where to start? let's just go through the process shall we?
hoops to jump through: (there were other "suprises", but these ones jump out at me)
1.) sign up at the administration office. not at the main lodge, where you park.
2.) pick up packet with lift tix, tshirt, bib #, etc at the Pony lodge. not the main lodge.
this requires you take a slow lift back up to get to the main lodge.....
....which is out of the way and off the main drag. not efficient
or convienient for competitors.
3.) lifts were to start running early for competitors (8:15am) so that the
comp could start at 9am. arrived at 8:15. no lifts running. oh, you have
to ride down to the Pony lodge (once again. different day) and wait for a
shuttle to drive you to a run on the hill which you can then ride down to
take the lift up. detour.....20 minutes.
that's about it for hoops, but one other thing i got shafted on was my start
time. i was suppossed to be the 11th competitor. they were running 15
minutes behind schedule, so i took a couple laps to warm up and showed
up 5 minutes before my start time. got ready in about 3 minutes and
asked what number they were at. i had missed my time. i got bumped
to the end of the line. fkn GREAT! so instead of getting semi fresh
tracks, i get sloppy fourty somethings. this ended up making me change
the line i took.......not that it mattered. there were some heavy hitters
there today. wholly cow!
timed hike: i had it down to 15 minutes. i did it in 25 today. too tired
from the past few days of training and riding a little to much. the winner
did it in 11 something. cracker!
style run: i didn't see any competitor taking it easy at all. everyone
charged hard. 3 lines available. 2 with somewhat tech. 1 with tech and
drops. you can guess which one got ski'd the most. i was thinking of the
tech line and a couple drops as well, but this changed when i got bumped
to the end of the line........and after what i saw people throwing down. all
solid riders charging the Headwaters like they owned the place. really fun
to watch. so instead of hellroaring i hit firehole. stilll rode a solid line and
b-lined the 40' chute at the end and into the bowl. i felt good about my
line and got some of the best snow on the hill. well, after getting spit out
of the chute i started to make some big smooth turns in the untouched.
skimmed some rocks, sat it down for a sec and threw up a nice big
cloud. i ate it going about moch 10 at the end of the run. got a nice base
shot along my edge and cracked my sidewall up pretty good. it's about to
fall out. well, that was that. still a fun line, besides washing out a little at
the end.
super G: ok. snowboarders have a little disadvantage here. i took one
of my collapsable poles with me to use as a paddle pretty much to push
along the slow spots.......and there were a lot of them. the first part of
the course was fast, but after the first 4 gates it went onto green runs for
the rest of the way. why the hell did they do this? one reason: to end up
at the madison lodge so that's were competitors would gather. stupid
IMO. can you make the course faster and more even and then just have
the competitors meet up at the lodge at a certain time? live and learn i
guess. the super G was gay. (no offense to the gays)
also, the six shooter was down for about 2 hours today. just as the comp
ended too, so there was nothing to do but drink. we got two vouchers for
a couple of beers in our packet, so that was good.
all in all.......a fun day. wish i could've come home with something, but
like i said......heavy hitters in all disciplines. lots of people should've
gotten awards and didn't. there was one dude who was 55 years old who
did the comp. give that dude more than a tshirt and a couple of beers.
dang! i hope to be skiing that terrain when i'm that old, nevemind
entering competitions. props to Tom. not worth a $75 entry fee though.
i won't enter next year unless they separate snowboard/skiers/tele's.....
....in the down hill parts. the hike should be everyone against everyone,
cause that's anyones game. style and speed are different in all three
disciplines and should be recognized as so. one snowboarder got 3rd on
the hike. that's it. bias? hmmm. i saw the tele guy who got 2nd and yes
he was fluid, but he didn't drop anything and was fairly slow. just fluid.
is that enough to win? apparantly the judges from the bridger ski foundation
though so wonder if they knew him? probably not. :roll: haha. i declare shananegans!
hoops to jump through: (there were other "suprises", but these ones jump out at me)
1.) sign up at the administration office. not at the main lodge, where you park.
2.) pick up packet with lift tix, tshirt, bib #, etc at the Pony lodge. not the main lodge.
this requires you take a slow lift back up to get to the main lodge.....
....which is out of the way and off the main drag. not efficient
or convienient for competitors.
3.) lifts were to start running early for competitors (8:15am) so that the
comp could start at 9am. arrived at 8:15. no lifts running. oh, you have
to ride down to the Pony lodge (once again. different day) and wait for a
shuttle to drive you to a run on the hill which you can then ride down to
take the lift up. detour.....20 minutes.
that's about it for hoops, but one other thing i got shafted on was my start
time. i was suppossed to be the 11th competitor. they were running 15
minutes behind schedule, so i took a couple laps to warm up and showed
up 5 minutes before my start time. got ready in about 3 minutes and
asked what number they were at. i had missed my time. i got bumped
to the end of the line. fkn GREAT! so instead of getting semi fresh
tracks, i get sloppy fourty somethings. this ended up making me change
the line i took.......not that it mattered. there were some heavy hitters
there today. wholly cow!
timed hike: i had it down to 15 minutes. i did it in 25 today. too tired
from the past few days of training and riding a little to much. the winner
did it in 11 something. cracker!
style run: i didn't see any competitor taking it easy at all. everyone
charged hard. 3 lines available. 2 with somewhat tech. 1 with tech and
drops. you can guess which one got ski'd the most. i was thinking of the
tech line and a couple drops as well, but this changed when i got bumped
to the end of the line........and after what i saw people throwing down. all
solid riders charging the Headwaters like they owned the place. really fun
to watch. so instead of hellroaring i hit firehole. stilll rode a solid line and
b-lined the 40' chute at the end and into the bowl. i felt good about my
line and got some of the best snow on the hill. well, after getting spit out
of the chute i started to make some big smooth turns in the untouched.
skimmed some rocks, sat it down for a sec and threw up a nice big
cloud. i ate it going about moch 10 at the end of the run. got a nice base
shot along my edge and cracked my sidewall up pretty good. it's about to
fall out. well, that was that. still a fun line, besides washing out a little at
the end.
super G: ok. snowboarders have a little disadvantage here. i took one
of my collapsable poles with me to use as a paddle pretty much to push
along the slow spots.......and there were a lot of them. the first part of
the course was fast, but after the first 4 gates it went onto green runs for
the rest of the way. why the hell did they do this? one reason: to end up
at the madison lodge so that's were competitors would gather. stupid
IMO. can you make the course faster and more even and then just have
the competitors meet up at the lodge at a certain time? live and learn i
guess. the super G was gay. (no offense to the gays)
also, the six shooter was down for about 2 hours today. just as the comp
ended too, so there was nothing to do but drink. we got two vouchers for
a couple of beers in our packet, so that was good.
all in all.......a fun day. wish i could've come home with something, but
like i said......heavy hitters in all disciplines. lots of people should've
gotten awards and didn't. there was one dude who was 55 years old who
did the comp. give that dude more than a tshirt and a couple of beers.
dang! i hope to be skiing that terrain when i'm that old, nevemind
entering competitions. props to Tom. not worth a $75 entry fee though.
i won't enter next year unless they separate snowboard/skiers/tele's.....
....in the down hill parts. the hike should be everyone against everyone,
cause that's anyones game. style and speed are different in all three
disciplines and should be recognized as so. one snowboarder got 3rd on
the hike. that's it. bias? hmmm. i saw the tele guy who got 2nd and yes
he was fluid, but he didn't drop anything and was fairly slow. just fluid.
is that enough to win? apparantly the judges from the bridger ski foundation
though so wonder if they knew him? probably not. :roll: haha. i declare shananegans!