Info wanted on setting up a Super GS

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Graham Brittain
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Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2009 4:57 am
Location: Townsville - Australia

Info wanted on setting up a Super GS

Post by Graham Brittain » Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:34 am

Hi all,

Sometime in the near future, our group of riders hope to hold a free ride on a hill in Australia. We have a big hill, which is not super fast, however is somewhat technical.

The idea of trialing a Super Giant Slalom, is being thrown around, and i would like to know what it takes for an event to be classed as a Super GS and not just a GS.

How many cones?
How long is a SGS course?
Does it matter if the road itself is somewhat technical?
Is it run as a time trial or 1 on 1?
What are the rules for SGS?
Is there anything else i need to know, that i have missed?

Sorry about all the questions, but i really want to know all of the facts before we attempt to hold one of these events.

Cheers
Graham

Pat Chewning
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Post by Pat Chewning » Wed Jan 07, 2009 7:55 am

The ISSA rulebook contains guidelines for GS and SGS course lengths and cone spacings:

http://www.slalomskateboarder.com/ISSA/ ... S-2008.pdf
9.6. GIANT SLALOM (GS)
· Course Intent: Test the racer’s ability to make a variety of short, medium, and longradius
turns through the course. The course should use the full width of the racing
surface, with the course curving a smooth path down the hill. May be run single-lane
or dual, depending on road width. Speeds are higher than the Slalom events. Racers
tuck occasionally for short intervals.
· Sloped surfaces of moderately-steep pitch are used. (Suggestion 3% to 10% grade.)
· Cone Spacing Limits: 2.0m to 10m
· Cone Spacing Suggestion: 3.0m to 5.0m
· Course Length: 20 to 100 cones. (Suggestion: 40 cones)
9.7. SUPER-GS (SGS)
· Course Intent: Test the racer’s ability to make high-speed long-radius turns through the
course. The course should use the full width of the racing surface, with the course
curving a smooth path down the hill. Speeds are much higher than the Slalom events.
Racers turn while tucking for whole subsections of the course. The cones shall
determine the turning points, not just the curves in the road (to distinguish from
downhill racing).
· Sloped surfaces of moderately-steep pitch are used. The road follows several natural
curves and changes of pitch. (Suggestion 3% to 10% overall grade.)
· Cone Spacing Limits: 3.0m to 20m
· Cone Spacing Suggestion: 5m to 15m
· Course Length: 20 to 100 cones. (Suggestion: 40 cones)
You can see that there is a large overlap between the most "open" GS and the "tightest" SGS. You might want to pay attention more to the "intent" of the course than in the actual specific cone spacings and course length.....

While it might be POSSIBLE to run a dual-lane (1-1) race on a super-long super-wide surface, nearly every SGS race will be single lane and the winner would be determined by the best time in 2 runs.

Rick Floyd
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Super-G

Post by Rick Floyd » Thu Jan 08, 2009 6:47 pm

Graham - check out this video to see the cone spacing we used at the US Nationals Super-G last summer in Morro Ba, CA. You don't need the huge ramp, but it is sweet if you can build one!

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/vmix/playe ... S=00001775

Now tighten those trucks and rip it!

-RF
"All the money in the world can not buy sharing the excitement of life with other people. Nothing else matters."

- Jason Mitchell (Criddlezine Interview)

Steve Collins
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Location: Los Angeles

Post by Steve Collins » Thu Jan 08, 2009 7:24 pm

#1 for super G is the hill: It needs to be big, steep and fast. Individual cone spacing can be 40, 60 feet or more although the average may be less. The point of super G is speed. I like to think of technical GS and super G as distinctly different types of courses. In a real super G, you might have downhillers competing and even placing highly, riding their looser DH rigs in some races. Most, if not all of the top finishers will be in a tuck at some point on the course.

Now, the above is not from the rule book and may not be technically correct from the organizational standpoint. It's just my personal opinion, probably very biased by where I come from.

The point is that the hill determines what kind of cone spacing you should set and what sort of speed you should expect to achieve. The best course addresses both the strengths and limitations of a given hill.

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