Hmmmmm.....

Last week I went down to Crested Butte to compete in the US Extreme Freeskiing Telemark Championships for the third year in the row. When I first started doing this comp, it had just ended its afiliation with USTSA and was being run by the good crew at Tough Guy Productions. Regardless many of the same rulings for judging applied. If you fell in a no fall zone you were severely penalized; your score would reflect the loss of control; and it encouraged people to challenge themselves, yet ski within their limits. (See my abra cadabra post from November) As the past couple of years have progressed the judging on the competition has deteriorated to the point where people know they can crash and still advance to finals, or even podium. This year was no different. People were falling in no fall zones (upside down and backwards over rocks) and because "they skied their runs fast" as one judge was reported as saying, they were rewarded with high scores... higher even then others who might have skied the same line and not fall (it is faster to fall down a venue than it is to ski it... I did that last year). To my complete surprize, the one IFSA judge on the panel, who wanted to give lower scores for those who fell, was told by the other local judges to throw those cards out and start a new one that would not "discourage the athletes." Well... Let me now get into this. By creating a system where over half of the athletes do not understand the scoring, where they ski fabulous runs and see now reward for it in their scoring, where it is in a word, unfair... that discourages athletes. They do not understand why they are in the place they are in and do not understand how they can improve or learn from the experience. Furthermore, it seriously incourages people to take risks that they may or may not be able to ski or land saftely. And with a large junior field present, it only shows them how when they enter the adult categories, if they want to win they will have to huck their bones... and it doesn't matter if they can't land it, because they can still place on the podium with falls... even in no fall zones. This sport cannot afford to have a junior suffer from a serious injury like EJ did last year... or possibly worse. After talking with several of the athletes, many of us will not return to the event next year because of this and from what I will expand upon next.

Thus, not only was the judging misconstrued, but the organization seriously left much more to be desired. For example, EVERY althete was told at the athlete meeting that they would ALL receive two runs on qualifications. Then, when it came down to it, the staff made a large cut in the mens field after their first runs to "save time." Where this is a problem, is that if you think you have two runs, you make a strategy off that idea, perhaps taking a safe first run and then bump it up for the second. Unfortunately many of these athletes were deceived and ended up being cut after only one run of competition. (This is "discouraging" right? Something they were trying to avoid) But the bigger problem in all of this was this... People were showing up late for their runs, and once they did show up, they were being allowed to run still. If people miss their runs, they should be cut, just like they used to be in IFSA competitions. Sure this might be "discouraging" but if is the rules. People aren't discouraged if they understand the rules. Furthermore... There were 4 masters men, 1 masters women, and 4 junior women who all got to advance into the super finals even though their placements were already clearly determined. This created a furvor among the adult women and junior men who were only allowed to have 4 advance from each to the super final. The competition is significantly larger in these fields and those athletes need that chance to compete. Masters and juniors who have a field so small, are taking away opportunities from people who have a lot more at stake... Any one of those spots could have also accomodated another adult man too. Overall, the poor organization of the event left many more frustrated competitors and spectators in addition to the faulty judging. You're truely placed 7th.

So, combine poor organization to unfair judging and you already have a difficult comp to ski at. But then... Add terrible snow conditions and you've probably have the worst comp to ski at. Due to lack of snow, athletes skied HeadWall both for qualifiers and for finals. The snow was so thin down most of the higher line score areas that you were skiing over rocks almost as much as you were skiing over snow. Then, on the second day, a small layer of snow/sleetish suff covered up just a little bit of the rocks... only to give you false sense of securtiy. Those rocks were still there and still caught your skis. But this is skiing and although the condidions left much more to be desired for, it was the only consistant thing an athlete could expect at the CB nationals this year.

BUT>>> LATER>>>

Since Crested Butte home sweet home, Summit County, has been receiving tons of late afternoon and evenings snow showers, thickening our bases and even providing a few powder days every once in a while. The East Wall at A Basin was parcially open to boot back and, despite a small asthma attack, some of the freshest powder turns I've had all March. Then there was the backcountry day, where our new freeze and snow cycle has made for a very sturdy base. This photo is from that day. (taken by Scott Winn)

Then there was gaper day. My glamorous ski family and I dressed in our best gaper out fits... purple one pieces, googles AND sunglasses, knee pads on the outside, jeans... you name it, we did it. My father even brought out the old Marrell Super Comps (I believe those might be antiques). The funniest part is... I think people actually thought we were being serious. :)

Next up... Cat Skiing at Monarch as a birthday present to ME!!