Hurricane Start

What is it?

Wed, Apr  18, 2007 - By FIS

The "Hurricane" start for the Nordic Combined was introduced for the first time during the Nordic Combined cross-country race back in March 2005 at Lahti (Finland). This "new" format consists of introduced a staggered, but simultaneous, start for the 7.5km cross-country stage according to the standings following the ski jumping part of the Nordic Combined competition.

This format was used in the North America at a Nordic Combined World Cup 'B' event at Soldier Hollow, Utah on December 16, 2006.

More recently, Bill Demong from the US Combined Team finished 11th after a hurricane start in the nordic combined sprint at the Lahti Ski Games on March 10, 2007

In the hurricane format, the athletes line up in the shape of a spiral with a meter margin calculated on the basis of their performance in the ski jumping competition, and take the start simultaneously so that the whole field is moving at the sound of the starting gun. It is only the athlete leading after the ski jumping competition who skis 7.5 km, all the others skiing further according to their margin from the leader. One minute translates into a distance of 360 m (1 sec = 6 m).

Chris Pironi took the following video from atop the Soldier Hollow Timing Tower: