 Poster: A snowHead
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Downhill and Super-G cancelled, double slalom instead.... Saturday SL to replace the one from Wengen.
No more speed events before the World Champs - See you all there!
JCJC
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Seems like the plan to bring snow in by lorry was a bit too hopeful. Maybe Val d'Isere should be asked to run another downhill...
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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....or maybe they should just call up Beaver Creek, Vail or Whistler and ask them to hold a DH. They all have the facilities in place, and could be ready to go within a day or two.
Seriously: why is the FIS wasting tens of thousands of Euros on airlifting snow to try and salvage the "prestige races" at a loss (and often with questionable safety on the piste), when they could hold the races in North America where there would also be a slight revenue loss, but a top-notch race in terms of piste quality and safety? It boggles the mind that the FIS is being so boorish and foolhardy.
(And now the weather prognosticators are forecasting a string of sub-zero days in the next week - so the snow cannons could be used at Kitz. Of course, knowing the accuracy of weather forecasts in the Alps this season...)
So there will be no speed events for the men until Åre - what a shame.
The FIS continues to shoot itself in the foot.
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songfta, Ithink you will find that the weather forcasting has been correct, its the weather that has been bad not the forecasting.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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jcjc, thats a bit of a pisser, i'm getting bored of slalom..... are you at schaldming next week, i won't make it out this year but Jas and the guys from Atomic will be there in force as usual
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songfta,
It's much more than a slight loss of profit. It costs a lot to stage a ski event (ca half a million) and even thought parts of the states have the snow this year, America's interest in skiing just isn't there. It was supposed to snow and not rain late last week - that's what killed it.
Two Slaloms in Kitz will make more than a full program of races in the USA.
The real reason is we like seeing Bode fall over so we put on a couple of Slaloms 
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easiski, don't get me wrong, i love slalom, just need a bit of a mixture 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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easiski, I understand that Beaver Creek, Vail and Copper Mountain were asked to hold races, and that finding funding with less than a week's notice was tough. But they were willing to hold the races without all of the sponsor money, simply for the benefit of the sport. And yet the FIS turned them down.
But the funding angle is a weak argument right now, given that venues like Wengen, Kitzbühel, Cortina and others are going into debt over extreme measures taken to airlift snow onto non-frozen slopes, only to have the monsoons wash and blow it all away. It's not a really good PR piece when the backdrop of the venue is mud and grass, isn't it? So they're spending tens of thousands of Euros to possibly break even, if that.
The slaloms at Kitz will only make money because the organizers scrapped the snow lift plans. Had they actually followed through to run the DH and SG, I think they'd be in the red for the event.
And the crowds aren't as big for the U.S. races for myriad reasons (e.g. the finish line at Beaver Creek is not at the base of the resort, folks want to ski rather than watch, etc.), but that really shouldn't enter into the equation. The U.S. and Canadian resorts are willing to hold the events, they have the snow, and the slopes can be ready to roll in less than a week. Yes it would be a logistical challenge to house the full White Circus, but it's not impossible.
Given that there's now at least a fortnight until the next scheduled speed event for the men, it would make sense to have the speedsters go to Beaver Creek or Whistler. That's just my opinion, but I think that the FIS needs to open itself up to such options if they wish to remain a viable entity that promotes the sport.
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Trying to change a race calendar like the World Cup Tour by even a day here or there is a huge task for everyone involved never mind try to shift the whole thing across the Atlantic. I imagine that not one of the teams would have enough slack in their budgets at this time of year to eve afford the airfares alone...... So although there is snow in North America it's fantasy to imagine the tour takin such a big shift. Most of the speed racers will probably be gladof a rest before teh Worlds, the calendar was pretty packed already, the real headache will come for teh selectors, remember only 4 per nation plus the defending champ in each discipline....... tricky for errr the Austrians? French? Le Suisses.....
Two slaloms at Kitz will be a great spectacle, if any of you have been there I'm sure you'll agree, the guys race on a little sh1tbag of a cowfield that no-one intheirright mind would ever bother going skiing on and the crowds will be almost as big as usual. The race finishes just a short stagger from the town centre and train station so it's almost guaranteed to be a success.
Garmisch will likely run the speed events from Kitz., in late Feb., as part of their preparations for hosting the World Championships in 2011.
Ach ja....... ve hav ze solution............
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| jcjc wrote: |
| the guys race on a little sh1tbag of a cowfield that no-one intheirright mind would ever bother going skiing on |
Oi...I skied that last year! What you sayin???
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Elizabeth B
I admire your sense of adventure and derring do..... It's not exactly a nice cruise of a run is it?
good on you tho' how many other snowheads have skied World Cup courses?
This'll bring the real ski anoraks outof the woodwork!
JC
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You know it makes sense.
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Since you asked....
I've run the Grizzly Downhill course at Snowbasin, when it was being tested pre-World Cup in 2000-2001. It was a fun course, to say the least! The air-time was fierce, and the course never really let you rest. It's too bad that Earl Holding (owner of Snowbasin) decommissioned the course after the Olympics: it could've been one of the classics.
I've raced on Willy's Run and Payday at Park City Mountain Resort, where they used to run World Cup races. And I've trained on CB's Run at Park City Mountain Resort, where they held the 2002 Olympic GS. Both Willy's and CB's are steep GS hills at the top that ease up on the lower third of the run. The steep on Willy's was longer, whereas the fall-away factor on CB's was greater.
I've raced on runs that used to host World Cup races at:
- Sun Valley, Idaho
- Jackson Hole (Teton Village), Wyoming
- Stratton, Vermont
I've also raced slalom on Know You Don't and Big Stick runs at Deer Valley, both of which were used in the 2002 Olympics.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I've skied La Verte in Les Houches (Men's downhill) and Cote2000 (Womens's downhill Megeve), both done a couple of times including top-bottom without stopping or falling (But not quite at race pace)
Would recommend any of these to anybody, both very fun to ski, the first jump at Les Houches is a bit unnerving when you arrive at it !
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Of course it does Charlotte!
I thought there would have been an avalanche (ouch) of snowheads who had given ValdeDoodaah a bloody good thrashing..... I have to admit I never ever expected to hear about the likes of Willys and Payday again, well done songfta!
Admin, makes you realise what the guys are doing on a course like the Lauberhorn, I have to stop for a rest just skiing normally, and yes, 10minutes behibnd the race time is oretty good and I'm sure you didn't splatter yourself in the finish area like Bode..
Anyone know much about Are in Sweden?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I've skied Wengen and Kitzbuhel downhill and slalom runs.....albeit much slower than they do on TV!!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| jcjc wrote: |
Elizabeth B
I admire your sense of adventure and derring do..... It's not exactly a nice cruise of a run is it?
good on you tho' how many other snowheads have skied World Cup courses?
This'll bring the real ski anoraks outof the woodwork!
JC |
I have skiied the Slalom and GS courses at Schladming, during the week after the events were held, so the pistes were still "hardened", although no gates in place.
When it is only your third ski trip ever, the bottom section of that slalom course is scary steep.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Mon 5-02-07 18:13; edited 1 time in total
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FAQ
I'm hoping that as a good ex slalomer himself his coverage will be HUGE 
)