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Steamboat Springs — Every day of work this week has begun at 7 a.m., but the process began in July. That's when Erik Skinner and the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club began to gear up to host the Junior Olympics freestyle events.

Eight full months of organizing - setting up everything from registration to rails, belt-buckle awards to the big banquet - comes to a conclusion today.

So the dozens of coaches and volunteers who have pieced together the week's extravaganza, they have to be ready for it all to be over, right? The 5 a.m. alarms and late-night details? The days of digging snow and building judging stands?

Not quite.

The Head

Erik Skinner didn't have time to talk Saturday. The Steamboat Springs Winter Sports club's freestyle program director - and the driving force behind the five-day Junior Olympics - had a million other things to do.

Did everything go right with Saturday's aerials competition? Is Sunday's dual moguls course ready? Are the landings chopped and the run intact? Is the food ready for the 400-person banquet?

The awards to be given out at the banquet were safe, at least, piled in Skinner's arms as he walked into the event. The banquet should have been the first glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel. Only one day of madness remained. But relaxing would have to come another day.

"I just get nervous at the banquet trying to feed 400 people, trying to get everyone there and set and get the prizes," he said. "I got to take a shower at 6:30, so I'm pretty excited about that."

Skinner was quick to credit those around him for helping to pull off the massive event that is the Junior Olympics. Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. staff had been a tremendous help, he said, and his coaches also had been essential in helping the program's athletes and preparing the courses.

The longest day of Skinner's week ended at 11 p.m. One night, he was happy to get home at 7 p.m. But the long hours don't mean he'll be happy when it's all officially over.

"I'm excited to finish up the event so everyone can get a day of rest, but I'm definitely going to miss it," he said. "We have kids from all over the country and that's pretty special.

"Also, the adrenalin high that comes off this, just running around so much and being so busy - exhaustion doesn't even really go into your mind because you have so much adrenalin pumping in you."

The Voice

Bruce Perry learned to love freestyle skiing as an 11-year-old. Now, after 18 years skiing professionally and 10 more spent on a judging stand, he's learned to love voicing that passion.

Perry is the booming voice of this week's Junior Olympics.

Soft-spoken away from the microphone, his voice blasts into it, overpowering the event's stereo to keep fans informed.

He does more than just keep fans in the know, however. He combines his 44 years of experience in the sport - offering fans insight into its roots - with common sense.

"Don't forget," the Dillon resident bellowed Saturday, "to set your clocks ahead for daylight-saving time."

Perry loves to interact with the athletes the most. He announces at enough events every winter and follows the up-and-coming talent close enough, to know some athletes' histories, even nicknames.

"My favorite part is watching a skier, when they come through to finish after you say their name when they're on top and read their bio as they're coming down, and seeing the smile on their face," he said. "That's the best part, getting the skier excited.

"I know the history of the sport, being involved since when it started. It's been pretty cool, coming from a competitor to a judge to an announcer."

The Muscle

Plenty of work remained. Kate Marshall and Tony Lodico were only halfway done shoveling one of the landing areas for today's dual moguls competition, but they had to watch the action.

"Hey, watch this kid," Marshall said, turning to look back down the mountain as a competitor in Saturday's aerials competition launched himself flipping and spinning into the air.

Chopping up the landing pits is hard but necessary work. Doing it at the end of a long day ensures the same task, meant to help soften competitors' landings, but it will go faster in the morning.

As daunting as the grunt work can be, few of the Winter Sports Club's many staffers and volunteers lost site of exactly where they were.

"Think about it like this," Jonah Drescher said. "I'm getting paid to go to the gym every day. On the days it does hurt, I still have a beautiful office. I wouldn't trade this for any office job anywhere."

The week's events meant early mornings and late nights for Drescher and the rest, just like they did for Skinner.

Drescher's day, in a nutshell: "I get up, feed my horses, come here and shovel for eight hours," he said.

Like so many others, he didn't have a hint of regret about hosting the event. Instead, he saw plenty of upside.

"If we had to travel for the event, they may only be able to afford to send two or three of us," Drescher said. "I have 12 coaches here. I can always pull a couple of coaches out to deal with the athletes. In fact, we have a better coach-on-athlete ratio here because of that. : Even though it's hard work, the kids are getting it better."

He estimated that the club, parents and kids involved from Steamboat saved about $50,000 because they didn't have to dine out, rent cars, pay airfares or gas or book hotel rooms.

And they all love it. Every member of the Winter Sports Club staff, when asked about growing anticipation for today, the JO's last day, responded resoundingly affirmative.

The enthusiasm didn't have anything to do with the final gasps of the event, however.

"Oh yeah, I'm looking forward to it," Drescher said. "I love duals!"