Girdwood -- Jason Gamble offered his 16-year-old brother advice Tuesday during the two Special Olympics World Winter Games preliminary downhill runs at Alyeska Resort.

During the snowy morning, 20-year-old Jason Gamble traveled up Chair 4 and informed his brother Brock about the tough spots on the course. He then skied down to the base of the mountain where his father, Edward Brock, and several others waited for any news.

"Matt has his skis on the right feet," Jason Gamble said to Pam Fox, the mother of Maryland athlete Matt Fox. Missi Fox, Matt's sister, stood nearby.

They all laughed. When Matt Fox arrived, he put his brand new skis on the wrong feet, his mother said. He thought it was the "hard-to-ski-on" Alaska snow until a coach noticed the problem and fixed it.

On Tuesday, both Brock Gamble and Matt Fox sailed down the slopes with little problems.

After the second run, a breathless Brock told brother Jason: "I did what you told me."

Athletes skied in preliminary races Tuesday at the Special Olympics alpine venue. Divided into divisions -- novice, beginner, intermediate and advanced -- each skier took two runs. High wind and low visibility led officials to cancel Monday's events, shifting that schedule to Tuesday. If needed, a day skiers originally were scheduled to have off will be used for competition.

Conditions Tuesday at Alyeska were soupy, with low clouds and patches of fog. Snow that was almost rain fell from 9 a.m. to noon, and then off and on throughout the day. Some said racing the course was like skiing in cement, but any Alyeska regular might describe the heavy snow as "spring-like."

Team USA athletes and their parents said the advanced 20-gate downhill course was one of the steepest they had ever seen or competed on. It started at the bottom of the black diamond Waterfall run, moved to Klondike, and then swept around in a big bend and finished on Cabbage Patch, underneath Chair 4.

For some parents, competitions were the only chance to visit with their competing family members. Marty Warshaw and his wife, Dot, traveled from Manchester, N.H., to watch their 23-year-old son, Adam, compete in alpine events. Warshaw waited at the gates during warm-up runs and visited with his son as he skied out of the race area and made his way to the lift. Adam Warshaw and other USA athletes are housed on Elmendorf Air Force Base. Parents don't have access, he said.

"It's kind of frustrating. It's really hard to see him," he said of his son. But when they can, families come together and cheer on relatives. Sporting badges that said "FAM," the relatives rang cowbells and shook pom-poms.

Marty Warshaw said he and his wife attended a reception at the 4th Avenue Theatre for Special Olympics athletes from New England. After Adam Warshaw, dressed in a new racing suit and helmet, finished his first run, he visited with his parents in front of the day lodge.

The competitions have done wonders for Adam Warshaw, his father said. He described his son as independent -- he drives a bus for Boston College -- but also as someone who sometimes had a hard time competing in sports.

"He just couldn't compete with other kids," Marty Warshaw said.

His confidence and self-esteem sky-rocketed after he started Special Olympics competitions years ago, he said.

Adam Warshaw was one of the fastest on Tuesday. Most skiers shaved off several seconds during afternoon ski runs when the snow let up.

"That's mine. I can't watch. I can't watch," said Nancy Gill, whose daughter Jane Gill made her way down the course. She fell near the bottom, at a gate that caused several competitors to catch an edge of their ski.

"She got up. That's my girl, she don't quit," Nancy Gill said as she watched Jane Gill stand up and ski down the course.

There were a few spills on Tuesday, including 18-year-old Japanese athlete Yasuhiro Takahashi, who fell just inches from the finish line. He lost his ski and climbed back up the course to get it. Fans, teammates, coaches and others tried to tell him he just had to cross the finish line, and eventually he slid down the slope carrying his ski in his arms.

A huge cheer rose from the crowd.

Reporter Molly Brown can be reached at mbrown@adn.com or 257-4343.