Ratio of Level 8 and above skiers going to Nationals

[bigtex2011]

I was bored because it is raining today. I took this data from the AWSA ranking list. In Mens 4. 109 skiers qualified/28 skied

In MM 71 qualified/8 skied.

 

I know there is some mixing up of M3-6 and MM. It seems there are plenty of skiers, but for a multitude of reasons people don't go to both regionals and nationals. Hope the sun comes out.

[Razorskier1]

Or we'd rather not spend a couple grand to fly someplace, ski once and come home . . .

[Horton]

@OB1 i have saved tens of thousands of $ that way

[brettmainer]

But last year missed your one opportunity to beat @Dirt, which would have been priceless.

[Bruce_Butterfield]

@OB1 you forget that not everyone has the ability to fly in somewhere, take a set, and fly out the same day and spend a relatively trivial amount of $.

For most people, they spend several hundred on airfair, several hundred on hotel, more on rental car, etc. So for most "normal" skiers, it really is several thousand dollars for a Nationals trip and 1 ski ride.

[eleeski]

Big tournament runs are the focus of the year's skiing. Way more than just another set. Dealing with the travel, the site variables, the pressure and everything that is different from skiing at home is the spice that makes the big tournaments fun.

 

Meeting friends and seeing cool new places is a side benefit. Saving thousands? Those who stay home really miss out on life enriching experiences.

 

Eric

[lpskier]

I found, sort of by accident, that a return to three eventing made Nationals a lot more fun.

[scoke]

Theodore Roosevelt: man in the arena.

 

Not many people understand while sitting behind a keyboard.

[Horton]

Sometimes I do not think some of you live in the real world.

[Jweber]

I can't justify the time and money it takes for a nationals trip every year, but the few times I've gone I sure haven't regretted it. To me a local tournament has no comparison. If you're qualified and have never been it's definitely worth the experience!

[jetpilotg4]

so whats some of you national skiers first nationals slalom scores? I am looking forward to My first Trip to national s this year

 

[Bruce_Butterfield]

My first Nationals was 1987. If I remember correctly, I missed my second pass (28 off) after running 35 in a tournament the weekend prior. Nationals is a whole different ballgame. It takes some time to get the mush between the ears settled down and after a few years I was able to put up some better performances.

[MISkier]

This isn't a Nationals story, but one of my ski partners drove something like 10 or 12 hours to Regionals. On his second pass (32 off), he was preoccupied with the strategy for the upcoming 35 off tailwind. It apparently affected his ability to count, because he stood up after 4 ball looking for the gates. I'm glad I wasn't riding with him for that trip home.

[Horton]

I think @Dirt did that one year

[Dirt]

@horton that was Imperial. I missed the gates on my second pass the year Nats were in Houston. I sat on the dock for 4 hours watching Milewski ski away, lightening strike, get in the boat, ride back, shiver, repeat.

Buoys were under water.

[Bruce_Butterfield]

Counting seems to be an issue among skiers. At the first BigDawg, there was a skier in the head to head who stood up after 4 ball at 28 off. Oops.

 

90% of the game is half mental.

[Horton]

@dirt hilarious when it happens to you

[evolski]

@jetpilotg4 - fell on opener around 2 ball. Learning experience LOL. lucky it was local. Next nationals ran 1 ball shy of person best. Stopped going last 2 years, saved 4K / year both my wife and I ski.

[ski6jones]

I'll go when it's near enough and I'm qualified. Hoping to go this year since SMRR is relatively close to home. First Nats for me, also at SMRR, scored 3.5@35 off and a dislocated elbow. It was sweet!

[RazorRoss3]

I think that is the exact mindset of most of us here.

[Horton]

Hmm but what if there was something else going on at Nationals that made it more interesting..... Hmmmm

[LLUSA]

1987 got 7 rerides for slow times opted up and got two more for slow times, driving rain and ESPN camera in the boat with a big yellow tarp flapping. Finally fell

[Gar]

Wow that's something Lyman!

[unksskis]

I think it would be more valuable to see the ratio of those qualified in 3 event that attend, compared to those that are more or less held out because they are qualified in 1-2 events, and don't have the required level in the other events, and don't qualify via level 8 overall. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are allowed to have a level 6 in a 3rd event and still compete? Long story short, many of the younger adult divisions are higher percentage 3 event skiers, as compared to the older adult divisions, which seem to be 1 event specialists.

[markn]

Was extraordinarily lucky at my first Nationals in 2004. Ran 2 @ 39 for second place in M4. Have only done one other Nationals and missed my 35. Best of luck to you. Ski and have fun.