Ski

I have a feeling next year's ASRA circuit won't be boring...

Iowa wrestling is like Austrian academy ski racing. It's live and breathe; life and death...Jim Zalesky took over for Dan Gable as coach of the Iowa program. They are the two greatest coaches in the history of any sport, IMHO. The Bodes of this world would not be welcomed to wipe down their mats or fill their water bottles.

A post that came from the icy, windblown winter cornfields of Iowa where Zalesky is the true Son of God.

Yeah, 'Dude, I forgot about that. The really bad crash last year that Rahlves had in GS, right before the finish...he caught air and launched. He said it was the turning point in his GS career. He said he had decided to find his limit and go past it. To stop thinking and just let it all go. He said it was the best GS run of his career and it changed his skiing.

26 days...

Are you suggesting there's a link between Running Doug and it closing? But, yeah, they passed the word on Saturday...

"I was told by a coach to "stop thinking, and stop caring, just ski" I can't even begin to tell you how much I agree with that coach, 'Dude. On a much tinier, less important scale, I got bitten by this very same thing AGAIN. I had to finish 2nd in my Age Class yesterday, to move ahead of someone in the season-long standings. No huge deal, but just a goal to finish second overall, after being third last year. And what happens? Nobody else at TWood was in my Age Class. So all I had to do was finish. Making sure you "just finish" is so Fing slow... For example, you have to sense the ruts, not think about them. Let your mind quickly recognize them, but get your mind beyond them. It's been drilled into me to start looking three gates ahead. The idea is to have that imagine quickly register in your mind, making your muscles take that line on auto-pilot. Thinking is for practice days. Schlopy always complained that he thought to much...Bode once said that the perfect skier would have Schlopy's body and Bode's head. What is it right now? 26 days until you beat Ligety?

I'll be there to watch you beat him.

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea - Newly crowned Olympic combined champion Ted Ligety punched through the second run of a weather-delayed giant slalom Sunday to claim the first World Cup victory of his young career in a race where the top four skiers were separated by just four hundredths of a second. For unknown reasons, American Bode Miller did not make the trip to South Korea.

Lib, the headwall is steep enough to be one of those places that if you're very local, you can get a season pass to it, then ski it for 90 minutes four times a week. But then you'd need a vertical fix, by heading north pretty regularly. But they've never offered really cheap passes, which is a shame. Our hill at The Hideout, on the other hand, doesn't give you any space to arc any GS turns. Bottom line for me: if Tanglwood offered a family season pass for $300, we'd definitely buy it...even if it was just for weekdays or nights.

Thanks, Glenn. Lib, we get the feeling you avoid us...and any ski hill where you can hit 50mph has something worthwhile. Hey, nobody every hit 50mph on Jeff's private golf course---thus, skiing TWood is better than golf.

Speaking of 'Mom, I'm hoping to hear from 'Dude soon. Last run of PA State Finals are done...

Metz...skimom...'woody...early (she's gonna kill us)

They are two of 21 matching I bought from a ski school in Michigan, but thanks for questioning the relationship between a 40-something yr old guy and a teenage boy that just happen to wanna dress alike when they go skiing or out to movies and long strolls and picnics together. But, truthfully, Sib, I'm still just trying to get over Zonked... And anyway, I wasn't the one to show up wearing women's underwear stolen from another MB member after spending the night with her at a mountain retreat.

I'm like worn out from Metz and Doug... Doug jammed a bunch of cheese fries up his nose to impress my daughter. Did it work? She cried when he left...and freaking Doug was trying to convince people that Metz was retarded and they should be nice to him. But Metz does do a pretty good imitation of Corky from whatever that old show was...

I planned on sleeping until Noon, but the 10 day weather forecast makes me worry about passing up any remaining days.

why kids LOVE Doug

*** metzy ski999 jeff doug and ty doug out-chugs metz 5yr old with a gun doug medals running doug

I saw that, but I meant if they did anything with daily pictures, or any 'what's new' sort of stuff. I don't see Blue's website very often. And even though that price is fair, I think it's prohibitive for trying to pull in newbies that will end up in the program for years. $420 (on top of a lift ticket) is a huge commitment into an unknown.

Hey, thanks, but I wasn't posting for props...I bought the gps watch just to answer the question 'how fast can you ski certain slopes' in general. That's why I was hesitant to add fluoro, although I did leave my coat on. IDK about WL...the headwall is pretty short so you need to use the run-in to reach max speed, so you'd need a spotter. The compression would be like squating 1000lbs, I imagine. I think Doug would be a good crash test dummy for WL.

Ha, Toast, you mean it's back to the topic of how much you hate racers and their coaches? Anyway...does Blue's website promote the program?

Just my 2 cents: if price isn't an issue, then buy it. If price matters, buy it in the spring. I've owned Nordica and Columbia jackets, but my Spyder is the best I've experienced. Sib's right about lack of waterproofing in some Spyder products, but I've always used an after-market waterproofer, anyway.

So you insult people that are bigger and MUCH stronger than you, then wuss out 'cause you're a chainsmoking weakling? You brought my name into this, Rob. Where are you headed? You know I don't like you, so why try and p*ss me off? I know you've never heard this before, but listen: a big car does not equal big b*lls. Out of respect for Greg, this is my final word on this, so flame away, Nicotine Boy.

Actually, the best coaches are the one's that have raced or played whatever sport they end up coaching. It's just that so few do it and some of the superstars screw up as coaches because of their egos. Having true empathy for a kid that's about to push out onto a course is a coaching tool. And, uh, Rob, pick a sport -ANY SPORT- and gather up a thousand bucks and let's go at it. How 'bout you go dig up that singlet at your mom's house. I bet I pin you in 12 seconds. Make that 8. Okay, sorry, back on topic. Stupid racers... Blue will end up having so many kids that they'll have to turn them away. Word of mouth, or move it along faster and send a letter to the AD's of all the high schools and middle schools. But you need a cheap alternative for the youngest kids, like the race programs development team. It sucks them into the program by giving them a "taste" of it...maybe 1/2 days on weekends. Just my 2 cents.

No, I work for a company based in Philly. We contract with 150 colleges and 125 high schools to provide them with pictures of all their sports teams and action. They use them for programs, yearbooks, dart boards, or whatever. Ski racing is a tough sport for most photogs to shoot. Mostly because the photog doesn't even know what a ski racer considers a good pic. You try and make the subject look great, so you pick a hero gate...like Ridge's pic at NASTAR Nationals. Those photogs did an awesome job...if you surf the NASTAR pages and look at some of the profiles of people that went to Nationals, a lot of people bought their photo and posted them 'cause they were so good. For slalom, you want a gate that is an easy cross-block and maybe even shinable. Right 'Dude?