Ski
PASR Supporter-
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Everything posted by Ski
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Well, so far nobody has said they've seen you on To Catch a Predator or that you hang out in men's room trolling for, eh, whatever that Senator was doing. So consider yourself 'warm and friendly' welcomed! Oh, and welcome to PASR!
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Yes, a different kind of fun is right.
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Jeez, you'd be lost if you couldn't use the word 'progress' any more. And, uh, yeah, all race coaches are mean bastards and all park crew people are f*cking saints. Simple as that.
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One more thing...Most junior racers I know don't race to be with their friends. In fact, they are usually away from their friends to train and race. It's a whole different world. It's a place of personal challenges, usually achieved under miserable, lonely conditions. Racing just isn't for everybody. It's 95% work and 5% fun. Even the vast majority of the elite, top 10% of racers will never even win a single race. The 30 kids that signed up for your high school wrestling program aren't in it for the party atmosphere. It isn't a 'fun' thing to do five days a week after school. Volunteering for that sort of torture just isn't cool for most kids. I'm really just saying that ski racers don't care what most people think. They are in it for their own reasons and not to just hang with the biggest crowd. Make sense?
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Well, you're opinion is a little bit right. The freestyle/park crowd is growing, but it isn't because less kids are racing. The parks are getting crowded by the kids who wouldn't otherwise be skiing or boarding, or kids that would otherwise just just tooling around the mountain. Hey, it's good that you are happy to wait to drop into a hit. It's cool that you welcome the torrent of newbies and don't mind sharing the parks. This comes from stats provided by resorts (SAM mag), not opinion. The NASTAR National Championships had 1300 racers last season, which is just too big even for a place like Steamboat Springs. During last season, 7000 racers competed at more than five different events. And this is just the recreational racers. You do know Fluffy, that NASTAR is just a small portion of ski racing in America? There are high school race leagues, race academies (schools), as well as collegiate racing. There are literally thousands of junior ski racers who have families that committ tens of thousands of dollars for the opportunity to race. I've read stories that say the trend for park/pipe is away from snowboarding and back to skis. And the trend is away from pipe, over to park. Again, these come from writers using hard numbers. I remember reading that skier-cross was going to burry ski racing in popularity and replace race programs like the one at Blue. How's that going? Fluffy, before you feel too superior while surrounded by the huge numbers of jibbers, go find Skidude (he's one of the long time members and mods of this site that is a junior ski racer) and take a run with him. One trip down a diamond with him and you'll see why kids get hooked on race programs. Funny, but it's also pretty much the same reason Jeff drives BMW's.
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Our small ski area has pretty much the same type of insurance as any other ski area in the Poconos and nowhere is there a mention of needing a waiver for a GS gate. That's just one of those quick BS answers. The thing is, I think, just that people run over and break gates if they are left unatttended. We leave the race course at our hill up after the races and five of them will be sideswiped out of the snow 10 minutes later. And Break-A-Ways aren't cheap. Can they add some risk of liability if they are knocked down and left lying around? Of course. It's just easier for the resort to just not bother. Justo: I don't disagree that jibbers totally outnumber racers. If you think about it, jibbers outnumber basketball players from your school, as well as baseball and soccer players. Ski racing is more comparable to those sports than it is to jibbing. Not judging as a good or bad thing, just that it's a different thing. I just believe ski racing has an important place and a lot of ski areas don't want to bother. Come to think about it, what if CB decided they could expand their tubing to the main mountain? What if it became more profitable to be one huge tubing area? It isn't as far fetched as you think. Some small skis areas have already done it. 25% of our ski hill was recently turned into tubing. But wouldn't that just seem really wrong to the jibbers and park rats? To be told that a resort can make more money off of tubing, so you need to find another place to ride...
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No. no mention. Mr. Carlson was pretty bummed in the mini-interview and not chatty about the upgrades.
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Initial investment in timing gear, gates, and providing staff. NASTAR eventually pays for itself, but it takes effort to get it in place. NASTAR's website and the whole national handicap system is a real hook for a lot of people, but I think resort managers would be surprised at how many people would be just as happy with a budget timer and one staffer to do course maitenance to be able to run free gates. One of the shittiest things about NASTAR, IMO, is that a 17 year old kid can't ski up to the start house with his five bucks and run the course. NASTAR turns away everyone that isn't 18 that doesn't have a parent with them. I've had to do this dozens of times at Mont/Sno (when it's busy and I help with sign in's) and I feel like crap every time. But those are the rules. Again, I'm not bashing NASTAR---thank God for NASTAR, or there would be no recreational racing. But I think racing has to be cheaper and available to everyone.
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Huh? I'm not arguing against parks. Where else would Doug be able to practice Smartstyle? My point is that a number of Pocono ski areas choose to charge people to recreational race at the very best----at the least, they have no racing at all. And this is while spending a ton of money on the jib side. That's all. The rush to satisfy the surge of newschoolers has left a total void for recreational racing. Make sense? Think about it this way, Justo: imagine you, your mom and dad all loved to hit the park for fun----not part of a team with coaches. Your family spends $1200 on a family pass for three, then every Saturday and Sunday the three of you hit the park and it cost you SIXTY dollars a weekend to ride the pipe all day. An extra $240 a month to hit rails. Yep, that's what it costs a family of three to ski NASTAR for a couple of morning and afternoon runs.
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Ha, if you're lucky you'll still think it's cool riding in your driveway after 20 seasons.
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Channel 16 just did a quick report on Sno...Carlson said that one of the reasons for the Sno Cove delay was that the main contractor had a heart attack. Then he said that it might be a good thing, since it allowed them time to send work out for new bids. As for winter, they are building a new deck off the lodge---it looks like it's outside the restaurant. The upgrade that matters, though, is that "the lifts will all be overhauled". So, we'll have snow sooner and more of it. Lifts will run a little faster. The park rats have lots of new toys. Seems like an okay plan.
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There's really no excuse for any Pocono ski area to not offer NASTAR, especially when they bend over backwards to create expensive pipes and parks. A modest 14 gate NASTAR course costs next to nothing to maintain and actually brings in enough money to cover the cost of staff. Any local ski area that refuses NASTAR's sales pitch to become a participating resort is just spitting in the face of everyone that isn't a park rat jibber...especially considering a modified GS course is a great ski school training tool. Even better, IMO, a PA ski area should offer FREE ski racing. Free, just like the f*cking parks and pipes are free. JF/BB has already said NO to a NASTAR salesperson. Call JF/BB. Email JF/BB. Remind them of the hundreds of people that showed up for the Mountain Dew Vertical Challenge. Tell them they are lame for not offering public racing every weekend.
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Damn...the beauty was in the simplicity. I'll keep my eyes out for a better one.
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Every time a thought crosses your mind, 1st Grade, you must marvel at its lonely journey. And I'd like to see things your way, my friend, but I cannot jam my head that far up my arse. Do you want people to accept you as you are, or do you want them to like you? Listen, 1st Grade, I'd like to know if you still love nature, despite what it's done to you? Damn, I knew all the crappy spam emails my dad forwards to me would come in useful some day!!!! Oh, and here's a super funny one that TP4 would like: Two cows are standing in a field. One turns to the other and says, "Moo!" The other one turns and says, "I was just about to say that!" I swear, that is the funniest joke I've ever heard. I absolutely LOVE it. C'mon, Larry, lighten up a little. Summer's almost over.
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You're welcome, 1st Grade. Isn't it nice when we all get along?
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Athletes are no longer slaves to the ski companies. There was a time, especially prior to the WC becoming an openly professional sport, that racers had to rely on manufacturers for the bulk of their income. Not the case anymore. Only racers at the very beginning and very end of their careers would sacrifice using what they consider the best gear for a slightly better contract because they'd lose money in the end by dropping places. Not to suggest that Atomic doesn't throw the most money and comp gear at skiers on all levels, but done properly, it's a way of guaranteeing a superior product. The more feedback from the top racers down to the juniors, the better the ski ultimately is. No single ski will ever be the best for everyone, but your chances of finding a great Atomic ski is a product of how they spread the wealth. How will Head fare with Bode as the #1 tester? Well, Bode is credited with being the best ski tester of all time because of his incredible, almost photographic-like memory of each turn and what the ski did. The downside of Bode as your #1 guy is that who else on the planet skis a rut on his ass to win? What good is the feedback of how a tail reacts when sat up in a rutted GS turn? Oh, and 1st Grade: a report of what brand ski/boot/binding the winning racers used is made for each race and available via FIS and many other sites. It's not a mystery. I'm surprised you didn't know that.
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Hey, nice to have you chime in, Jeff. Sorry I took the time to point out that the FIS has an actual brand ranking page on its website: http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/disciplines/alpi...andranking.html
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You can abuse me all you want, 'Kitten.
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Hey, Wacks, welcome to the board. You should send a sample to GrilledSteeze so he can be a sponsored skier. He'll hype to every person he ever meets on a chairlift, especially the breezies he usually tries to impress with his mad rap skillz, from Booter to the Bush. I'm serious. Good luck. I see your stuff on eBay quite a bit. Keep pluggin' along...
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You remind me of the Jon Lovitz character on SLN: "Yeah, I meant to say that".
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Jealous of you? You know, maybe you're right. There is a darker side of me that wants to be meaner and have more people dislike me. Yeah, I certainly envy the freedom from having to worry about rational thought---being able to make idiotic statements, then lashing out at others, accusing them of being babbling idiotic dick heads. Not jealus, 1st Grade, just poking fun at you.
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Schif's right, Big. As a matter of fact, I'll do you a favor: you are now banned from any greens or blues at Sno. Don't even try it. North Face only, for you. Now you don't have to think about the parks. You're welcome!
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Uh, the official FIS website. You know, where all the official record keeping is kept. You better write and tell them the Pocono Salomon Race Tester says their info is wrong...get that straightened out for them. And just to straighten something out for you: winning at places like Kitzbuhel and Wengen is instant fame for a racer. But a ski? Does the winning ski at either of those races have anything to do with even a Europea Cup-level ski, let alone a recreational, off-the-rack ski? Are you suggesting Europeans have suddenly become collectively stupid? Winning speed events isn't about the ski...jeez, listen to your own hero, Bode, who will tell you that it's 5% skier in a speed event, then the other 95% are base material quality with the right wax. I can't believe you didn't know this. Wow. You continue to surprise me. Oh, and what's up with calling me a dick head? That's a personal attack.
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Maybe Mr. Saltzgeber was looking at the fact that Head finished third overall at over 9000 points behind Atomic (not 900, but 9000!). Also, Mr. Saltzbeger might be looking at GS performance, which a lot of people believe is more of a reflection of a company's committment toward recreational skiing, since winning SG/DH events is far more about the quality of base material and little to do with the ski. It's cool, though, 1st Grade, that your depth of knowledge on the subject far exceeds that of longtime reps and other industry professionals. No wonder Salomon trusts you with their latest line! Oh, and I meant to ask, did Head score a single slalom point during last year's WC season? Head finished behind Atomic in Men's DH and SG last season and was off the radar in tech events...now they've put Bod Miller on all their posters and are relying on him to bring the world to Head. That's going to be f*cking hilarious.