Ski

Ha, when Montageskier came up to me as I was getting off the lift at Montage, my first thought was 'Ah, crap, I must have run this guy over on my last run'.

And I would be remiss to not envoke the glass house image, Rob.

Oh...I never hear announcers if I'm racing. I guess I'm thinking about other stuff.

It wasn't a diss. The earlier the better for everyone.

Just some facts...BC opened NASTAR 1/18 last season, while RT opened 12/26. CB opened 1/19, although that was for the beer league; it's public course opened 1/22. Also, last season, 7 Springs opened 12/26. This season, RT opened their course 12/18. Will BC have certified pacesetters this season?

Ha, no, I meant people were trying to get you commited. I've been to Elk on enough rainy, mushy, icy days (like every place has in the N'East) to not subscribe to illusion of it's superior snow. Just my opinion, but skier traffic has more to do with snow quality than any other single factor. I'll probably head over to watch one of 'Dude's Cup races late in the season, but that's about it.

Surprised? C'mon, Phil, there has to have been people trying to do that to you for years.

They are not 'intertwined'. ASRA is completely separate, other than the fact that you can choose to earn points for club championship points. But that's the same as one of the options in NASTAR, as you know. I race as an "Independant", since I don't belong to a ski club. ASRA is open to all ages and would NOT have turned away your kids, as long as you believe they could safely make it down the race course. My 4-year-old was even recruited, half-jokingly last season---they were making it known that as soon as she could do it, I was encouraged to sign her up. I was pretty nervous during my first few ASRA races. Some of the courses are long, with off-set gates, and they run them on some pretty steep pitches. A race at Hidden Valley (NJ) last season came down a black diamond slope with two blind headwalls. But new racers are welcomed warmly and for every question on technique, you'll get a dozen people willing to offer an answer. Any negative feelings toward ski clubs should not be miss-directed toward ASRA. ASRA is just an organization run by two great people that have provided gates and venues for people that enjoy the challenge of racing. No politics. No bullshit. Just fun for those of us that like that sort of thing. Anyone interested can check it out at: http://www.skiracer.com

Phil's also safe on a 'technicality', since Elk is in the Endless Mountains, not the Poconos; he therefore remains unspoiled... But, boy, it sure was a blast grabbing some turns after work in the Poconos last night. What was on TV, Phil?

No hypocracy in those two statements, eh? BTW, ASRA is for all-ages, although scored for people 21 and older. If that's middle-aged, what would that make you?

Wow, Sib, I was afraid to keep reading...

IDK, I can never even figure out what Nipples is trying to spell in the first place. EDIT: Eh, not that I cared for spelling at that age...

Tonight was just a reminder to me that anyone dissing the abilities of PA skiing kids can just shut the hell up. I snuck away from getting some work done tonight to grab a few quick turns and ran into Montageskier and one of his buds (that hasn't figured out how to sign on to this MB yet) and was blown away by their huge air off of Cannonball lips and their complete disregard for anyone wearing a Ranger jacket I have no clue how those two guys have not had their passes yanked.

Oh, I thought they were part of the MSR Team for promotion, or something. My bad.

Just out of curiosity, why would you post that? Firstly, it's ASRA...secondly do you know ANYTHING about ASRA? Oh, btw, Rob, how did the MSRT thing work out at the Master's opener? I can't seem to find a link to the Master's Intermountain Division and I'm curious to see how Gary did.

Ironically, they even learn to avoid people like you (uh, well, and me, too).

Yeah, Schif, you can use it either way, but you need a cork (it can be one made for waxing, or just any old champagne cork) to rub it in. You simply take the wax and draw on your base, making loops and whatever---that's called 'crayoning'. Then take some cork and rub it in...the cork rubbing heats the wax and melts it in a little. But hot waxing is better, since it soaks the wax in deeper. I have a busy week at work, Doug Doug, and we're not skiing until Thursday. Sunday was beautiful with my daughter on the sunny upper slopes at Montage, then I grabbed a few runs down on the North Face.

Congrats to Johnny for a 4th place finish in the Sise Cup New England Masters Race at KMart, Sunday. There was a field of over 100 racers, many of which are the best racers in all of the East, including a former US Ski Teamer that Johnny smoked.

A gummi is more for deburring and a final polish...you can pick up a pocket 'multi-tuner' for $20, or so. It doesn't take much effort and you can do it in about one minute in the parking lot. http://reliableracing.com/detail.cfm?edp=1...3&category=2000 Rub on wax is better than nothing. It doesn't soak into your bases, so it isn't much protection from oxydation and only lasts a run or two.

We'll have a little talk with him, Zonked Online? Who the hell are WE , Doug? And, btw, a shop provides an amateur tune, rather than a professional tune. You'll get a better tune doing it yourself by hand the first time, as opposed to a machine tune. Skiing daily around here means you should be running a file or diamond stone over your edges just about every day for a quick touch-up.

Five days to look at them, then 30 minutes to tune them; and the whole time she's without skis. I love shops

Who did you race for? Why don't you race now? C'mon and share some freakin' stories!

I wouldn't bother with a stone grind if they were only skied one day...or even a few weeks. Are there gouges in the bases? Or do you want to ski on a specific pattern? If not, then why have a layer shaved? Get a base bevel of 1 degree; an edge bevel of 2 or so degrees. Then have them waxed and you're good to go.

Yes, and you sure wouldn't want to put a J4 on a J1/2 GS or SL course, even if it were allowed, especially outside of PA. It's a time to build skills, not overwhelm little kids.

A junior racer's life is defined by his/her points. Baseball is heavily scouted because you look beyond stats like batting average and strikeouts...a high school pitcher may not have many strikeouts, but he may have great stuff that can still be developed. Same idea with basketball, really, since the college years are the real time of development; few players can skip college to go right into the NBA. Ski racing is fairly unique in that a racer almost completely controls their own destiny. Any CAT member has the opportunity to enter a race like the one held today at Sunday River. As a matter of fact, there is a former CAT girl that I'm currently watching her live split times in Live Timing: http://www.live-timing.com/race.php?r=1303&u=10&pc=1&maxr=10 If she were to win this race, then get a start spot in a NorAm and win that, etc...she could ski herself right onto the US Ski Team. Unlike NASTAR---which isn't even accurate day to day at the same slope---the USSA and FIS point system is incredibly accurate and pretty much nails down exactly where any kid stands among their peers from across the US, as well as internationally. The former CAT racing today, btw, was in 57th place after the first run and her second run will be in about 15 minutes. Yep, J1's are 17, 18, 19 yr olds...