Finn Flatout

A slot with wind in it

Finn Flatout is often at the Switchback Ridge cable station while the rest of the hill still has curtains drawn. He can see which cabin windows will get the sun first as long as the low part of the hill is clear. His job after a gust is to find where the line took it hardest and make a reliable call about the clearance. When he was new, he put too much trust in a single moving branch that he could see from the tea room. The line supervisor asked him to spend half an hour watching what happened from the other end. He took his tea down there in a metal mug and came back knowing why the branch had looked busy all morning.

His friend Jess said this was a long way to go to get cold tea. She has since made a habit of meeting him for walks after work and picking the cup that closes properly. The Lancia Delta Integrale made her wary the first time she sat in it, chiefly because he began describing the fast part of the practice course while she was still trying to see where her feet went.

Two passes and a hollow

Finn needed Jess to watch a closed track section where he kept feeling the Lancia's front get light. He described the straight when he came back. She asked him where the dust went. His first slow lap was much too quick to say. On the next pass he held back and saw it hang along a crease low in the lane while the higher section swept clean. He had been looking out where there was plenty of room and stepping into power before the rise fell away. He tried a lift a little sooner and made the next turn with his hands where he wanted them to be.

Later, he showed Grant Turismo the low spot on a walk. Grant drew it on a board, including enough of the rail that they'd be able to find it after everybody had swept up. Finn hadn't been keeping any shared notes before that morning. He likes that Grant's note concerns where they were standing and lets somebody else work out how the bend felt. It was a useful place to stop before the course bent out of view.

Who watches the flags

Cam Berr and Finn trade weather notes. Cam usually has a line on what happened farther down than Finn can see. Finn remembers conditions from a certain point on the climb and trusts Cam to remind him what that sounds like from below. Sid Sideways has been lobbying to join their next closed test, with a selection of snacks shaped like a good argument. Finn put one on the bench while he described the dust and forgot who it belonged to. Sid made a point of reminding him when he came back for a second.

At the lower door

Finn wants to know whether he can carry the same exit on a day when the wind is pushing the other way. He has offered Jess the first choice of sightline. She has asked him to give the change time to happen before he decides when they are finished. There are two cups at the lower door of the cable station. This morning she brought the short one with the loose lid and handed him the other.