Want a good joke...Western Regionals Practice!

[303Skier]

I've been to Regionals at Broadside Harbor two times now and each time I planned my trip so I could get there a day early to practice. First time I didn't get to practice because the list was 50 skiers deep. This year I barely got in only because I stepped up and coordinated practice and got skiers off the starting dock. Now I'm not one to complain but something needs to be corrected so this doesn't keep happening.

 

At 11:30 tickets went on sale for practice and at 12:00 registration opened for practice. There was a line on Thursday about 15-20 people deep. I was about mid pack. I purchased my ticket and when I finally got to the window to register for practice there was a waiting list about 30 deep. So how does the list get to be 30 + people long when I only had maybe 10 people in front of me? Seems that people were signing up there friends and relatives without them even being there.

 

It gets even worse...once practice started, there was no one around to run it! I had to pickup the clipboard myself and start organizing practice. I think I checked off about 10 people that never even showed up. There were people skiing who had already skied in the tournament, people skiing that took two spots, people skiing that didn't ski till Saturday and people skiing that weren't even on the list. It was a mess!

 

Now I have to give credit where credit is due, Broadside Harbor and the officials did an amazing job organizing the tournament and the site is spectacular. But practice, not so much! There was also another lake 10 mins away offering practice but I wanted to ski the site, not another lake 15 miles away.

 

I'd like to help them find a better way to run practice. Any thoughts or suggestions? I know Regionals at Laku in Colorado has time slots.

[Chef23]

I have run practice at two Regionals and it is a difficult job. You need to have someone managing the sign up list, a set of rules regarding who can sign up who, someone crossing off skiers and making sure the people that signed up are the ones who ski, someone managing the starting dock to keep things moving, drivers, observers, rope handlers etc.

 

A practice set was 4 slalom passes, 2 trick passes (I think we had a 4 fall limit) and 2 jumps.

 

I spent roughly 13 hours managing it the day before the event making sure we had enough volunteers (we had a great group of people helping) and getting trick and jump practice going on a second lake. Then we ran practice until dark after the events were done for the day.

 

I tried to line up people to help in 2 hour slots before the event started but had to do some things ad-hoc.

 

I had a set of rules typed up I will see if I can find them.

[Chef23]

Here are the rules we used:

Practice Rules

• Practice ends at 7:30PM

• 4 Slalom passes, 2 Trick passes(4 falls max) or 3 Jumps.

• Tickets only at the dock no cash.

• Skier must come to dock to put name on list.

• Not allowed to put name on list multiple times. Skier must ski set then put name back on list if multiple sets desired.

• If skier misses turn they will slide 5 slots. Second miss goes to end of line.

• Only family slot transfers allowed. No transferring practice slot to non-family members.

• Workers/Volunteers may be inserted in running order.

• If daylight is running short skiers that have not skied take precedence over skiers that have already skied that day.

• No Refunds.

• Please have patience.

 

In addition at each lake we planned to have a coordinator (managed list), driver, dock starter, rope handler (in boat).

 

This was at a two lake site so we ran slalom one lake and jump/trick on the other. If nobody was jumping or tricking we did run some slalom on the second lake but all the competition took place on the lake without the jump.

 

Tickets were handed in at the time you skied we didn't require tickets to put your name on the list to ski. This was because when daylight got short there was a chance someone might not get to ski.

[LeonL]

Having organized practice is a tough job. It requires someone to head it up and be in control. Something it seems did not happen where you were. Tickets and a list are necessary, but the sign up list needs to be at the starting dock. Get your ticket, go to the start dock and sign up. A coordinator needs to be there to manage the list and take tickets. I guess what @Chef23 said is good, if you're not there you go down five spots. You could just say "you're SOL". If a skier wants practice, and signs up, be there when your turn comes! It has to be kinda rigid or you'll have chaos. I've seen it and so have most of us. I've also seen very well managed practice. It's a big money maker for the LOC and they should treat the cash cow properly. Heck the more sets the more money!

[unksskis]

Not encouraging info going into Nationals. Always gotta love a nearby lake offering practice.....

[303Skier]

@Chef23 I agree with most of your points, however I don't agree that skiers can get multiple practice sets in a day. To me that just seems unfair. But if it's a slow practice day I could see that being okay. It almost seems like running practice is more challenging than running the tournament at times.

 

@unksskis I heard they are going to have the private owned lake the the east of east lake to use for practice during Nationals. That means they will have a total of 4 lakes to conduct practice at. Private lake will probably be a floating course.

 

Things I'd like to see:

- Someone at the starting dock leading the practice.

- 12:00pm sign up each day (Gives people coming in that day time to get there and sign up)

- Each person in line can only sign up one person. Not allowed to sign up friends.

- Skiers only allowed to sign up the day before their event. (Might be difficult)

- No skiers allowed to practice if they have already skied regionals/nationals.

- Each day should have a cap of # of pulls. This will ensure the next day doesn't have a huge waiting list.

[jimbrake]

Regionals, for families especially, turns into more of a "ski week" than just a tournament. You spend an inordinate amount of time trying to arrange and get practice sets for the kids and yourself. I had the same experience @303Skier - I stood in line baking in the sun (like everyone else) only to get to the window and find out we were DEEP into the waiting list. I did that Thursday and we didn't get our rides that evening. I thought our names would roll over to the next day, but on Friday no one even showed up to run practice by the time we had to leave for the Jr. Dev banquet.

 

Actually, I thought the Broadside Harbor crew did a great job early in the week, but that seemed to fade later in the week. You really do need strict control on those trying to sign up for others, signing up for multiple sets in one day, etc.

[LeonL]

I'm kinda like @OB1 as far as I go. At Regionals there was little or no practice. Being in M7, we always ski on the first day, which would mean getting there a day early or leaving home at 5:00 am. I usually ski about the same no matter where I go, practice or no practice. Practice is a funny term for 4 passes. Most sites call it "site familiarization". That may be advisable if the site has unusual quirks, but a good site with nothing goofy....just ski it! I have some friends that have regularly paid for their two offspring to take at least one "practice" set in each event, and sometimes more than one. At $20 a pop that's a minimum of $120 and maybe $160. The mom has seen everything that can be horrible about practice and learned from it. She has since ran practice at regionals a couple of times and can make it happen right.

[Horton]

I read this and I actually feel bad for the local club. These events need to be re-envisioned. I would bet a lot of scotch that they worked their tails off and this one detail got missed or was not executed as well as possible. It sucks to be the skier that stood around all day and did not get to ski but I challenge all you guys to wrap your head around the problems involved in hosting a Regionals or Nationals. We need to continue to consider alternatives. Traveling across country for 1 ride is whacky.

[303Skier]

@OB1 is such a stud, he doesn't need practice :)

 

Not gonna work for some people dude.

[lakeaustinskier]

Practice can be chaos unless someone with a strong personality takes charge and organizes the event (I know since I worked the practice dock when Nationals was at San Marcos River Ranch - SMRR). People will and do pay money for a proper practice - sites should capitalize on this.

 

I know I might be picking a fight here (I apologize - not my intention) but attitudes like "suck it up and ski and you get what you get" don't help anyone. And yet we still pontificate about why our sport is lagging?

 

Sure, if you are a 3 EV (I'm not), or your entire family competes (mine does not), then maybe it makes sense to not care whether you can check out the setup/conditions/water feel. And then fall on your opener.................not for me.

[Chef23]

@Horton I agree with you it was probably an oversight particularly if this is the first time that site has run regionals. I was on weekly conference calls as the practice coordinator for months leading in to the event.

 

@303Skier many of the things on your list are covered on mine. Our rule was that the skier had to come to the dock to sign up. There was no phoning a friend from the highway and having them sign you up. Agreed you absolutely need to have someone at the site coordinating practice or it is chaos.

 

Regarding having two practice sets in a day generally I would be okay with only allowing one unless the practice list was empty or short.

 

I had no idea how much work goes in to putting an event like this on until I was involved (lightly) in the process. While the structure of the events may be imperfect I greatly appreciate the people that are willing to put their time and effort in to hosting them. It is a tremendous amount of work and frequently people only bitch about things and don't thank the site owner and organizers.

[jdarwin]

"Traveling across country for 1 ride is whacky".

 

BINGO!!!

[lcgordon]

Man up and ski 3 events!

[LeonL]

Suck it up was not my advice for everyone, just me. Now, if for some reason my travel arrangements caused me to not be able to ski for 3-4 days, I might seek out a set.

[Dirt]

@303Skier call Sam or Barry and make suggestions. I am sure they are interested in any suggested improvements. They have a very limited number of owners/members and they all worked from early morning until well after dark (10PM).

[lpskier]

As usual, practice ran (and is still running) flawlessly at Lake Holly and Timberlake at the Eastern Regionals. East is Beast! #iskiconnelly

[disland]

Its supposed to be a fam ride, get used to the conditions and such. If there is a big demand for practice limit slalom to 2 passes.

[schroed]

I agree that practice was an issue at the regionals. However, I also know that the people at Broadside worked their asses off at the tournament. Since it stays light so late, I think it was difficult to get volunteers to help to run practice from 6 PM to 10 PM at night after they already worked from 6 AM to 6 PM. So, I wouldn't be too hard on the Broadside people for how practice was run. I think with a couple tweeks (that I already know they're talking about) it will run well for nationals. Further, as mentioned previously, there will be an extra lake at nationals that will only be used for practice. I think that will be huge for taking the load off of the two tournament lakes and spreading out practice. I also noticed that you can buy practice tickets online when you register for nationals.

 

For regionals, I for one did not want to wait in that line at 11 AM for an hour just for a chance at getting on the practice list for that evening on one of the two tournament lakes. Instead, I decided to go over to Gilbert's lake. The drive was only about 10 or 15 minutes and the site was really nice. I went over there two different days to get my son a ride one day and I took a ride another day. Both times I only waited for about an hour and there weren't that many people there. So, I'd recommend considering heading to that lake if practice becomes an issue at Nationals.

 

I do think it's nice to have a practice ride or two while you're at the nationals. That is especially true if you have to show up a few days early for your kids to ski and want to make sure you're not too rusty when it's your turn to ski. I think Broadside will get this all ironed out and we'll all get our practice rides in for nationals. If regionals was any indication, I think it will be a great nationals tournament.

[Jody_Seal]

Man up! That's a good one especially when you have freaked out junior jumpers on a new site taking 6 days maybe more since their last jump set..shoot it should be mandatory for each junior to take a familiarization set at nationals.

Reality the nationals or any championship age group event should have availability for extra water time outside of the event, after all we are participant's not spectators!

[Chef23]

If you are going to Nationals I would also call and offer to help. They can always use more help particularly if you have some ideas on how to make practice run more smoothly.

[LeonL]

Ski Club of the Palm Beaches arguably has the most experience running tournaments of any club currently in existence. They also run practice with military precision. Maybe @Roger will see this and offer insight. If any one want advice that's the place to go. They actively seek volunteers to help and they always get sufficient numbers to make it run well.

[skierjp]

Mike Dumalla is the one that coordinated practice at Okeeheelee Nationals. Running practice is probably the toughest jobs, especially at Okeeheelee. 1 primary practice lake and 4 more lakes as the events ended every day. Also a HUGE thank you to Nautique for supplying all the practice boats and GAS for the entire week!!!!

[MattP]

I volunteered to safety practice last year for the days I was at Nationals. Even sites like Okee need help from others to make things happen.

[Ilivetoski]

When I went down in 2012 I was in the boat on the practice lake all day switching out handles. I'm pretty sure I was doing that bc they told my dad if I did it I would get free practice sets. My dad did not want to pay for the practice sets.

[MrJones]

I normally agree with OB about not skiing practice. The headache of waiting around and the possibility of questionable driving normally makes me just show up and ski the tourney.

 

Now I do hate to hear of possible problems with this for nationals. We are getting to Idaho really early for a rafting trip before Nats. If I don't find a practice ride somewhere it will be a full 7 days off before skiing for me. Hopefully it gets smoothed up a bit before then.

[skierjp]

Last year at Okeeheelee I see my Nautique being towed to the gas dock. I guess the practice driver didn't know to watch the gas guage! As he was running the gas pump I jumped in the drivers seat and powered the Link System up to watch the fuel guage. I looked at the ZO and it was on the plus setting. I asked the driver out of curiosity who ask for plus? He looked at me confused and ask me if I would set it back to normal. I wonder how many skiers he pulled on the wrong setting?

[unksskis]

Maybe a part of your Nationals entry could be a practice set, and allotted time periods that a specific division may practice (for example, the day or 2 prior to the division) and the skiers may choose to sign up for. Even signing up for this during online registration would likely help with planning and logistics.

[jrs]

@skierjp Sounds like a good reason to improve the user interface on the Link System!

[MrJones]

... along the same lines. In Bako one year my wife and I showed up first thing in the morning for a practice ride. My wife was first up. 7:00 am, 22 off, 36 mph.

 

To give her credit I think she made it to 3 or 4 ball before giving up. A great way to settle into a new site and feel confident in your prep. That was the last time I practiced at nats.

[MrJones]

I take that back. The year in San Marcos where MC had the practice lake running to demo the new boat. TWinter was at the wheel and I needed a set so I skied. Figured he has likely pulled a few shortline passes!

[ScarletArrow]

Regarding practice at Nationals...

 

The ratio of supply and demand for practice is more than any site can accommodate.

 

I compliment the gentleman who was managing the practice lake at Broadside, he was very busy all day, everyday, and tried to work with me to get me in..

 

Like many others, I pre-paid for practice (2 sets - one each for my son and daughter). However, I was not able to get on the sign-up because of such high demand. Obviously a gap in logistics as I should be guaranteed a spot if I pre-pay.

 

At first this was a debacle because the online registration was clear that there were to be no refunds and Registration didn't know what to say or do. I'm fine with not getting practice, but if I pre-pay for something I guess I expect to get it.

 

Eventually the right people were able to come together and make the decision to issue refunds and I was able to get mine.

 

Eastern Regionals seems to have this figures out because they have an online system when you pre-pay you also schedule your time to ski.

 

 

[MrJones]

We skied at Gilbert's on Tuesday. Super nice people there, good driving, and they didn't rush you at all. I know they were busier on other days, but our experience was great.

[LeonL]

@jrs what's so wrong with the Link system interface? Anybody who uses ZO with the regular round display should be able to use the Link. Now, however the MC system is the bomb!

[sunperch]

We practiced at the 3rd lake at Broadside as well, the longest we had to wait was 30 minutes. I got one practice pull, my kids took 2 and 3 each as they did not ski til the end of the week. The crew running the lake were very nice, easiest practice sets I have seen at a Regionals or a Nationals.

[MillerTime38]

@OB could not disagree more. Not only does the club deserve the extra money for doing all the work to host an event you can just show up and ski at then bail....every lake skis different and if people spend all that money to travel [including airfare] they deserve a chance to get 4 passes to get a feel for the water. The more people like you the merrier in my opinion, makes it easier for me to get in practice rides :)

[unksskis]

Easiest way to remedy any issue that may have come up with practice at Nationals is communication. Lack of communication and organization in some areas prohibited almost full divisions from practice.

[lpskier]

Practice was pretty seamless at Nationals this year. One lake on site and another nearby exclusively used for practice and on lake practice each day after the tournament finished. Plus all the ski companies did a demo day for a couple hours each day. #iskiconnelly

[unksskis]

Slalom is not the only event people want to practice.