sibhusky

The only resort in MT listed as having NASTAR is Moonlight Basin and there are no USSA races there. She's racing at Big Sky this weekend, but I just got back from Bozeman and so am not about to head back down again for those races. Looks like the only time I'll see her race this year is at Snowbowl near Missoula.

I've just discovered we don't have NASTAR here any more. Originally they told us it was being MOVED to a new run. Now it's not listed on the NASTAR "Where to Race".

No, second for the CB team, after Chance Snyder. http://www.paracing.org/mambo/index.php?op...d=325&Itemid=49

If he doesn't want to join, whatever his reason, you should respect that. Kind of a stupid thing to harass someone about in my opinion.

Sorry, at BB it was in a separate building and it was obvious that they were selling tickets. At BB, the parents could get discounted tickets as well. That is not true at all the races, but usually the racers get discounts. If you ever ski at MC, they don't discount for being a parent, but apparently they do for having a season pass, a fact I didn't learn until I moved away, darn it! Also, usually gatekeepers get a free ticket for the day, except at CB where they only gave a bib to get you to the gates, but after the race you were SOL. That may have changed with new management. Out here, we never have issues with getting gatekeepers like we did back East. You know why? Because in addition to the pass for the day, we get a transferable ticket voucher good for a year. So you can treat friends to a day skiing with you. If CB did that, their perennial gatekeeper problems would probably vanish. Race parents really should contribute by helping out as gatekeepers one or two times a season. I am doing it here for races in which Siblet is not in -- she will be at Big Sky while we hold races here. Then I plan to help out with NorAms as well.

I've seen a griz while hiking in Glacier, well off engaged in scooping something out of a tree. I've had a black bear climbing up the column to Siblet's deck before being scared off. I've had elk, whitetail, muledeer, pileated woodpeckers, and a bald eagle right off our deck. Also two different kinds of hummingbirds. I saw a mountain lion cross the road up on the way to my house.

The closing date is already determined between the mountain and the USFS -- April 9. Exceptions would only be in the wrong direction. And yes, it's due to the bears waking up and being hungry. Right now the lifts are closing at 4 PM, so it's a bit tough to do more than 40.

I have to work until Monday, then spend two days driving Siblet back to Bozeman (no I'm not going to Bridger it would cost me money) then a day, then two days of gatekeeping, then work. So...no worries, I'm not gonna catch you unless you take a slalom gate in the mouth.

I thought that when you had a NASTAR team only the best # number of people contributed points to it. "Only the top point gainers from each team will be used to score points for their team (6 for Family/Friends Teams, 15 for Resort Teams, 15 for Club Teams). The number of team points earned by these top point gainers are added together and divided by the number of top point gainers (6 or 15) to get the Team Score." So, unless Doug is in the top 15, it makes no difference to the PASR team if he elects to put himself in it or not. I'm not on the PASR team and don't plan to be. Once I saw last year that my personal information was listed, I "unjoined".

I think if parking is an issue you should have bought over at the Village like we did, instead of at Northridge.

I think some of those people need to update their NASTAR profiles with some gender and age information. Is Blue just not up on NASTAR? I've never seen so many unclassified people listed before.

As for what to expect at the J4 race. Make sure he has his racing license (and his PARA card if I remember correctly)! They don't give out the bibs unless you turn over the license for them to hold until they get the bib back (at least that was the BB drill, I assume it holds true for JF). Beyond that, be sure she has money or a check for tickets, it's not always convenient for them to take credit cards. Be prepared for a lot of waiting around and chaos. Make sure he gets out the door on time for course inspection. Then get out of the way. Normally, the girls run first, then the boys. The kids normally have an hour between the end of the boys' first run and the beginning of course inspection for the second run. If he finishes in the top xx (normally 30 for a large field, 15 for a small field), they will run the second run in reverse order for those kids, but finish order for the rest. That is, if he finishes 1st for the first run, he will run 15th or 30th for the second run. If he finishes 31st for the first run, he will run 31st for the second run. If she can, she should try and snag a start list for each run so she knows when he is coming down. He'll wear the same bib for both runs and the second run will NOT be in bib order, so she'll need to find out the bib numbers of the kids immediately before him or she'll miss him. I'm not familiar with JF as a race venue, so I can't recommend where she should stand to see the most. I always got myself a ticket as I don't like climbing up snowy hills and I do like to get some runs in for myself, but many moms did climb race courses to watch. Once he gets done the first run, you need to help him get through lunch, GO TO THE BATHROOM, etc. fast enough to make that course inspection, but that's about all that moms should be doing. At the end of the day, there is usually some pressure to hang around for awards even if your kid isn't getting one, which can be a pain in the butt, so be ready mentally for it.

Interestingly enough, in the issue I have here of Ski Racing magazine, which Siblet gets with her USSA license, there is a discussion which touches on gate training for younger athletes. I tried to find this on their web site so I could put in a link to it, but couldn't find it. Anyone who has this issue (January 11) can find it on page 43. I'm just going to quote parts of the article. Question: When should junior racers begin to run gates? Should they begin with drill courses, and if so, what kinds? Finn Gundersen (USSA's director of alpine education): Agreement has been reached in the coaching ranks that younger athletes should spend more time outside the gates, developing a broad base of skiing skills and, more importantly, experiencding the joys of freeskiing. Successful gate training, when it happens, can be sustained only by a love for skiing. ..... USSA's advice is to err on the side of building skiing skills through directed skiing (specific drills with a coach) coupled with undirected "fun" freeskiing. .... So in general, start with drills and lots of freeskiing, then move into gates, following a plan that supports the competition season. For younger athletes, J3 and below, USSA offers this goal: double the time spent skiing (all kinds) while cutting in half the time spent talking about it. The article contains a description of a sample drill involving gates, brushes, panels whatever, where the drill is presented as a game which also teaches tactical skills.

All I am seeing is something about an image thief. Let me know when they post the results.

Found the "ski up" criteria for our division: Criteria for Skiing Up To ski up into A-J2 races, a J3 racer must do one of the following: As a first year J3 or second year J4, he/she must finish in the top 30 at the OHG race at the end of the previous season, or As a J3, he/she must finish in the top 30 in the A-J2 scored races held in December of the current season, or As a J3, he/she must finish in the top 30 in the A-J2 Super G held in the current season. Any second year J3 that qualified as a first year J3 to Ski-up will automatically qualify. All Ski up J3's are required to present a completed ski up agreement at the request of the race host organization. The OHG race referred to is the last race of the season. Note that we allow first year J3's to ski up if they are good enough. They have to sign quite a release form. When Siblet moved here, she was at quite a disadvantage due to the fact that some of these kids had been skiing scored races two years longer.

Out here the 2nd year J3's are already skiing for points. Also, I think there is some kind of "ski up" thing going on even sooner. I get back to you on that one.

www.artechski.com has them for $203 and $225 NEW. I don't see Blue Mountain listed as having NASTAR results. Where is this race?

When I said find a coach he likes and wants to work for, it didn't mean shop around until you find a coach that'll let him run gates whether it's the right thing or not. Ridge needs to understand that a good coach will have him doing things he doesn't understand the purpose of. He either buys into that idea or he's not ready to be coached. He has to put himself in the hands of the coach, not look for a coach that wants to keep him HAPPY. Kids that expect to, within a month of starting a sport, do as they please as opposed to what is best for them are not going to succeed. Racing is not play time. If Ridge finds another coach who thinks it's all about gates, good for him. But I don't think you're going to find that coach. IMO, Ridge should be taken off the team until both of you find a team that suits your philosophy of training or until Ridge understands what is entailed in advancing in a sport. Until that time, you are just wasting the coach's time, wasting your money, and enabling Ridge to demand goodies be given to him without effort on his part. He's got a year or two before it's too late to start. Siblet had years of gymnastics training before she started ski racing, which is probably why she understood the need for drills and the boring stuff before she could do the flashy tricks. So she was ready to do the work entailed when she joined the team. She and ski999's eldest would set up their own "gates" and practice drills (skiing on one ski, etc.) when they didn't feel that they had done enough of that stuff during training. It was cool to watch.

Added some more to this slideshow. If you've seen the first section, the new stuff starts here. Edit: Not anymore. Replaced whole show.

I wish I could see this race. Anyone going to take videos?

Better points in SL and consistently below 100 in GS

I do think there is some merit to papasteeze's comment about starting a kid too early. A lot of kids who start early DO burn out. I think Ridge is starting at the right point. Siblet started later (11) and it shows. She started SKIING at 3, but racing wasn't until she was 11. It's hard to balance burn out against the problem of eradicating bad habits picked up prior to serious training, but I think it's a bit easier to eradicate at 11 than to stop burn out from a kid starting when they are six or seven. I think a bigger issue is finding a coach the kid wants to excel for and trusts. And whether the parent agrees that the coach is great is secondary. I know the coach here has a lot of parental detractors for various reasons, but the KIDS LOVE HIM. I have heard nothing but praise for him as a coach and face it, that's what you are paying for. Maybe when Ridge starts racing, papa should start buddying up with the parents of the top kids and start asking around about coaches. NOT WHAT THE PARENTS THINK, but WHAT THE KIDS THINK.

We are hoping so, but I think they'll want to see a pattern.

Only on her own. She went to the weight room in her dorm regularly, did some hiking, step aerobics, kick boxing, running, etc. when she could fit it in with her homework. She admits to feeling the lack of a true program at the bottom of the course, but at least she's on snow for the three weeks she is home. Next race is a FIS-University invitational back at Big Sky.

For the Park City pic last winter, I sent in the money because the shot was amazing. But these aren't. Also, I think for $20 I got an 8 by 10 for the PC one. She felt she skied fairly badly on some run or other, but in the videos she saw of said run apparently her line was dead on and one of the other (better) girls commented on it. Oddly, most of the kids from our team did well, EXCEPT for three of the four "super stars". And the MSU NCAA girls were either no shows or hiked or fell.