When American River Radamus pushes out of the start hut in Wednesday's Olympic super-G he will be on his own for the minute or so it takes him to reach the bottom of the Stelvio course.

But, just like every successful ski racer, he will know he has a vital back-up team — not least the servicemen and women who beaver away late into the night sharpening edges, waxing skis and doing the fine-tuning that can shave off fractions of seconds.

"I'm the only one in the start gate but really everything that I do on the slope wouldn't be possible without a really tight bond with my technician," Radamus told Reuters.

American slalom great Mikaela Shiffrin, who has won a record 108 World Cup races, once said she preferred to blame her skiing rather than her skis when a race did not go to plan.

On the whole, the general consensus agrees with the old saying that a worker is only as good as their tools.

Some racers take their equipment prep so seriously it can lead to occasional disagreements with their technicians.

Radamus' teammate Sam Morse, who finished 19th in the downhill on his Olympic debut, says he is in his element when it comes to angles and edges.

"In the offseason when I'm not ski racing, I actually go to Dartmouth College and I'm working on my mechanical engineering degree," the 29-year-old said. "So I'm super into the technical setup of it and know every angle and every little adjustment.

"Even to the point that I annoy my servicemen sometimes. I wouldn't say we butt heads, but I'm sure there's times that he just shakes his head and does what I want."

Trusting your equipment, and your serviceman, according to the 27-year-old Radamus, is paramount when you are reaching speeds of around 80 miles per hour down the world's hardest slopes.

"I've been working together with Tine Hocevar for about five years now. I'm one that's slow to trust but the trust part is crucial," said Radamus, who finished fourth in giant slalom and team parallel at the Beijing Games.

"Trusting that he knows that I know what I'm talking about, and I have to have a bit of an intuition that his instincts are going to be right on what he changes. It's a total collaborative process and we've got more data than we know what to do with."

Every one of Radamus's runs during a season is analyzed in forensic detail, creating a "massive portfolio of spreadsheets".

The Stelvio course is especially challenging for technicians, given that the conditions in February are different to those encountered during the World Cup races in December.

"It's one of the hardest because there's so many elements involved over the ice and the bumps and softer snow," Radamus said. "I'm used to coming here in December and it's so icy I can see my reflection while I'm inspecting."

Canadian downhiller Jeffrey Read, says his technician "knows the feeling that I'm looking for a lot better than I do" but says it is still a collaborative process.

While the edges and waxing on the skis are crucial, the feeling in the ski boots is no less so.

"The boots are the next piece of connection towards your body," Read said. "You might have to ease the boots off a little but it's all so individual. So it's just dialing in what works for you and it takes some patience.

"By the time you're in the start gate of the race, you've just got to be fully committed to whatever you have."