I watch winter sports on TV only at the olympics. Maybe I missed something. Is the blue snow new? I don’t remember seeing boundries maked on the snow for the downhill. There is also blue snow on the half pipe. Should I get out more?
I knew I shouldn’t have fed those blueberries to the huskies !
“When ya gotta go, ya gotta go”
- Smurfette
I haven’t been watching these Olympics, but I believe they used to lay out little pine branches on the downhill courses so the skiiers could see where the slope was. I don’t know if you ski or not, but it can be surprisingly hard to judge the slope of the snow when the light is flat. (That is, when the sun is low) There’s precious little contrast between snow and snow. Also, those guys (and girls!) are travelling at highway speeds down the side of a mountain with nothing to save them but spandex, so multiply any visibility problems by, let’s say a bagajillion times versus your everyday skiing experience. 
As for the half-pipe, I’m pretty sure they do that so the snowboarders can see the rim of the pipe. After launching 15 feet (how high do they go?) into the air, I would guess it’s pretty important to see the edge. Again with the contrast.
To sum up, on the half pipe I think that the edges have always been marked for visibility. On the slopes the boundaries used to be marked, but not as clearly.
sinjin
Post script: Are they disqualifying skiiers for skiing past the blue boundaries? In olden days if you went wide or something (and hence skiied over the pine needles) but still made your gates, you were fine. If they’re handing out penalties for going “out of bounds” then I would say it’s something new. As I said, I haven’t seen this first hand.
I think it’s just some kind of spray paint; this is the first time I’ve noticed it being used this extensively and in this colour, but I’m certain I’ve seen sprayed course markings (red, in my recollection) on the downhill and slalom for as long as I can remember - back to the 80s at least.
I don’t follow Alpine skiing all that closely, but when I have watched events recently, I’ve seen skiers going a bit over the blue lines without being DQ’d. Of course, you get too far beyond those lines, and you’re going to miss the next gate anyway at those speeds.
Believe it or not, the commentators said it’s actually commercial snow cone syrup.
Ok I was wrong. Go ahead and eat it.
You need to get out more.
Upin New Hampshire they frequently mark competition runs with red and blue chalk. I’ve never tasted ity, though.
I don’t remember it from years past, especially in the olympics. I know for a fact it wasn’t always done. Look at the famous Franz Klammer (sp?) gold medal run. Anyon know when it started at the olympic level?