Ski

Crap. It snowed on and off here last night and everything was coated this morning. I was hoping they got just a few hours to crank something out.

Did you bring home your JH medal...you know, the race you TIED the Jackson Hole pacesetter?

A family of three was charged $2500 ($850x3) for the last one. Or did that price reduce when they could entice enough people with discounts for being from Epic? Now this one is going for cheaper each day, trying get volume. 200 people paying $140/day to watch Gary ski a bunny NASTAR course at Howelsen Hill, which is MUCH smaller than Shawnee? Hope hat swag is freaking awesome for you.

Ha, kill it, 'Mom!

Don't be afraid to take a lesson, even if you've been skiing for 30 years. Don't be afraid to ask for an instructor with a race background. Sign up for an adult race league, whether it's instructional or racing. Take advantage of the very affordable local options before plunking down thousands of dollars for something you don't need. Being a ski racer is easy: you just go ski race. If you don't act like a complete dope, there are dozens of fellow racers that love giving tips during race day. The best way to race is a little like learning a new language: submersion. Show up and do it. Nobody makes fun of Jeff for not having a speed suit...especially after he beats most of them. Racing really isn't about egos and acting like cowboys...it's about friendships and competing together. It's just common sense, really.

"This is an opportunity to get an inside line on what the actual event might look like. I have first hand eyewitness information, verification and insight on the benefits. The clinic is pricey but I feel it is worth it for this event if you are planning on going to Steamboat at the end of March to compete in the Nastar Nationals." That's the benefit of MSRT? Are you kidding? It's not even being held at the same mountain as Nationals! It's being held at a bunny slope in town. Rob, all goofy flames aside, can you just give us ONE benefit that a recreational racer will come away with from the MSRT clinic that he/she won't get from a clinic/lesson around here? Just one. Well, the owners of the clinic claimed to have had sexual relations with my family members. Why shouldn't I mention that? They said it publicly. Liz even POSTED it on PASR. Gary wrote it in endless emails to me. Now you want to promote them here? Okay, it's not my MB. Promote away...get whatever discounts you can for people you "know". I'm really interested in what benefit our MB members will get, though, for this huge fee.

Anybody know what they did last night? I'm gonna hit last hour tonight and I want to know if it's still rock ski weather.

I had flipped through the Ski Mag I somehow get sent every month a few days ago, but just really read through it this morning and found it has some GREAT ski racing tips and illustrations. It talks about some of the very things being asked about in the last couple of days---def. worth picking up a copy.

Rob, after carefully studying every aspect of "waist-steering" I would be remiss if I didn't give my opinion that just about everyone on this MB would benefit more from a half-day private lesson at their local mountain. Consider that race camps geared toward budding racers of all ages will first split you into ability groups. Lower and mid-level racers are taught the basics of the carved turn. There's no special race secret magic. There are plenty of East Coast camps taught by actual former World Cup racers. Look at it this way, Rob: I'm not trashing MSRT, but promoting your local PSIA instructors and USSA coaches. But I would want to warn any parents sending thier kids to MSRT camps that Gary Dranow has made threats of violence against me and threats of sexual assault against my wife for disagreeing with his program. I'll be happy to forward his emails at your request---the same one's that the Park City PD were forwarded. And, Rob, I can tell you why everyone here---including me---would benefit more from Mountain Creek's adult race program over the MSRT camp. Can you give us ONE example of what a recreational racer would learn at MSRT they wouldn't at MC?

I always use a horsehair as a final brush....not for that reason, though. To be perfectly honest, I'm just pretty set in my temp/snow type mixes.

Never mind, I found it. Dranow fell down again. IMD needs to update a little better.

Yes. As you know, it's the best way to clean your bases. Graphites come temperature specific, 'Mom, but most are directed toward low-humidity and/or older, manmade snow. So yes, it follows the logic that dry=more static.

Montage head coach's kids, btw.

I've heard people argue that bowling, darts, and pool aren't sports...but never that skiing wasn't. That may be one of the most stupid things I've heard---and that says a lot after today's posts.

PTFE, Jeff, is pure fluoro. It's in the Teflon family. Now known to cause cancer in lab rats. It was a big study that came out and Dupont has agreed to stop throwing it's byproducts into the environment... And there was Ty and I on Sunday, kneeling over our skis, dumping lots of PTFE all over our bases, hands, faces...

Not until you get your pole guards 8*)

How is calling you a liar whining?

Also, whenever you are skiing, look for imaginary gates to turn around. I do that all the time.

You want to start the turn well above the gate...the 'hitting gates' thread has some stuff on this: http://www.paskiandride.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3409 The biggest mistake that new racers make is to ski too directly at the gates before making their turns, then just skidding. There are some good drills to do that work on carving skills. Carving is fast; skidding is slow. Think about tipping the downhill ski on edge, rather than just trying to put pressure on it. Lean your weight out over the downhill ski while it's on edge. Get used to the feeling of having it rocket across the fall line as the edge engages. 'Mom will tell you this is a "gorilla turn". To get yourself centered over your skis, try skiing with your boots completely unbuckled, including the straps. Also try shuffling your feet back and forth while skiing. It's hard to be too far forward or back when doing these things.

Bullsh*t. You are becoming famous for making up anything that suits yourself. You have no f*cking clue who skis ASRA. You have never been to an ASRA, you don't know people's names, you just trash talk to make yourself feel better. No you wouldn't. You don't have the guts. You just make excuses not to do things.

The NASTAR forum is a really good place to get lots of tips from people of all levels...people of varying abilities. NASTAR is a modified giant slalom, which pretty much means it's a simple GS. GS is the closest relative to the kind of turns we are taught to make in freeskiing. So if you make good carved freeskiing turns, you can take them to a NASTAR course pretty easily. What did you feel you were having problems with?

Ha, I hooked a tip and separated my shoulder in my last slalom. That's the thing about racing: even consider backing off just a little and you're DFL. Confidence and aggression are everything. Rahlves recently said that his best race last year was the second run of a GS, where he had that spectacular crash near the finish. He said it was the first time he ever took his GS skiing to the limit. Crazy sport.

I'd loan it to Mbike, if I hadn't already loaned it to someone else...but here's a link to buy one: http://www.reliableracing.com/detail.cfm?e...7&category=4720 As 'Dude says, you only hit the gates when your line dictates it...that's a great way to put it. And your not hitting it with skis (in NASTAR/GS), your hitting it with your shoulder, or clearing it with your forearm. Ideally, your skis are very far from the gate because you have created a big angle. Your downhill leg is almost fully extended away from your body, bent only slightly at the knee to absorb small bumps. This makes you skeletally aligned and takes pressure off the muscles. Think about riding a bike around a turn: the outside leg is extended and the inside knee is bent. Both of your feet are flat on the pedals, so as you lean into the turn they tip at an equal angle off the ground. Now, if your on that bike and swooping around a turn, you don't want to lean your upper body down toward the ground, right? You'd fall. Rather, you want to just let your inside hip press toward the road, while your upper body remains upright. Keep your shoulders level, facing down the hill. So here are the basics: You want your upper body facing down the hill. Shoulders level and square. Hands are forward. Feet are apart. As you begin the turn, your outside leg extends away from your body as you tip your skis up on edge. Your uphill knee bends and shuffles forward a bit. You drive your uphill pinky toe into the hill, which helps match the carve of the downhill ski. For a visual, check out JohnnyP's signature photo. Johnny might tell you he'd prefer to have his left hand up and forward a bit, but who am I to mention it (BTW, Schlopy broke his hand dipping it like JohnnyP). Here's a great Ron Lemaster series of Lasse Kjus:

It was funny, Metz. You can lighten up, bud. No worries.

You certainly show your ignorance for thinking ASRA is a beer league. Let me educate you, Rob. A beer league is a term used for a series of races held at a mountain where it's almost always teams of a half dozen or more skiers. The phrase "beer league" comes from both who the early sponsors were (and often continue to be) and where the results are often posted, which is in the lodge bar. A beer league is a local series where a bunch of friends get together on their home hill. It's not a put down to call something a beer league, although you tried. Some of the fastest racers I've known skied in beer leagues I've been a part of in Western Mass. Some people like to bowl in Thursday night beer leagues; others prefer to ski race in them. I've been on a dozen beer league teams, including one at TWood and have always had a blast. ASRA is a travelling race series, a step down from Masters, but with a lot of crossover racers. ASRA and Masters have nothing to do with beer leagues, although beer league racers are welcome and encouraged to sign up. On any given weekend, there might be 10 or more local beer league racers that sign up for an ASRA when it comes to their hill. And it's not unusual that they win their age class. But a beer league is parochial, while ASRA and Masters are a travelling series.