Johnny Style

I beat the pacesetter at Snowmass today for the first time in my life. I was .05 from a platinum. Then a ski instructor came along and laid down a 4 handicap on a pair of Atomic GS11's to put me in my place. The guy's start alone made my jaw drop. Just pure power. There was a five minute course hold to fix all the gates he knocked out. I think 2 guys beat Kitt last week at the Western trials in Snowmass. The Ajax pacesetter was one of the guys. He has a 1 handicap.

A.J. Kitt is the national pacesetter. Over on epic there is a thread about how they are accusing A.J. and Bill Madsen of rigging the pacesetter trials because five local Michigan guys beat him flat out last year. This year was a different story. But yeah, the rumor was that a poor showing at trials caused our pacesetter to have an inflated handicap. He is the fastest skier on any given night at Blue, but he has a 17 handicap? No way. That is barely Gold. He pulled a 12 during one of those races last week. On one of those races he was right there with Nattress who always seems to be one of the top dogs around here. Nattress is usually like a 7 or 8. Lets hope a high tide raises all boats.

I know that Nastar doesn't start for a few more weeks at Blue but I was checking out the database tonight and saw that our local pacesetter kicked ass this year. A good omen?

I would like to add that the local kids were killing it on the jump lines today. They were filming as well. I have never seen kids go inverted one after the other like that (in person). Snowmass deserves its top five park ranking.

Some of you know that I am in Aspen right now. Because there is no Other Mt. section of the forum I have not been posting anything here. This is the PASR after all. I have been posting a daily photo over at epic. If anyone cares they can go here: http://www.epicski.c...ead/89121/aspen Admins feel free to delete this for cross-referencing another forum.

Justo pretty much nailed it. I purchased a roll two years ago and I barely use it. I like to make it a final pass after my brushing progression. I also use it for those expensive race waxes but I barely use them anyway.

I will race this year. You have to be on a team but nobody has really started organizing a PASR team yet. PASR member mbike-ski did that last year but has expressed reservations about racing on Mondays this year. I have the form to sign up but it is back in PA while I am here in CO. Bobert540 and Brian are the speed demons on the team, I'm sure they will chime in soon. Good idea to start this thread to gauge the interest.

Nice TR Moe. You are out getting some while the rest of us are sleeping. Dexter Rutecki from Aspen Extreme, "Me and my friend have a little place at the base of the mountain." Hot chick, "Well, maybe I can come over and see it some time." Dexter Rutecki, "Yeah, either that or we can drive it over."

+1 Nice TR.

1. Cuche - Sui 2. Heel - Ita 3. Janka - Sui Pluses: Live coverage. The audio was insane. One could here the grunts of the skiers and their edges carving around the turns. Swiss Dominance - five in the top ten. Minus: No Steve Porino on the play by play. He is as good as they come in any sport and skiing should showcase his talents more. Maybe he was in Aspen covering the Ladies today. T.J. Lanning - Yikes, looked like for a moment after he hit that gate that he was going to make it. Hearing his screams after the crash gave me the chills. No Hermann Maier. The Herminator used to own Lake Louise. His absence was felt. The Austrians as a whole were disappointing. Bode was the best American but he was nowhere near the leaders. He only had three DH training runs all season. He placed on one of the training days so you know he will be fast this year.

+ 1.

Where are you located? Harrisburg? http://www.ullers.com/ is in Dallastown http://www.worldcupskiandcycle.com/ Mechanicsburg Never been inside either but thought I might help you out or at least get the ball rolling on this thread. We need more Central PA stoke. I went to school in Carlisle.

Yes! I even bought a speed suit in the off season to try and get within five seconds of your time. I'm totally addicted to racing now.

Your hands will definitely thank you. One problem though, those gloves are too tasteful. They need to have a really garish color combination with some neon mixed in. Of course your family will not want to be seen with you... Kidding aside, you will love Reusch gloves. They will mold to your hands after a few days. They are surprisingly warm and dry too. I only felt cold on my fingers on those rare 10 degree nights. But so did everybody else.

You could actually make the argument that to some of the racers, the equipment sponsor is more important to them than the nation they race for. For equipment nerds like me I always like to see what people are riding. Five years ago nobody was on Head; now they own racing. Blizzard? I haven't seen them on the podium since the 1980s. It's great that those two proud companies are back in the game. Next up, Lake Louise for the Men and Aspen for the ladies. Having taken a few shots to the face last year in the course I feel for Bode.

Paid in full.

The Woman's results were almost chalk (that's betting slang for the favorites winning). 1. Maria Riesch - Head/Lange/Tyrolia 2. Lindsey Vonn - Head/Head/Head 3. Tanja Poutiainen - Volkl/Tecnica/Marker Maria and Lindsey look like they are going to battle for the Overall title all season long; just like they did last year. It's amazing that they are best friends and competing against each other at the top level in the world. I would probably end up hating my opponent but then again I am a competitive bastard. I hate to say that Lindsey "should have won" because this is ski racing and there is no "should have's" but her one mistake cost her the race. Heck, she was lucky to recover from that one turn. Men 1 Reinfried Herbst - Blizzard/Tecnica/Marker 2 Ivica Kostelic - Fischer/Fischer/Fischer 3 Jean-Baptiste Grange - Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol Well, Bode was back and he actually qualified for the second run but he took a gate to the nose or grill and he skied out. He was bloodied up from that hit. Levi is flat on top, steep in the middle, and flat at the bottom. This is the type of course that benefits skiers like JB Grange and Ted Ligety. The problem was one gate and some ruts/holes at the beginning of the steeps. Most skiers carried too much speed into that section and lost time on the tricky gate,skied out, or wrecked. Frankly, it was an ugly race to watch due to the course. When you have a tough course with a tricky gate you can always count on Ivica Kostlic doing well. His coach is his Father and is renown for setting tough courses to train on. JB Grange still got third because he is the best slalom skier in the world. I don't even know who this Herbst guy is who won the race. The races were held in Levi, Finland above the arctic circle. They only get three hours of sunlight a day this time of year. It was kind of strange watching it on TV and then going hiking in the 70 degree temperatures here in PA. Fun fact of the day. In the 1980s a World Cup slalom racer might hit 20 mph in the course on 203 cm straight slalom skis. Today, they hit speeds of 40 mph on 165 cm skis. That is some crazy progression, no wonder everybody gets hurt now.

For those that like to get their race stoke on, there will be two World Cup Slalom races held over the weekend. Bode Miller will be competing for the first time this year and Ted Ligety is coming off of a second place GS finish in Soelden, AUT. Jimmy Cochran is coming off of a top ten finish in Slalom at the World Championships last year. Could there be three Americans in the top ten this weekend? Doubtful. Look out for JB Grange of France. He is the defending World Cup Slalom champion and always seems to be in a faster gear than any other racer. He is like a cat out there. Of course the Men's field is stacked, anybody could take it. As for the Women I see it as Vonn, Riesch and Zettel. Look out for same day race coverage on Universal Sports TV.

Ted the Shred almost had it but Didier Cuche was a monster on the bottom flat. He came into the flat behind by .1 and ended up winning by .6. That folks, is insane in ski racing.

Chris Davenport is going to be at the Poconos premier tonight. Camelback will be hosting the film and it starts at 8.

Went to the premier last night in Philly. The Bridge Cinema is the best theater outside of an IMAX to see a film. Hugo Harrison was there signing movie flats and the Powder magazine McConkey tribute issue. The raffles had great prizes (skis, goggles, swag). Hugo started tossing out more swag into the audience. Nobody dressed up for the saucer boy contest so they canceled it. If you are going to go to the Poconos screening this weekend you are a shoe-in if you dress up as saucer boy. They made a nice little presentation to get you hyped up and then you watched the film. Firstly, I think MSP makes the best ski films in the industry. They set the standard with 2000's "Ski Movie" and haven't looked back at the competition since. With that being said, this wasn't one of their finest efforts. MSP's soundtracks are one of the reasons their movies are so good. This one was real weak. Mark Abma + "In the Air Tonight" should be great, but just kind of came off flat. The best song choices were the two used during Shane's segment. Both recycled from other films mind you, but still great. Highlights include old timers like Hugo Harrison, Chris Davenport, and Mike Douglas getting some face time. Anything Colby West touches. Shane's segment. Lowlights include great skiing and footage being wasted by poor soundtrack and editing choices. In their defense, their best friend Shane McConkey just passed suddenly and tragically. I'm sure the last thing they wanted to do was edit this film. I think it is showing someplace in the Poconos this weekend. I paid $15 and while I thought the movie was flawed, it certainly gets you stoked. Go see it and enjoy.

I'm in. I have some new gear this year as well. Think "Johnny Style" from Retro day, yet updated for 2009. First FIS race in Soelden, AUT is this weekend. I haven't checked yet, but hopefully Universal Sports will broadcast same day race coverage. Getting stoked.

MSP movies seem to be my favorite ski movies. I would love to see a Shane McConkey tribute; heck I own "There's Something About McConkey" so I think I am going to go see this one. The Philadelphia premier is October 21st. Philadelphia, PA Last Updated by MSP Films on Sep 9 10.21.09 Venue: Bridge Cinema Deluxe 220 S 40th St Philadelphia, PA 19104 Time: Show 8:00pm - Doors 7:00pm

I know that nobody here cares that much about ski racing but one of the sport's legends is retiring. Even if you are just a casual observer you have no doubt heard about the "Herminator." I'm not here to recap his career but he was one of my favorites and will be missed. I hoped that he would compete in the 2010 olympics. You may remember his crash in the 1998 Nagano Olympics as it was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Oh well, at least I got to enjoy watching him win four overall World Cup titles and 54 victories.

I don't know why I am focusing on this aspect, but I thought this was cool. GSS and Dime, were you guys putting stickers up last April? Goes to show you that advertising does work.