RazorRoss3

It has been an amazing opportunity, I have to say I don't think college would be nearly as fun without the great group of people I've met through collegiate skiing. The sport just seems to attract a really great group of people. I'm looking forward to skiing the rest of the fall, hanging out with them through the winter, ripping it again in the spring, and winning the most supportive alumni award after that.

I did what I could to leave the team better than I found it. I think between the sponsorship, the boat, the 4 figure budget surplus, and getting the bid for all stars this spring that I did just that. And it is funny to think how long I've been watching skiing and how long it has been since that first pass 9 years ago

It should be noted that after the narrow miss, the seniors decided to hit up Neilan's lake house out at lake Shannon and gave ourselves a good damn time. I think all six of us who went out there PB'd in jump except for our one member who is self desribed "not a bird of flight" who pb'd in slalom. Too bad we didn't throw down like that early in the day but it was a great way to end the weekend. Best water, warmest weather, and at the end of the day what this sport is about is having a great time on the water with your friends and we did just that!

Beaten and bruised, battered and abused, I'll be around for a long time to come. And this boy rides the single tricker. I'm thinking inverts are next on my trick list. I have allstars assuming I qualify. I hope 5@32 will be big enough for that! Either way I'm hosting so I'll be there!

Well, four years later and my collegiate ski career has come to a close. My freshman year we saw Nationals for the first time in team history and it was the first time in 8 years to regionals, in my sophmore and junior years we turned regionals into a 3 peat, this year while we skied very well we couldn't quite keep that going so after the Great Planes Conference Championships it does indeed look like I am done. I walk away with a slalom podium finish at conference 4 years in a row, 5th my freshman year, 1st sophmore, 3rd with an injured back junior year, and taking back my borrowed gold medal this year. In addition I have had the opportunity to ski numerous amazing sites including Waters Edege, the PITS, Radar lake, Borderline lake, Dream lake Estates, Trophy lakes New Germany, Eagle lake, two of the Lakes at Bennett's, and many more. I made some great friends and had some great times. If I had to go out this last weekend I couldn't have gone out with a bigger bang. 1st place in Slalom by matching my two year old Tournament best of 5 at 32 off, 740 points in trick is a wake back short of my full run, 80 points short of my pb and came in 8th, and a 70 foot jump beats a two year old pb of 69 and came in 20th. Throw that all together and I came in 6th in the overall just missing the podium but for a guy who showed up freshman year as a slalom skier and that was it, I am thrilled to have been able to perform at or above my personal bests in each event at my last tournament. I don't believe I could have skied better if I tried, and especially not across the board in all three events across two days. Thanks to @Razorskier1‌ and @6balls for getting me into this sport. Was one hell of a ride! -Mitch

If you watch really closely you can see my 1.5 buoys of fame!

Yeah, if the fin is bent left/right, or if it isn't running perfectly straight down the ski (nose of the fin is set right or left of tail) or if the calipers just rest funny on one side that would do it

I can't tell exactly what I'm looking at there. Are the steps hard to see or am I blind? It's been know to be the case in the past. I think I understand the theory.

That could be said for the majority of skiers, I think most of us could run within buoys of our pb on almost any top of the line ski. Other factors are consistency, feel, and of something isn't broken don't fix it. If I were Nate, I'm not sure I'd switch either.

Any of the hybrid neoprene bottom, baggy top. Then get a really warm fleece long sleeve to wear underneath it.

I'm planning on it. Dream lakes this weekend, hoping for good conditions and a solid set. Then again ISU hasn't ever had the best luck with good weather at their home tournament!

That is true by any count. Thanks to everyone who helped the tournament ran great. We're looking forward to the next 2 weekends of skiing and if we're lucky maybe a 3rd weekend at regionals.

You clearly put in a lot of effort is my first thought. After that I'd say that it makes sense even before looking at the data the getting skiers hooked early is the best way to bring the new blood into the sport. Problem is that if a parent doesn't ski then B1 has no access. So the first step in growing the early divisions is to find a way to creat and advertise access.

@Koller‌ the Iowa ski team is starting up, groups going out for sunrise sets through the afternoon. If you want to get in touch give me a call 612-599-3496. Happy Labor Day.

What is needed is entry fee standardization, and then some form of standardized compensation to sites and visiting officials the price point of those combined should be a 60 skier college tournament making the host team $500+ Any less than $500 is such a small amount that the work put in to run a tournament is hardly worth it. I don't know what these numbers should be but you can't standardize revenues if costs are allowed to run wild.

These skis have been purchased and are off the market, to my knowledge the ebay and ski it again posts have been taken down. -Mitch

@webbdawg99‌ I voted what we have historically charged, in the spring the Midwest has too many teams trying to host so when you raise entry above the other tournament you don't get anyone. We have a $10 camping fee we charge both skiers and spectators in an attemp to balance out the costs. Can't charge beyond what people will pay

We have discontinued the spring tournament because the math doesn't work. Most teams cover either transportation or entry fee, most Midwest skiers camp.

We charge $35/skier and a $10 camping fee/camper. That is the same across the Midwest in my experience.

The fall tournament is September 6-7

We have to pay the LOC $10/skier then most officials won't come if a $100/night hotel room isn't provided. Then officials meals takes another bite. The fall tournament we usually aren't at risk of losing money, a blind chipmunk could likely make a buck, but making $200-400 isn't a huge chunk of cash when you consider a team that runs around $7500 in anual expenses. We need these tournaments (particularly the fall) to generate $1000+ to be considered a meaningful success. In order to do that this year I've been busting my you know what to find officials who would be willing to camp and cut costs at every corner as well as raise entry fees but I can only go so high with a college student budget. I would like to throw a big thank you to Mr. Dave Clark as he is a chief official, super nice, and nearly insists on sleeping on a cot that he brings. He is a huge help to us and the sport. Spring season the math doesn't work no matter how you cut it, officials, LOC, low entry fees, and low registration. As a team we are discontinuing ours since before we cancelled last spring we were looking at a $600 loss, our summer non-collegiate hardly broke $100 and was nearly a loss but jump got stormed out so gas was below expectations.

@shaneh, that's part if the problem, by the time I compensate 2 appointed judges per event and a chief I don't have any profits left and have run a money making event that lost money. No one in the Midwest does this for free, most want hotel rooms at a minimum which ends up as $200/person. And even finding a chief judge is a challenge.

He said in June all he needed to do was put the sides on, still no skis, I enailed him twice in the past two weeks about them. If there were someone out that way the team would be very grateful but I'll try calling him first.

Thanks for the contact info all, the skis where a blemish pair which led to a $500 discount. It may be worth the road trip to get them. They were for the Iowa ski team, we fundraiser for them since our skis are over a decade old and we were starting to worry about skier safety and the first tourney is 9/6-7

Anyone have a good way to get in touch with Ron goodman? He has $1100 that I spent on skis in April and I have no skis and he hasn't responded to an email since June despite sending a number of them. Admittedly off topic but still a problem for a college ski team.