BEAR HOLLOW -- For the first time in its two-year life, the bobsled/luge track at the Winter Sports Park hosted the world. At least, part of it.
And in a preview of 2002, consensus is it's a winner.The first World Cup events, three of them all total, were held over the past two weekends. Men's international bobsled was first, followed by men's and women's skeleton, then capped by women's bobsled.
It was, for the sliders from across the oceans, the first visit to the track that many will be riding for gold in 2002.
And it was supposed to be a home-track advantage to the sledders from Canada and the United States. In some cases it was. For most it wasn't. The U.S. men did well in the 2-man, but not so well in the 4-man; the men did OK in the skeleton, the women did not; and the women dominated the 2-person bob.
The fact that eight of the 10 available track records in bobsled and skeleton were broken supports the quality of racers in these events.
The record that fell included the men's and women's 2-person bobsled run times, the men's 2- and 4-man bobsled push times, the men's and women's skeleton run times and the men's and women's skeleton push time. The records that went untouched were the men's 4-man and the women's bobsled push.
For the Americans, what the visiting drivers found when they arrived here apparently took away whatever home-track advantage they felt they had.
Several visiting bobsled drivers said the track was very "European." Meaning, it is much like tracks back home it didn't take a lot of getting used to.
Christoph Langen of German, who dominated the men's bobsled by winning both the 2- and 4-man events, called the track, "one of the better ones and very much like the tracks back home."
With only a few days of training, which he said did not go particularly well, he set speed and push records in the 2-man.
"You learn during a race what you must do, not during training runs. I learned I must smooth out my driving. I am looking forward to 2002," he said.
Guenther Huber of Italy, who tied with the U.S. team of Brian Shimer and Paul Wise in the 2-man for the silver, said the track was not particular difficult, that anyone could make it down, but that it was very technical and would take skills to win.
This was evident in that even with all of the ice time over the past two years, U.S. drivers had their troubles.
Alain Wicki of Swizerland, winner of the men's skeleton event, called the track one of the best he's been on. He especially like to fast start.
He, too, said it was a track anyone could get down, "but it's the little things you go right that will make the difference."
Ryan Davenport of Canada, one of the more recognized names locally, continues to call the track one of his favorites.
And Steffi Hanslik of Germany, winner of the women's skeleton, said the track was fast and exciting. She set the track and push record.
Experience did count in the women's bobsled. Jean Racine and local track star turn bobsled convert Jennifer Davidson won a silver in her first race as a slider and a gold in her second. Teammates Jill Bakken and Meg Henderson took 2nd on Sunday.
Both Racine and Bakken said experienced helped, but that it wasn't the only factor leading to medals. Despite the fact they won, both drivers had trouble, tapped the wall a couple of times and admitted they could have done even better.
The next test of the track will come Jan. 24-30, when the park hosts the America's Cup bobsled event. The first major luge event, the U.S. Championships, will be Feb. 20-21 and will be followed by the U.S. Bobsled Championships March 6-7.
For now the report card says the Utah track is one sliders can get down without banging up themselves or their equipment, but in order to win it will require some technical know-how and experience.