Ski Racing Roundup: NorAms at Jackson, VARA meetings, Resort environmental grades

Ski Racing Roundup: NorAms at Jackson, VARA meetings, Resort environmental grades{mosimage}This winter, stagingapp23858.cloudwayssites.com will be home to weekly news roundups, leading you to regional and international developments you may have missed. Following our website re-launch on October 21, you can check in each Tuesday for Eric McCollom’s roundup of the latest domestic competition news. If you have suggestions for the site, contact the editor at webeditor@insideinc.com, and if you have comments for Eric McCollom, e-mail him at emccollom@insideinc.com.

NorAm schedule updated to include a stop in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

At the end of last season, a tentative NorAm schedule listed two men’s slaloms for November 21 and 22, without naming the site. Now those races have been given a home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. For the women, meanwhile, two slaloms originally scheduled for Georgian Peaks on March 9 and 10 have been moved to Craigleith, Ontario.

The USSA’s Walt Evans says that the early season Jackson events should certainly mean a USST World and Europa Cup team presence there. Still, he doesn’t expect the races to be flooded. ‘We don’t anticipate too many nations attending this set of slaloms’ says Evans. ‘With the strength of the USA and CAN men’s slalom skiers, we should be able to drive very good penalties, while at the same time, having smaller fields will provide enhanced starting positions for junior racers.’

Check upcoming issue #4 for the complete updated NorAm schedule or check in at www.ussa.org.

Killington to host wild VARA weekend

Coaches, officials, and parents will storm Killington, Vermont, for the Coaches’ Educational Seminar on October 16 and 17, and the worried locals already have their fingers on the phone, ready to call the New Hampshire State Police (Vermont’s would cost too much). The schedule includes keynote speakers Alan Ashley, Olle Larsson, Finn Gundersen, and Dr. Declan Connolly on Saturday, but leaves time for ‘networking’ (that’s scheduled from 3:45-4:00). Speaking of networking, the weekend will also include an industry expo with vendors from all of the biggest companies in the ski industry. Sunday promises attendees the American Sports Education Program course that is a requirement for USSA coach’s certification. More info is posted at the VARA website.

The skiing will come soon, very soon

Early season natural snowfall and some cooperative snowmaking temperatures have intensified the annual battle between Arapahoe Basin and Loveland, both of Colorado, to be the first in the country to load the lifts (we won’t mention that hardcores have already made turns at Silverton because they hiked). In the recent history of the rivalry, Loveland has played the Yankees to A-Basin’s Red Sox, but 18 inches of September snow has A-Basin thinking this just might be the year. Each is holding out hope to open this week. Click here to check out who has the edge. They may already be open and here you are wasting time on the computer.

Grades are in

Those scenic views of the expansive wilderness that you enjoy and the high-speed quad from which you enjoy them do not always have the healthiest relationship with each other. The Ski Area’s Citizen’s Coalition (SACC) has released its Environmental Scorecard grades for 77 ski resorts throughout the west, and while some aced the test (Aspen, Alpine Meadows, and Mount Bachelor to name a few) plenty of others brought the collective GPA decidedly downward. In order to arrive at the numeric and letter grade it assigned to each resort, the SACC evaluated 24 different criteria and awarded positive grades for voluntary initiatives like using wind power, biodiesel, and water conservation. Check out the group’s website to check the criteria, see if your hometown hill made the grade and to find out which resorts got hit with SACC’s red ink.

Ski swaps are the new golf

September fundraising golf tournaments are in the books and ski clubs are pressing onwards. For many ski clubs, October is the ski swap time of the year, and some big ones are approaching. Mount Bachelor Ski Education Foundation is holding its annual Skyliners Ski Swap on October 16th (one day only so don’t miss it). Click here for more information. Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club puts on its ski swap on October 22-23rd, and Ski Club Vail’s is the following week (October 29-30). Park City and Team Summit hold ski swaps in early November. These clubs mentioned are only the tip of the ski club iceberg, so if you’re looking to buy or sell gear and to help the local club, look them up and get yourself to a ski swap. And if you want to notify readers of this site, call Eric McCollom at 303-440-0601.

In Native American skiing news

Speed skier Ross Anderson is calling Ski Apache, New Mexico his home base. Anderson, a Cheyenne/Arapaho Mescalero Apache and Durango, Colorado native, returns to the Mescalero Apache Reservation as the only American Indian to ever win a World Championship medal in any skiing event.

Dubbed ‘The fastest American Indian on Mother Earth’ Anderson’s silver came in the 2001 World Speed Skiing Championships in Les Arcs, France. It’s unclear whether Anderson will try and top his career-best 146 miles per hour mark at the Ruidoso, New Mexico ski resort, but it’s probably best to keep your eyes open for Anderson’s pony tail sticking out the back of a helmet when attending the area’s opening on Thanksgiving day.

From Apache news to Yakima news: In south central Washington, Mt. Hood Meadows Development Corporation is proposing an extensive ski area and destination resort on Yakama tribal land. Ten ski lifts, three golf courses, a spa and a casino are all part of the package pitched to the Yakima Indian Nation. The lifts would take skiers from a base elevation of 5,400 to 11,100, the biggest rise in North or South America. The Meadows Development Corp. insists that everything from the architecture to the food would incorporate Yakama culture, and a museum about the tribe would be on site. No word yet on the Nation’s response.

Previous Ski Racing Roundups:

INTERNATIONAL, September 15, 2004

DOMESTIC, September 28, 2004

NORDIC, September 29, 2004

INTERNATIONAL, September 30, 2004

DOMESTIC, October 5, 2004

NORDIC, October 6, 2004

INTERNATIONAL, October 7, 2004