Rules of GS have changed. Hiking back to a missed gate is no longer allowed in Giant Slalom racing - at any level in USSA. A new video is in production to address this change.
The photo beam is about 20-40 cm above the snow so the ski tip will not block it to register a finish. A pole will not block the photo beam long enough to register a finish - so it pretty much needs to ba a body part. Sometimes a reaching hand will trigger a finish but mostly it is from the torso/legs of the racer.
Yes, in slalom, they do hike back for missed gates, but speeds are much lower in this event. If a racer must hike, his time will be a lot slower, but at least he has finished the race and is eligible to earn a second run and be ranked in the results.
In the GS race at the start of this video, Ted skis between 2 blue then 2 red gates alternately. Not sure what you meant about gates being removed due to cost??? The "outside" gates are there still, they are in Ted's race. That "line" stuff was confusing. In saying you have to cross the line doesn't make sense. If a skier does the "circle" of one gate, then he can go straight down and hit the lines by going the "wrong" side of each gate. I know how it works and you almost confused me. Very, very confusing video - certainly not instructional.
Today, only Olympic and World Championship courses use outside (or Control) gates. Single gate GS is almost exclusively set for youth and adult competitions. The video was meant to explain the change from double gate to single gate GS rules. And yes it was a confusing change, but now racers just ski around the gates and don't worry much about the lines, since hiking back to a missed gate is not allowed - for safety reasons the method of circling around the gate is moot. See the Slalom rules video for examples of legal hiking.
