@ToddL
You might want to do another count and take a look at the Tribal Throwdown hosted by the SMRR POA in June. Had you been there, you might have noticed we ran a GR Division. Kudos to the CAWSC for their efforts promoting GR and hosting events to include them, but you're not completely alone in these efforts.
During the '13 Summer (May through August) in Central Texas there were really 6 tournaments. Two had two sanctions and were run on consecutive days (or very close), and they were invitational slalom only. Their site, their party, and their rules. So even if someone wanted to pay for an R, they couldn't ski unless they were invited. So there were really only 4 open tournaments in the area. You said 8 is typical for Class C? That's definitely not typical, especially in more recent years with the drought.
Of the 4 open tournaments, the only one that didn't have Class C was the Texas State Championships. I'm not part of the Club that hosted the event, but I think part of the reason was to attract some of the elite skiers to participate, including many juniors that skipped it the year before to go to another a record event in Mississippi. Maybe the hosting club could/should have Class C or GR, but you should lobby the club that has the lock on hosting that event every year; maybe even offer to handle all of the GR events.? I think it would make more sense to add Class C to the State Championships, then it would to eliminate E/L. Outside of the debate about the difficulties and expense in hosting or skiing in an E/L, it does attract more high-end skiers; I know we don't necessarily want to cater to the elite, but maybe the State Championship and higher should have a higher bar and be a little more difficult than the rest of tournaments of the year. This was the first year in many years that it was sanctioned higher than a C event. Speaking for myself, it "felt" more like a State Championship this year and we definitely saw better competition and skiing than there's been in a while. Even The Horton skied in it.
Regarding the expense of an E/L, come help us with one next year. You'll quickly see where the money goes well beyond one-time capital improvements - we rent a lot of things we can't buy, feed everyone (lunch and dinner), live music!, higher sanction fees, etc. It definitely isn't a big money maker if that's what you're thinking. I'm just a peon, talk to our tournament organizers if you really want to learn more about what goes into an E+.