Last year (2004) at Soelden there was no exit gate from the course at any point between the start and the finish. Not only did DQd racers come across the line at inopportune times, but we had coaches, photogs, ski techs, slippers, Tom, Dick, and Harry all skiing across the line in the middle of the race, sometimes within < one second of a valid racer.
This year was totally different. The event organizers and the FIS TD were very much aware of the cause of last year's problems, and they redesigned the finish so that there was a primary exit gate to skier's left about 200m above the finish, as well as an emergency exit to skier's left of the TX photocells. In addition, there were security personnel posted on both sides of the course 100m above the finish to flag down anyone who tried to violate the finish line during the race. Racers who missed the primary exit were allowed to ski behind the TX photocells, but anyone else - slippers, photogs, coaches - were made to take off their skis and HIKE back up to the primary exit gate. It was actually pretty funny to watch, but this accomplished the organizer's goal in that those who had to hike then bitched, complained, and screamed bloody murder to their colleagues, which spread the word about the mandatory exit faster than any other means could have accomplished.
Many thanks to Herbert Klammer, FIS TD at Soelden.
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