General Best Practices

Make a Plan and Prepare Before Race Day

The first and most important step to success is to have a plan beforehand. You should be familiar with the race day schedule long in advance, and address any issues beforehand. You should know what equipment and staff you will need.

The morning of a race can be chaotic. Plans and schedules can change suddenly due to weather, snow conditions or lift status, so you should do as much as you can before race day. The more pieces of your timing plan that are already in place, the less stress you will feel to get the race started on time. Before race day the hill wiring should be tested and retested. You should be confident in the batteries in all timing equipment. You should have all your equipment plugged in and connected in the finish shack. Start and finish equipment should be assembled into kits and be ready to go for the first lift ride of the morning.

Always Have a Backup

Equipment can and will break, usually at the worst possible time. There should be a backup for every piece of equipment used on race day, ready and in a good location to be swapped out . Timing staff should always carry tape, spare batteries, a screwdriver and a knife. Stopping a race to get a new nine volt from the Hilton is not an acceptable delay.

Make it Weatherproof and Public-proof

Race timing involves lots of wiring connections in outdoor or high traffic areas. You should make wire connections with the extreme wind and moisture possible at Mammoth Mountain in mind. Exposed or loose wires lead to shorts and disconnections. You should also do your best to foresee the bad decisions our guests might make and protect your installations from it. See the next section on Wiring and Connections Best Practices.

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Keep it TIGHT

There should be no wiggle, play or slop in any piece of timing equipment you install. If something has room to move it will, and it will cause you problems later. If you are attaching a start block to a start post, make it tight until the teeth on the block bight into the wood. It should last for eight hours and hundreds of starts without moving at all. If you are drilling a hole for a finish post, use an appropriately sized bit and avoid the urge to ream the hole out. Use a rubber mallet to pound it in. The post should be tight in the snow, the gimble should be tight to the post, and the photocell should be tight to the gimble. Your aim should be tight to the other photocell and gimble setting screwed down tight. Connections that are tight in the cold morning will soften and melt throughout the course of the day. Things will loosen on their own, so start as tight as possible. These are a few examples, but you should apply the concept to everything you do. It is much easier to spend the extra time to set something up correctly than it is to fix it during a race.

Expect the Unexpected

Almost every race series will involve at least one unplanned catastrophe. Following the above best practices will help you anticipate these events and put you in the best possible position to respond.