Saturday we were up bright and early (AGAIN!) and were on the bus at 7 a.m. to get to the race hill. I hopped in our little 26-foot-long U-Haul and drove it all the way to Gallagher Hill where the race was happening. After finding a place to park the submarine among the giant windrows, and after last minute snow-fencing additions to many team’s sleds, the races were set to start.
Our first run of the day for our competing sled had the one and only Rick Mercer steering. It went quite well, except for the fact that our brakeman, also our construction coordinator David, was launched off the back of the sled after a particularly quick and unexpected turn by Rick. Since losing any part of the sled, including its riders, results in a disqualification, our DQ count was at one.
After the sled came off the hill, we noticed one of our skis was bent at an impossible angle. We removed it and began the very precise repair of hitting our support strut with a hammer to straighten it. Unfortunately that didn’t quite work, and the strut sheared off.
Because we’re engineers and we’re prepared, we had an extra ski in the depths of the U-Haul, and were able to compete for a second run.
The first run of the day for our non-competing sled had the Travel Channel’s Bert the Conqueror as a rider. Our sled made it down safe and sound for the first run, albeit at a snail’s pace!
The second run for the competing sled was even more exciting. Right from the start, our sled began fishtailing, and continued to do so the entire run down the hill. Since I am clearly a superior brakelady, I was able to hang on to the sled until the run flattened out. Our sled then made a complete sideways turn, our ski then dug in and we flipped!
I was thrown clear of the sled (thankfully), and all of our riders (including Rick) were housed safely inside our fancy green garden fencing, as well as our strong aluminum roll cage. Because we hadn’t quite made it to the finish line, we had DQ number 2 for the morning.
The second run for the competing sled was great as well. No crashes!!!
The second run for the competing sled was great as well. No crashes!!!
Lunch had finished and the head-to-head King of the Hill races were set to start. Because we didn’t want another rollover, we decided to groove the skis and slab of the competing sled in order to help it go straighter. And guess what! It didn’t work. This time we had a much gentler roll, and did so quite early in the run. We were out of the competition.
Our non-competing sled had much better luck at KOTH. Even though that sled is amazingly slow, the team we were racing against had a minor wipe out near the finish line, and we therefore won by default! Our second run wasn’t successful, but making it through one round was more than enough accomplishment.
After a day full of crashes and mishaps, and some incredibly fast, successful toboggan runs by other schools, we were ready to call it a day. We all cleaned up the hill, and then went back to the final closing banquet for our formal awards.
The overall first-place winner was the University of Calgary with Queen’s taking second, and Ryerson in third.
Although we didn’t win First Place like we did last year, I was still excited to lead a team of future engineers. For them, there will be another GNCTR next year where they can learn from our mishaps, and hopefully bring that trophy back to the U of A!
Elaine Rippon
GNCTR Captain
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