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Watch the Games in Turin, Play Them Close to Home

Posted on: Thursday, 2 February 2006, 12:00 CST

By Glenn Jeffers, Chicago Tribune

Feb. 2--Consider yourself warned. When the Turin Winter Olympic Games (Feb. 10-26) make their way to a television near you, you may find yourself inundated with strange terms: Ten-eighty, Bonspiel or K point, for example.

These terms could be very addictive, causing you to enter a Bonspiel (Scots for curling match), snowboard off a half-pipe and spin three full, midair revolutions (a "ten-eighty") or ski off a 90-meter ramp and land 90 meters away, also known as the "K point."

With events like ski jumping and snowboarding, the Winter Olympics are filled with high-energy, adrenaline-pumping events. And you can find those events, along with the classic winter sport, curling, around the Chicago area.

Curling

What is it? Think bocce on ice. Two teams of four slide smooth, round 42-pound granite stones (also known as rocks), complete with handles, down a sheet of ice 130-feet long by 15-feet wide. The object: The rock has to land in the middle of a circular bull's-eye 12 feet in diameter. To control the path and speed of the stone, players sweep the ice in front of the rock as it travels.

Where can you go around here? Mike Griem, past president of the Illinois Curling Association (www.curlillinois.org) and a competitive curler, recommends the Chicago Curling Club (555 Dundee Rd., Northbrook, 847-564-9877), North Shore Curling Club (1340 Glenview Rd., Glenview, 847-724-9762) and the Waltham Curling Club (East 758th St., Triumph, 815-538-3420).

Start-up costs/time: Not much, Griem says. To try it out, "all you need are tennis shoes [for sliding], warm pants and a sweater."

Many clubs--including the three mentioned--offer free learning sessions, Griem says. During the sessions, the clubs provide brooms, stones and "booties" to wear over your tennis shoes and help with sliding.

"In a period of a half-hour of instruction, we can get new curlers playing in a short game," Griem says.

But costs can increase as you gain more experience. Curling brooms cost around $60-$70 and curling shoes, which come with Teflon soles for sliding, can run between $75 and $120, Griem says. Or you can get a Teflon strip to put on your shoe for $15, Griem says.

Club memberships are available, though they vary depending on the club.

And don't worry about the stones. All aforementioned clubs have their own stones and competitions customarily provide stones, Griem says.

Ski jumping

What is it? Ski down a long ramp. Take off into the air at ramp's end. Sail down a snow-covered hill. Land 100-plus meters from where you began. Points are awarded based on distance traveled and style.

Typically, Olympic skiers jump off 90- or 120-meter ramps. Normally, they'll travel between 125 and 140 meters, though the world record for longest competitive jump is 231 meters, according to Guinness.

Where can you go around here? Although there are alpine and freestyle ski clubs around Chicago, your best bet for ski jumping is the Norge Ski Club (100 Ski Hill Rd., Fox River Grove, 847-639-9718, www.norgeskiclub.com). Founded 101 years ago by a group of Norwegians, the ski club has evolved into a year-round operation that holds international events and trains ski-jumping enthusiasts on the finer points of the sport. Located just north of U.S. Highway 14, the club's grounds feature five jumps, including a 70-meter jump that starts atop a 15-story tower.

"Once you get up there, it's beautiful. You can see the entire Chicago skyline," says club spokesman Charlie Sedivec.

Others have taken notice of Norge's strong reputation. The U.S. Ski & Snowboarding Association named Norge its ski club of the year for jumping and Nordic combined categories. (Nordic combined is an Olympic event that includes ski jumping, followed by cross-country skiing.)

Start up costs/time: Sedivec says that jumping skis can cost anywhere from $500 to $1,000, boots between $100 and $250, the suit between $250 and $400 and the helmet between $75 and $200.

The ski club also rents out equipment for "a nominal fee."

Those interested can learn to jump at Norge's on-site ski training center. After some instruction and a few jumps off the 10- and 15-meter jumps, you'll know whether ski jumping is your calling, Sedivec says.

"Generally by the end of the first or second night, they're coming off the two smallest jumps and seeing if its something that they like," he says "You can see in two, three jumps if [they're] a natural."

Ultimately, jumping doesn't require you to know how to ski, but it helps.

"We can teach you, but it's a big plus," says Sedivec, who recommends taking a few alpine classes before jumping.

Snowboarding

What is it: The art of flying down a snow-covered hill, half-pipe or mountain cliff on a plank of graphite-and-plastic-covered wood. Similar to skiing, related to surfing and inspired by skateboarding, this "X-Treme" mutt of a winter sport graduated to Olympic status eight years ago in Nagano, Japan. The snowboard competition includes three separate events:

The half-pipe: Performing aerial tricks in a snow-covered half cylinder. Trick du jour is the 1080, three midair revolutions off the pipe's lip. Also known as a "ten."

Parallel giant slalom: Similar to the skiing event, snowboarders go head-to-head down a mountain, carving around gates on parallel courses, hoping to beat the other to the finish line.

Snowboard cross: Making its Winter Olympics debut this year. Kind of like motocross; four snowboarders carve, cut and shred an obstacle-filled course. First one to cross the finish line, without crashing, wins.

Where can you go around here? Nearby resorts such as Chestnut Mountain (8700 W. Chestnut Rd., Galena, 815-777-1320, www.chestnutmtn.com) and Villa Olivia (1401 W. Lake St., Bartlett, 630-289-1000, www.villaolivia.com) allow snowboarding. But Raging Buffalo Snowboard Park (Illinois Highway 31, just south of Wilbrandt Road, Algonquin, 847-836-7243, www.ragingbuffalo.com) offers rails, half-pipes and a wicked 150-foot-tall, 750-foot-long slope for those looking to shred. Looking for a calmer glide? Beginner slopes are also available.

More than 25,000 people visit the snowboarding park every season, says Raging Buffalo owner Keith Duck. Raging Buffalo is also a regional site for the United States of America Snowboarding Association, a nationwide, grassroots snowboarding group that holds several competitions at Raging Buffalo throughout the year.

"We're like a skate park on snow," Duck says.

Start-up costs/time: Although Raging Buffalo offers everything from a one-day overview to private lessons, Duck recommends going for the park's three-day course for $159. The package not only includes three half-day or weekend lift tickets and group lessons but also covers rental fees on snowboards, boots and bindings.

"We tend to see that it's a learning curve of three days," Duck says. "By the third day, the lightbulb goes on and they're able to go where they want to go and stop and turn."

If you do catch the snowboarding bug, expect your costs to rise. Snowboards range from $200 to more than $650, depending on your specialty. Boots cost up to $300. Bindings (which attach your boots to the board) could cost upwards of $250, meaning it could cost you more than $1,000 just to get started.

gjeffers@tribune.com

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Source: Chicago Tribune

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