Burgers, board games for bored skiers

Lindsey Vonn of the U.S. talks to a coach after the women's Downhill training run for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics was cancelled in Whistler, British Columbia, February 12, 2010.

WHISTLER (Reuters) - A beer and a burger in town, a touch of shopping and some skiing on soft, fresh snow -- the Olympic Alpine skiers have been almost like weekend tourists in the Rockies.

It should have been two days of memorable action for the Alpine teams but instead they have been left kicking their heels, waiting for the weather to improve.

With the men's downhill, planned for Saturday, switched to Monday and the women's super combined moved back to Thursday, the only action on the two runs in Whistler Creekside has come from course workers with their brushes and shovels.

Many of the skiers have taken the chance to enjoy the kind of free skiing on fresh powder snow that they rarely have time for.

Being away from the gates, the sharp turns and the challenging lines is a pleasant change but, as Canadian Britt Janyk notes, it is hardly extreme sports.

"I am not going to go off of a 20-foot cliff or do anything crazy," she said.

GETTING FRUSTRATED

Indeed Janyk, whose mother is part of the hard-worked course staff, spent part of the weekend playing a board game with her teammates -- not Risk but Cranium.

The Athletes Village can quickly lose its appeal to competitors who are getting frustrated at a lack of action and likeable Liechtenstein downhiller Marco Buechel took a trip into Whistler village itself.

Buechel said the toughest part of the waiting game is making sure not to lose the edge that is needed to get ready for racing.

"You've got to keep up the tension the whole time and lying in bed in the Olympic Village is getting boring, so I went skiing a little bit.

"I went to the gym a couple of times but I know everything in there already. I went downtown for a burger and a beer which was good.

"For me it's the first time that after the final training I get three days off before the race and I'm not used to it," he said.

"You keep up the tension and then let it go because there's nothing and then you build it up again and let it go because there's nothing. It's up and down - that's the hardest part.

Men's downhill favorite Didier Cuche, of Switzerland, spent Saturday down at the ski jumping and watched his compatriot Simon Ammann win gold.

"Now I'm just going to kill the time with some skiing," he said, while rival Michael Walchhofer was heading to the gym for a workout -- stomach crunches are his staple exercise.

Most racers play down the annoyance factor in postponements and delays but Italian former downhiller Kristian Ghedina said he and others hated such situations.

"It disturbs you as a racer. Whistler hasn't been on the World Cup calendar for years so they will have wanted time on the course.

"Then there is all the stress of trying to keep focus and then all the postponements and all the up and downs to the venue only to have no action and then there is all the uncertainty. It is so irritating," he said.

The men's downhill is due to be run on Monday.

(Editing by Miles Evans)