Had a blast

[Dan Hughes]

Just messing with ya man!

Ya, going fast isn't the problem, it's being able to do it with control. Like I tell kids when they ask me if it's hard to drop in. I say, no it's not hard, just the landing is.

[Terry Kirby]

Dan, the guys who can ride vert go fast, the guys who can ride slalom go fast. It takes some practice to go fast on anything. See?

[Dan Hughes]

Alan,
Will you be coming up to Breckenridge? I understand it will be dual, like last year. And very fast too.
TK, drop in on a 14 foot vert ramp, and go fast!

[Claude Regnier]

TK, it's much faster when you're falling from the top.

It also hurts like hell if you hit the flat.

[Terry Kirby]

I rode a vert ramp for the first time a few weeks ago. It was very slow and boring for me. TK

[Vlad Popov]

No course can satisfy beginners and advanced skaters at the same time. There’s always a compromise. Mississippi 2003 race was a good compromise, but it was rather on the beginner’s side.
There were 50/50 beginner/advanced courses at the Gathering. That’s why it was a good competition. Cyber is an “Olympic” discipline that anyone can try. You asked Alan, now ask me. I went fast on both, and I could go scary fast. We promote technical slalom, not downhill speed skating around cones.

PsychoVlad.

[Brady Mitchell]

Far be it from me to make judgements on courses at an event I didn`t attend. I did talk with Alan and he expressed a feeling that the courses were slow. Mind you he is new and not of knowledge that tight can be fast. But I also read in many posts about the tight courses at G3. I didn`t get the impression that courses were set with the newbie in mind (looser, easier, and faster in a newbies mindset).

Maybe next year these considerations will be put in place.

Remember, it was not a race, but a Gathering to promote slalom. That in mind, courses should be set with the newbies in mind.

In closing, I do realize, that this particular event maybe had a theme "TS" to show what can be done other than what`s going on over on the west coast.

I still rememnber a quote that GBJ said...
"something a newbie can make and enjoy, yet offer a challenge to the seasoned slalomer".

[Wesley Tucker]

Alan,

In reading your post, I just want to say something about my friend Tway and his efforts Friday night at the P&R. Although I wasn't there for various reasons, I know full well why decisions were made that were made. Although I agree with you entirely that usually head-to-head racing is more fun and competitive, sometimes it's just not practical.

To run a race like TK and Tway put down Friday night, you need two things: a race course and a timing system. Someone with a clipboard and paper to record the times is also nice. This sort of racing really works best when it's late, everyone is tired, many competitors have had a lot of beer, the wind is blowing, the weather is uncertain and the only thing most everyone wants more than anything to get done and go home.

To run a dual race, though, takes more . . . a lot more. First, it takes longer to set the course. After setting the original course, the second lane has to be mirrored. Sure, this only takes 10 or 15 minutes, but when it's already after 9:00, minutes count. Secondly, you have to qualify racers for the brackets. Sometimes this is avoided for the sake of time, but it makes for some really screwy racing when you start setting brackets based on alphabetical order. The trouble is, once you set these brackets, you have to live with them the rest of the night. Usually what happens is the race is decide really early when the two fastest racers meet in the round of 16 instead of in the finals. It makes the rest of the night very anticlimatic. All you can hope for is the fast guy will DQ and keep things interesting.

Third, you need someone to volunteer to manually update the bracket board. Oh, and someone has to remember to bring a bracket board. If not, you end up drawing brackets in chalk on the street and hoping you can read them after they've been skated over a few times (NO! Nothing like that happened in Boston.) Finally, you need someone to man the timers and relay all the information to the Bracket Board, including the times. Don't forget, in dual racing, it takes a lot longer to race because everyone in every bracket in every heat goes TWICE, once in each lane. And to make things even more interesting, don't forget this is all being done in the middle of the night by streetlight.

I understand y'all got started around 8:30-9:00 and finished up after midnight? If Tway had decided to run duals, there's a good chance the race would have met sun. Again, Alan, I'm not criticizing you or your zeal for wanting head-to-head racing. Everyone wants to do that. The trouble is that sometimes circumstances warrant going with a race format that's faster, easier and a little less complicated.

I hope you didn't come away from the Gathering assuming East Coast racers are timid about going against each other on the hill. Far be it from the truth. We do, though, have enough experience at this game to know when to opt for brevity over extended excitement.

[Alan Gelfand]

Dam herd you guys had head-to-head racing on Sunday. Would have loved to try it buy my legs were falling off .I think I was on my salom board like 16 hours up there.

[Alan Gelfand]

Thanks for all the hospitality this weekend at the Gathering. I learned a lot about Slalom racing this weekend. I would like to see head to head racing the way it was this weekend reminds me when I used to Autocross my car against a clock Boring!!!! What about the select few racers that can actually get threw the first few cones at the park and ride .I saw most of the sk8ters DQ ing or hitting the cones .15-20 foot starting box ??? Are you crazy or scared of a little speed. I hardly know anything about slalom racing but I know what fun is and going so slow that you could run out of most of your runs is boring. I will guarantee you that when I put on a race in a few months I will have at least 30- 40 new slalom skaters out there and people will be yelling from the side lines for there favorite guy to win. Head to head racing is way more fun to watch and to participate in . Thanks again for the great times this weekend. Alan “Ollie” Gelfand PS: I am soooo sore