Ski

I like Barb's bowling league analogy...in fact, it's pretty much exactly the way it works for mountains and racing. Here's the way it is IMO: it isn't necessarily fair to the general public when a slope is closed for race training. But racing is a season-long program that is offered by the mountain. And the optimum and safest way to do it, is to close a 'premium' trail. But it's exactly the same thing as when a park closes off a little league baseball field for teams to practice. People bitch that it's where they want to run their dogs and that they pay taxes to have it mowed and maintained... But this is life. We give up a little space and are inconvenienced so 100 or so kids can spend tons of their parents money to one day be a great racer or centerfielder for the Yankees. Without the inconvenience, race programs wouldn't exist and the entire US Ski Team would disappear. Each USSA club team is the little league baseball (and up) of ski racing. Who cares if the coaches are gruff and don't 'look' like they are having fun? That's their problem. They aren't serving you dinner. You don't have to like them. Were the best teachers you ever had just the one's that smiled? Mountain race programs bring in a set amount of money that goes directly into the general budget. Like league bowling or season tickets, it allows a ski area to have a cash flow they can count on.

Now, wouldn't that make for a happy ending?

Ha, well good luck...

And I think the Human Slalom Gate drill might be the giveway on this, Dan...I can't really imagine a race team doing something generally considered to be so, uh, what's the word..."gay". (Gay as in "too freaking happy"...) You def have the right to be pissed at closures, though...but that's something else entirely.

For the lurking adult racers on this MB, we have several openings on a new team for entry in NEXT season's Sno Mountain Thursday Night Race League. The league has been around for a long time, but there's been a resurgence with the new ownership and it's a great opportunity to get some midweek training race runs in for weekend ASRA's or other events. The race season runs January through February. We have a solid core team, but need to fill at least two more slots. Scoring is done based on the NASTAR Team Point System, so you don't necessarily need to be super fast, just ski to silver or better handicap to be able to consistantly contribute points. Minimum age is 21 and we're looking for men or women. We'd be especially happy to hear from another female, even one that doesn't hit the bronze level but can commit to racing every week to help us meet the female requirement. Non-season passholders get a ridiculously cheap twilight ticket, so there's always a few hours of great post race skiing to be had for next to nothing. Our team is sponsored by Racewax.com and our racers will be sporting some of the best cutting-edge waxes available, thanks to PA's own favorite mad scientist, Dr. D. The venue is the Sno Mtn. NASTAR course and is a fairly long glide, with one moderate and one small headwall and times that run from 29 to 32 seconds for the rabbits. It's current GS only, but we're going to propose some slalom opportunities. In PA, I've skied all but the new BC NASTAR course at one time or another and Sno's is my favorite. Anyone interested can PM me here, or drop me an email at skiracekill@yahoo.com. Ski Fast! Cole

I love Sno Mtn...and the owners and the changes and the empty lift lines and everything else except the $7 chicken nuggets. It sure is good to have a mountain you love. (Rob, you're gonna get an ulcer, you know...)

Ha, no, my little one just kept wandering into trees with masses of limbs and I kept having to untangle her. But it was a great night. I ran into a bunch of friends and my oldest had a chance to rip up the NF. I expected a same-old, same-old sort of night and it turned out to be really cool.

It's a Sno Mtn. corporate league team next season.

Where did that come from? Took my girls up for a few hours tonight and it turned out to be an awesome night of fresh tracks. Maybe three or four inches and it was coming down pretty hard...we tried a little tree skiing, but that didn't work out so well...

One of those slippery PR guys, eh? Great job of having D Money stop by...

For those a little slow in the PR department, he retired after the '06 season.

IDK---doing whatever retired racers do...she would have been a great comentator, but there are no real jobs for that anymore.

Yes, with Lalive it was the pressure. There was just that extra notch that Worlds and Olympics rose to that she couldn't handle. It wasn't family or alcohol or anything else for her; just a breakdown. It was hard to watch...each race would end with her sitting along the side of a course crying. I always thought she was awesomely hot, too, which made it more sad:

You're welcome!

That was a foregone conclusion... BTW, k2fujativ is a chick that rips...calling her a retard was way too nasty. And she's also so nice that she turned around and apologized to you for somehow being offensive. You should feel pretty bad about that...

I assumed it was just the odd sounding translation. When a racer pulls out at the last minute, they provide a reason to the officials. I suppose it's also a courtesy, since there's disruption to everyone else, to some degree---just simple things like getting psyched to things like last base polish. Seems like most people see it otherwise, but it sure looks to me like Bode is a train wreck. There's one thing to go all out and crash a lot, but his amazing inability to even finish a slalom run is something I've never seen. It happens, though. Look at what happened to Caroline Lalive in big events---she just kept falling over. Not crashing, necessarily, but just laying over on her outside edge and falling down.

Do you own CB? Does it really hurt your feelings when a couple of people goof on the hyberbole of a ski report? Now, go look up HYPERBOLE, Einstein. Jeez, when Sugarbush or any big eastern resort does their morning video reports, half the people in the coffee shops laugh. Craig offers a pretty nice feature that does have real value, but sometimes comes up with a funny phrase that is just too good not to point out. And, I mean, wtf, if you don't want to hear from our wiseasses, then leave. As long as it doesn't piss Craig off too much, I think it's great that he makes the effort and Grilled gets in a few shots. Nobody dies from it and it keeps the report bumped.

Had a last minute family thing on Sat, but we went up at 1pm on Sunday. It was cold enough to keep the snow firm and there were 30 empty chairs between skiers on Long Haul and no lines elsewhere. Best thing, though, was thet THERE WAS NO WIND. Not even in the lot. It seems like it's been windy for the last month.

IMO, you're right and you're wrong. It's a little like the chicken or the egg arguement. Look at it this way: would a top World Cup racer in the height of his career switch to an inferior ski just for the money? Keep in mind, that downhill races cannot be won on an inferior ski---in fact, only the very best skis of a particular line have a chance on most courses. For example, only the top Atomic racers ever see the skis with the fastest bases. So if a top racer switches to a crappy company for the money, his future earnings are over. But skis are constantly getting better---there is constant change going on. And the top racers are the one's making it happen. They are the testers with each race run and each training day. So if Atomic is paying the most to the athletes, then they are getting the best feedback for research and development. And you are 100% right with your list, because it's your list. If that's what you like, then that's what you like. I don't like Volkl skis, but have bought six pair for my oldest daughter. If every ski worked for the same way for every person, we'd either only have one ski manufacturer, or they'd all be making the same exact ski.

World champion Mario Matt spoiled the hopes of German home-fans pipping Felix Neureuther to win Garmisch's slalom on Sunday. Neureuther still delighted a roaring German crowd with a second-place showing in front of Olympic champion Benjamin Raich. The Austrian Matt put down two classy runs on a steep and difficult course to claim victory in a time of one minute and 33.66 seconds. The 27-year-old added to his slalom gold at the world championships in Are last week, holding on to his first-leg lead to beat Neureuther into second. "I saw Felix had a really good run on the television monitor and I knew I'd have to go all out to win," said Matt. "It was an extremely difficult course, especially at the top." Austria's Raich had an excellent second run on the Gudiberg to move up from seventh to finish third in 1:36.97. World Cup slalom leader Jens Byggmark of Sweden had a pair of nervous runs and was 12th, 3.01 seconds behind Matt. Raich held on to second in the slalom standings with 425 points, just five ahead of Matt, who got his sixth straight World Cup podium. It was also the sixth World Cup slalom victory for Matt, a trained carpenter born just south of the border in Austria, and his seventh overall World Cup win. Matt was in a league of his own with two outstanding runs in good conditions on the slope set up next to the 1936 Olympic ski jumping tower. The snow on the challenging, 57-gate slope had been imported from Austria last week to make the race on the otherwise brown hill possible. "Everything's fitting together nicely now," said Matt, sometimes called "Super Mario". "I always seemed to have bad luck in the past. There was always something that didn't work right. This year, everything's falling into place. I'm feeling really good." Neureuther was also second at Are after one leg before crashing out in the second leg. On Sunday he stayed on his feet in a nerve-racking second leg that gave long-suffering German Alpine skiing fans something to cheer about. Neureuther, the son of former top skiers Rosi Mittermaier and Christian Neureuther, sent the big hometown crowd into a frenzy with his aggressive trademark style down a course that he has been skiing on since the age of six. "It's special to race here," said Neureuther. "I know this course like the back of my hand." Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal, who was 20th, held on to the overall cup lead with 818 points, 53 ahead of Raich. American former overall champion Bode Miller, who has completed only one slalom all season, crashed out of the first leg. The men's World Cup moves to Slovenia next weekend for a slalom and giant slalom in Kranjska Gora.

I thought this was funny. It's off the Eurosport main page, following Bode's little tantrum today in which he said "F this" and refused to race in the downhill. It's as if Britney Spears was a World Cup racer... Eurosport Quickpoll World championships - Biggest disappointment at Are?

The upper mountain, including the parks, will be okay tomorrow, BUT there's a USSA race down on Smoke all day. The Phoebe will be packed during warm up and inspections, prior to 10, then again prior to 1pm. And there will be insanely fast skiing kids bombing Boomer and Cannonball. And the lodge will be packed all day with non-skiing family members. The last New Yorker left the area yesterday afternoon...other than this race day, there will be 10 empty chairs between people.

Wooooo Hooooo!!! Slovenian downhiller and Mount Hood Summer Ski Camp coach Andrej Jerman won today's downhill at Garmich, Germany. It was the first ever World Cup downhill win for Slovenia and the first time the 28 yr old Jerman has ever been on the podium. The cool thing about it is that Slovenia has almost no budget (they used to have some really good slalom racers), so they send their racers to "work for food" and training at ski camps. "Andrej will return to his home with a hero's welcome, although he already a hero among the hundreds of junior racers that he's worked so hard to help," said one of his coaches. "This is a great day, but it will not change Andrej except to say that he will be buying the cheesburgers and sausage tonight." Jerman is an easy guy to root for and was my daughter's coach for one session at MHSSC. Bode finished nearly three second out in 28th.

Wow, their LOSS...'Mom is all over the gold and platinum these days.