy.

Here’s the snow-making operation:

It’s always strange to me when the garage door is open because you’re looking out at green grass.

Here’s what the tunnel looks like from the outside:

On a different note, the hotel we’re staying in serves us 3 meals a day plus apple pie, ice cream and coffee at 3P.M. It’s fantastic, but it can make afternoon training a little tough. Here’s Andy with his pie: