JohnnyP

Hey, what's up guys, just stopping by. I just bought a pair of SG skis, of course I'll be paying for them over the summer. I got Volkl 200 cm Race Tiger SG. NOw , normally I am on Fischer and always endorse Fischer...but....there wasnt one pair of Fischer SG in the whole darn country and everyone that I knew had super G skis dummied up real fast when asked if I could borrow them.. so I decided to go out and get a pair since they will be current for a long time ( SG tech for skis changes very slowly). I have no idea how the Fischers ski, but I can tell you that the Volkl's are hot stuff. They slice the ice and ride the mush like you wouldn't believe and also they absorb the chatter or ripples incredibly. One thing treally like about them is that you dont have to be a 200lb monster to make these things work. Notwithstanding, all SG skis wont do much unless you are going at least 15-20 mph,...they just wont turn at very slow speeds. I'd highly recommend the Volkl. As far as where to get them: Greg at Heino's is an excellent choice, I always go to him first and not only is a good friend, he really knows what he is talking about. Prices from him for USSA racers are about the best your gonna get and just make sure you jump on things right away in the fall, by at least Sept, if you want to secure SG skis without having to scramble during the season beginning. Another place to look is racestocksports.com and see what they have in stock if you need something , like right now. If there is one thing I have learned from using SG skis, it's that I will never do a SG again on GS skis...it's not worth it.

23!!!???? You're still a spring chicken. You've got plenty of time. I didn't get back into racing till I was in my late 20's after a long break.

Thanks everyone, that makes me feel good. Not the greatest of all pictures BUT it is in there. Last years pic blows this years away. Been pretty busy coaching and racing so I havent been around much. Hoping the warm spells are on the way out, I'm getting tired of skiing in the rain and knee deep ruts, anyone else?. Anyway, I'm getting crushed in SL this year,...Skidude, how's the SL going for you since I saw you at the Creek? Got any good races planned for the next few weekends, I'm lookin for some ideas. Thanks again everyone. for the compliments.

Let me try to clarify a little more about bases and edges. The old adage of Base/fast-edge/slow is true, only if every other variable is equal. If you were to stand on the top of the hill and go straight down the base of the ski will go faster. That means if it were possible to ski on the edges only in a straight line, you would go slower than on the PTex bases. But thats only the theoretical view. In practicality, you never can be on the edges all the time or the bases all the time. When you are in a turn you are compressing all that speed and momentum that you are carrying into a shorter distance. I dont know the engineering formula for it but think about this: you are going 20mph down the hill, you carve a turn at a 45 degree angle, all that energy that was going straight is now being compressed into a much smaller space, the actual speed that your body and skis are traveling is increased. I read somewhere that hockey players when making a sharp turn in a corner can be traveling at around 45 mph, the same principle pertains to carving a turn in skiing. I also read in Ski Racing that in a hard carved GS turn a ski racer will create more than 10 G's ( dont quote me, I think the number was around thirteen). Astronauts encounter around 9 G's during takeoff in a SaturnIV, however they must deal with it over an extended period of time, whereas a ski racer only deals with it for a split second if that. Now with all that said, in a course where it requires you to move across the hill and is steeper, you will be on your edges for a much bigger percentage of the time than in a flat course with 'lazy' turns. When on a flatter course it is beneficial to try to ride more on the bases of the skis, for two reasons: one, thats where the wax is and the bases are faster, two, when you turn too hard and over carve, you compress all that speed into a small space ( which is good for the steeps and ice, but bad for straighter running) I dont know if this helps but this is how I learned to understand the concept, I am not an engineer and it is hard for me to explain. A couple of you have given good explanantions already, this is just my take on it.

Look for us on the hill. We will be training on Big Bear at the south area, just under the Bear Peak lift.

I'm pretty disappointed with Bode right now even though he is one of the greatest racers on the face of the earth. Just like my disappointment with Pro athletes being nailed for drugs and being in trouble with the law for playing with shotguns (albeit Bodes was a little less serious) I wouldn't want my kids to be looking up to a national star who says he competes while wasted. In recent years there have been a passel of pro athletes who have shown us that they are not worthy of being role models or icons to todays youth or a good representative of a nation and he is fast becoming one of that group. If he doesn't clean up his act and start at least playing the part, he will continue to receive bad publicity. Now I know that supposedly there is NO bad publicity, but when one has the center on the world stage already, bad PR can be....not so good. Especially in a sport that endeavors to keep a clean image and promote superior health.

Hey guys: Haven't been lurking around the forums too much lately and didnt see this post till today. Thanks very much. OOoo, that Killington SL was a toughie for me, Although I placed ok, I felt like I got pounded pretty bad by the competition. Last weekends SL was also a tough one at Ragged in NH (bone bruise left hand...ouch it hurts), but for some reason the GS gods are looking favorably on me this year so far,... could be that bucket of fried chicken I sacrificed to them. But that's the fortunes of ski racing. Skimom, I was perusing the forums and saw you sustained a bit of an injury too, in the ASRA openers, I hope that has worked it's way out by now and you are back on the competition trail. Btw, how about those Mt Creek Alumnae races? The GS was the most fun race I have skied in the driving rain (it's all relative) and the SL had more ruts than a motocross race, BUT on a weekend when the rest of the ski areas and race programs on the East Coast were cancelling races Mt Creek managed to pull it off, even if they had to make it one race per day instead of two and the points were there too. I'm sure I'll see you all in the near future, I was toying with the idea of racing out in PA this weekend in USSA, but I need to let my hand heal for a while, so I'll just run lots of gates at the Creek instead...that doesnt make sense does it. Catch ya all later.

It's usually on Wardance, where OMS trains, sometimes it is further over for a day near sapphire. As far as cost, it includes lift, video and 4 days of coaching, from about 9am to 3 something pm, with an hour break for lunch and video review and then a video review after the day is done . So that breaks down to what..about 90 something bucks a day..something like that. Understand its not a couple of hours a day, it's training and work all day for 4 days. Coach to racer ratio has traditionally been about 7 or 8 to 1 and the venue on the hill is normally broken up into two to three courses with different things being worked on with each and when we do GS it is usually about 40 somthing seconds long, depending on how tired the campers are and how good the snow conditions are. SL is usually divided into shorter sections as it seems to be more grueling to us 'older folks ' and we can only handle about 30 something secs per stretch and then a breather and hit the second course that is waiting. It is geared for amateurs like ourselves that want a taste of real coaching and in my opinion it is worth the cost. A similar camp is running at Killington the same week that costs about 400 dollars and is for similar level racers and although it includes 5 days, the schedule is not as full and is easier going as Woodworth's, but still a good camp. Most of these camps and clinics are all around the same price, give or take a few dollars, it's what your tastes or level of committment is. I have to say I really like training with the coaches that Woodworth has though, they are all extremely knowledgable and experienced. Anyway, Im sure if anyone has any questions, you can email her or call. Hey, you could ask for a cash discount, lol, I always do.

I know that this is for PA stuff, but since I am from the land of Hair spray and chemical dumping grounds, alot of times I must go seeking elsewhere for good training and skiing till the season gears up around here. I am posting this in case anyone has some time to get in some really good training in the preseason. I coach at this adult clinic and also do a fair amount of training at the same time. It is worth it, even if you can arrange to attend a day or two. Julie Woodworth is an alumnae of the US Ski Team and has World Cup experience and her and her staff know what they are talking about. She employs USSA Certified coaches, of pretty high levels and they are really good. I owe a lot to her and her staff for giving me the technical and tactical skills that I have acquired. Not only that, they are a great group fo people. It takes place at Okemo and she is pretty flexable when it comes to adults, she knows that we have a 'real-life' so to speak and sometimes cannot make the whole week and can make arrangements for even a day or two if necessary. Here is your chance. Call in sick, take a personal day or two, maybe a mental health day- we all need those, take those extra days of vacation that your gonna lose by Jan 1st or take the vacation that you were going to spend with in-laws you really didnt want to see for the holidays anyway. Instead of putting an attachment here, I'll just copy and paste it. I am not soliciting it, I am just saying this is a great training opportunity for has beens, never will be's and wanna be's like us. WOODWORTH SKI AND FITNESS PROGRAMS ADULT/MASTERS RACE CAMP AT OKEMO MOUNTAIN December, 5-6-7-8, 2005 Julie Woodworth - Camp Director Sponsored by Okemo Mountain, Reliable Racing * Four days of professional coaching * Wine & cheese reception * Race strategy sessions * Discount at local establishments * Gate training & video * Sponsor give - aways/raffles * Tactical drills & techniques * Low racer/coach ratio CAMP FEE: $375.00 * Includes: coaching, tickets, video, tech talks, and wine & cheese reception For More information Contact Julie Woodworth/Reese Brown @ 802-226-8188, fax 802-226-7117 or fill out the registration form below. E- Mail at Julie@vara.org LODGING: Cavendish Point Hotel 802-226-7688 The Colonial Best Western 802-228-8188 Okemo Lodging 802-228-4041 Woodworth Ski & Fitness Programs Adult Race Camp at Okemo Mountain Name ______________________________________________ Age ___________ DOB_____________ Address ____________________________________________ City ___________ State/Zip_________ Ph ____________________________ Wk_______________________ Fax_______________________ Lodging info Y / N Please include your $100 deposit. Deposit _______ Ck #_________ Return to: Woodworth Ski & Fitness Programs PO Box 82, Cavendish, VT 05142 Ph/802-226-8188 Fax 802-226-7117 E-Mail julie@vara.org

As far as GS training for boarding, the radius of the turns will be fine but the gates wont be the triangular gates for snowboards, but you can still develop some tactical skills if you want. Yes, I know it's a long drive for most of you for just a Monday night, but for those that would like, instead of a Monday night, we can arrange a day to train and do either a whole day of GS or SL or both maybe depending on the help and the attendance. That might be a better bet than a Mon nite. Well, as long as you guys all know it exists and is open to ya.

That Bartek, I gotta keep an eye out over my shoulder for that one, he's young and has his sights set on me, but the old veterans arent easy to catch. Heh. Anyway, since we are back on topic and talking about race coaching I am going to take this post to make a shameless plug for the weekly adult training that I run at MC. Starting on the first Monday night after New Years, we meet prior to 7pm at Racing ( or you go there to see where the training is): we drill and run gates till a few minutes before closing. The discipline that we train is dependent on the Weds night adult race. Basically, we train either SL or GS and I coach, along with another MC coach if there are more than enough people. Right now, the price per person per night is $15...cash, lol, but that is going to be reviewed. It's not a program that you have to commit to and you can show up if you find that you can make it. Alot of times I will have one of our racers show up for a demonstrator and one of the stipulations of the training is that I get to run the gates along with you all. Even people who ski on Atomic skis are welcome...j/k. This is for all levels of racers, so dont think that you are not good enough or won't fit in. The numbers are usually around 10-12 people, but we would like to see more so I can justify another coach to help out. This is training done with coaching from USSA certified coaches and usually on the race hill itself or inside track of the race hill. Now I know it's a drive for some of you, but if you can make it a couple of times over the season it can help greatly. For any questions, you can email me or PM me for my email and I will put you my distribution list to keep updated for the training and if there are cancellations due to weather and such. The other thing is that I would like to put together a couple of times during the season for a full day of training. This would be group training and we would have to get a certain number of attendees to make it happen. If anyone is interested let me know. It's easier than you think to make it. Most people hemm and haw that they dont have the time, but there are ways and the benefits are great. Call in sick, take a personal day, use a mental health day (we all know we need those), quit your job or find some way. I am hoping to do at least two of these sessions for this season and more if possible. Last year the training was fun as heck and we all had a great time. Any possibility that anyone might be interested?

Sorry, I wasnt watching this thread. Hey, I really like the race hill at MC, albeit it could be a little longer, but in order to keep it from closing off more than one trail to the public it has the finish you are familiar with. Anyway, as far as MC Racing running a GS/SL, they can do it, They do it all the time, the only thing is that for a non-USSA race you might have to do two runs on the same course ( with minor changes in bad rutted gates) due to the fact that there are not as many people who would be working the race. Which is what ASRA does anyway. I'm not sure what criteria you would have to meet to run an event there like that, but I am sure it would depend on numbers that would be showing up. Unfortunately, I am not the one to arrange that with and you need to contact Mt Creek Racing to do that, I can provide you with the name of someone to talk to in the pre-season. You can also mention my name or I can make a premeptive phone call letting them know what you are looking to do. MC does alot of these things and if it helps bring in money for the racing dept, it's usually a great idea. How serious are you about this?

Hey, thanks for the compliments. It's funny, many times parents dont realize that in the midst of these young whipper snappers there are sometimes veterans placing here and there. While racing USSA is fun and challenging as all heck, there are some functional reasons also. It used to be that more of us 'older' crowd raced up north and would obtain low points, this helps the penalty of the local races go down and rounds out the spread, thus helping the kids ( I say kids, but they are young men and women) earn points that will get them a better start position when they go to races up north and other places. Another benefit is that it makes the coach who races remember and know the nuances that are only felt bythe person who steps up tothe starting wand. Too many who coach have forgotten or never knew what it feels like to strip down to the GS suit and pull up to the starting gate: a vital component, in my opinion, to helping understand and pass on what a coach knows and not in the least, being able to use technical and tactical knowledge that is being taught. I am not saying that a coach has to race to understand how and what to coach, but in some cases it is more than an eye opener for the coach and the athletes in translating knowledge and know-how between them. Usually, my USSA races are farther in-between than I would like, but I hope to do more this year and lower my points so that I can lower the penalties at our smaller hills down here in the NJ and PA. Racing and training for my own purposes has helped me greatly in my ability to pass my experience and knowledge on to the athletes I work with. Yes, there are some coaches that poo-poo it, but they would never say it to my face and they cant deny the fact that there is something in what I say. And just like other racers, I can have a bad day at the track...some really bad days too. I have to say that the men and women I work with at MC and ones I have met from PA, Gus P is one of them, understand, support, appreciate it, respect it and full well know how it benefits the athletes. The parents sometimes don't know what to make of it, but a lot of them are happy to see that it isnt over for the 'veterans' and us old geezers still have a few tricks up our sleeve to teach the kids to excell at the sport. You would get a kick at some of the things I have heard and seen at the races when parents see the birthyear next to name on the start list. Eh, as for the talk behind my back, it's fine, 'there is no bad publicity, as long as they get your name right'. j/k

In USSA Masters and ASRA, Im a class 4. Wont be moving up for a few years. In USSA I'm a Sr.

Sorry, been busy with work the past few days and havent looked at this thread. As far as management and race programs, well, it's tough to say. One thing I do know is that it is a good thing if someone that sits behind a desk in the general office has special like of racing. I dont think the race programs need to have whole hearted constant support from management, but it does help to have someone who understands the plusses of having a race staff and program that is successful. I dont mean successful in winning and/or the best program around. I mean one that offers the training and benefits to those who are enrolled or to their guests. Other than that I think the laisse-faire attitude is the best. As long as the program has the facilities it needs and the staffing it needs, it needs no other upper management interdiction, except on the special events coordination and just getting certain programs ok'd. It is capable of running independantly of the other depts at a hill and that is a good thing when it comes to managing: who needs another dept to coddle? One thing management doesnt realize is that the race program brings in a lot of revenue that is uncountable. Remember the cafeteria, the bar ( when it comes to adult racing), the publicity ( if handled right), the surrounding towns economy ( those ski moms and dads have to buy gas somewwhere), equipment and ski shops and other things. Many times management doesnt have to support the coaches or racers financially as much as most people think. At our mountain, the kids buy their GS suits from the ski club and the coaches ( with the exception of the salaried ones) have to pay for their own coaching uniforms. Lift tickets or passes are purchased by the racers and the coaches have to show a certain amount of committment before they are given an employee ski pass. There is almost never paid expenses for coaches education and for away races. The amount I spend each year on traveling, racing and coaching does not make up for the wages I earn from the mountain, but then again if any of us did it for the money, we wouldn't be there very long would we? Thats something I have had to tell people from time to time: "It's not about the money."