Not for the Timid

Posted Feb 20, 2006 by Bill Ward

Updated Feb 20, 2006 at 05:55 PM

1 p.m., Sestriere

Holy Cow! The drive from Turin to Sestriere might have been the most white-knuckle experience of my life. After you get to Penerolo, the next 35 miles or so is a two-lane road that winds up, over and around the Alps. There’s loads of traffic as people head up to the men’s giant slalom and the road is about as wide as a typical residential street in Tampa. Difference is, it’s covered with all this melting snow from yesterday, so it’s wet and slick. Every fifth vehicle is a massive tour bus and when one comes toward you from the opposite direction, you just cringe.

The road contains some insane hairpin turns and it seems like you’re always shifting up and down. And it seems you’re always in second or third gear, never in fourth or fifth. If you hit overdrive on this road, they should check that person’s head. One time, I had to come to a complete stop as a large bus swung wide and was barely able to stay on the road. The really crazy part is I saw people passing other cars on blind corners. To go the final 35 miles took more than an hour.

Once I got to Sestriere, I understood why Bode Miller is reportedly partying here. This little ski resort town is hopping like Park City did atthe Salt Lake Games in 2002. There’s a disco here called “Tabata” that Bode has

reportedly hung out in this week. I tend to take that with a big grain of salt but I did see a DJ’s name I recognized who is spinning tunes here this week, Joe Vanelli. He’s pretty big in Europe and I think I still have some of his mixes on tape or CD. Wish I could hang out here, too, if Vanelli is DJ’ing.

Over at the ski venue, almost 10,000 fans packed the stands and another couple thousand were along the final section of the course. Let me say this about people who ski down these mountains: I have a new-found respect for them. Television does not show how steep the mountain is or just how fast they a re coming down the mountain. They are amazing athletes to be able to get down to the bottom in a mater of a couple of minutes without breaking any bones. No wonder people go nuts at these events.