After the snow melts away, there will be a race against time to get the Mountain Course ready for TT 2013.

Course set-up contractor Marlow Construction is having to put out safety barriers and equipment in areas it would normally leave until the final few weeks before the meeting.

That's because so much of the track is inaccessible to workers.

Course Inspection Officer Shaun Counsell says the actual state of the road surface is giving cause for concern but the full extent of the problem won't be known until the snow has cleared:





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From farming friends with land adjoining the course:
"Because the fences and hedges were all drifted over, there are no boundaries so any living stock have free roam of the whole island -everybodies animals are all mixed up big style! Roadsides fences will be a nightmare when snow goes as the highways dept have just been piling it up and pushing it over-20ft high- and snapping all the posts-must be stockproof b4 TT!!!!"

John, what is the gut feeling of the IOM TT residents regarding the TT being eight weeks away, and the state of the infrastructure and damage to the TT circuit in some parts ?.

It's still a bit early to assess the damage properly until more of the massive drifts and snow canyons have cleared.

Pat,
I heard from someone who thought that Ballacraine to Ramsey surface was completely undamaged. The mountain section, when uncovered, may not be as big a problem as some anticipate as the depth of snow may have saved the road surface from extremes of frost. However, more damage may be done by daytime thawing followed by more night-time frosts.

Replacing fencing could prove to be a bigger task.

For TT there will almost certainly be many sections of the course where running water will be a hazard.