Newbie Scoring Question...

[dski]

This year my friends and I have been getting to the course about once a month. While this is not enough to make great progress, we are coming along slowly. :) Things were progressing well until I hit the gate, went in the air and came down and fractured a few ribs about 5 weeks ago....

 

I have read on http://www.usawaterski.org/ site about slalom scoring and have been watching the 'intergalatic challenge'. Help me put the two together. I have been skiing at 15' off and slowly getting the speed up to 34. (I was successful at 33 a couple rounds and had just moved to 34mph when I had the accident).

 

Now the question. How do you score before you actually get to 34 mph? (We are all in the 35-39 range) Or, is there no score till we get above that?

 

Thanks for the help. I have already learned so much from this site in the last couple months!

[dski]

BTW, sorry for the formatting. Chrome seems to not respect the paragraphs.

[Marco]

If this link doesn't work, look at the bottom of the left hand banner on the front page for the Buoy quick count chart.  It gives you the buoy count starting with long lines at the minimum speed.  You'll have to transfer MPH to KPH, same with the line lengths, but there is a conversion chart at the top right of the page. The speeds jump in roughly 2 mph increments.

Hope your ribs get better!

http://www.usawaterski.org/pages/divisions/3event/AWSASlalomBuoyQuickCountChart.pdf

[dski]

Perfect. Thanks!!

[eleeski]

If you MOP your score is the number of buoys you ski (it considers you at the miunimum speed/maximum rope if you don't make the opener). If you make the opener, you score all the buoys above minimum starting speed of your opener (scoring will ignore the line length at speeds below the maximum). Since the starting speed is ridiculously slow, that opener is usually worth a lot of buoys. The subsequent passes up to the maximum are worth 6 buoys. The top speed pass is worth 12 buoys (assuming you start at 15 off). All passes therafter are worth 6. 

So twice are passes worth more than the six you ski. The opener and the maximum speed pass. (If you start at the maximum speed and a short rope, that opener is worth a huge score. Make that opener! But that will be the only pass worth more than six.)

One other time a pass can be worth more than 6 is when you "opt up". You are allowed to skip any pass or passes. If you make the next pass, you score that pass plus all the others you skipped. Typically this done to take advantage of a headwind.

Minimum starting speed is 15 or something very slow. Speeds increase by 2mph (actually a metric amount near 2mph). I don't have the chart in front of me but it is very helpful to figure an exact buoy total. You'll be a rated scorer soon!

Eric

[eleeski]

It took me a while to post. Sorry for the reiteration. The scoring chart makes it easy and it seems you figured it out while I was typing. Cool!

Eric