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From a nice, detail-packed two-part post at Wired’s Playbook blog about how Matthew Schiller, the head technician for the U.S. Ski Team, prepares ski bases and edges for downhill competition, a lovely kicker that sums up the technological arms race:
After all this work, the endless coats of wax, the scraping and filing and polishing — what’s the difference between a perfect ski and one that’s totally missed the mark?
About half a second, according to Schiller.
Months and years of work to find a half a second? That’s the Olympics, and not just for the athletes.