Nationals Diary Options

[patmoore]

Day One - Wednesday:
It is SO GOOD to be back! Missing last year with broken ribs and pneumonia was a bitter pill to swallow but it makes this year's return that much more enjoyable. My roommate and I caught an early flight out of Hartford and had a layover in Minneapolis. When they called boarding for Hayden/Steamboat I got on board. It wasn't until I got to Colorado that I realized he was nowhere to be found. A cell phone call revealed that he had set his watch wrong when changing time zones and was stuck in Minneapolis for another 24 hours. I lugged his gear along with mine to the hotel and headed for the mountain. Here's a view from the hotel.

A terrific statue of Billy Kidd in Gondola Square

The guy who makes this whole thing work, Bill Madsen.

I signed up for a clinic tomorrow and hope to do the morning on skis and then switch to the board in the afternoon.

[patmoore]

Day 2 -Thursday
I normally don't have difficulty with jet lag but I woke up at 3:30 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. At 6 am I wandered down the street to a bagel place and then hopped a bus for the mountain with two pairs of boots, skis, and snowboard. I showed up for my lesson on skis and got an eye opener. The practice runs were on Sitz and Vogue and they were set TIGHT. If ever there was a time for slalom skis, this was it. Remember our discussion on binding settings? I bumped up the DIN half a notch but apparently that wasn't enough. On the third gate of the first run I hit a compression and subsequent lift. Ifelt my right heel disengaging. Incredibly the boot slamming back down reengaged. I could even hear the click! Guess I need to crank it down a little more for tomorrow.

In the afternoon, I switched to a snowboard lesson. One lane of the daily NASTAR course was set with snowboard panels and I made a about a dozen runs. I was fairly happy with my performance. Tomorrow will be the real test.

Bruce and Hillary are snowboarders who have posted in this forum and looked good on the practice slope.

Turns out I'm not the only racer competing on both skis and board this year. Meet Myles Silverman - Platinum racer from Sugarloaf. Good thing we're not in the same age group!

Meet Mr. and Mrs JT Bear and my roommate Gary.

Our clinic instructor Jill Lambek and fellow student John Hearne who wound up becoming National Champion in the Men's 65-69 Silver category.

[putterman]

Hey, Pat, nice first day! Second in both disciplines. You are such a MAD COW! (Check one of the other threads to figure that one out... ) Good luck tomorrow!

[Ron Simonson]

Pat, you're killin' me here!! This is the 1st time in 6 years we are
not at nationals and it's almost unbearable. The Bear & you keep
posting photos and editorials about epic conditions (amazing what a few
weeks can do ), and all the fun you're having- NOT FAIR!

Do us no shows a favor and..... well, lie. Talk about melt off and crazy long
lift lines and warm beer and lousy food!!! You guys are just mean

Glad all is going well. Stay safe, ski fast & see ya next year!
Ron

[patmoore]

Day 3 - Friday - The Big Dance begins!
Sorry to take so long to post this. The hotel's WiFi network was down last night.

I got to the mountain via bus and hopped the Christie chair wearing skis and carrying the board and boots. I headed for Lower Bashor (the daily NASTAR venue) where the snowboard event was to be held. THe nice folks there let me store my ski boots inside the shack so I'd be able to get my feet in them later. We had a timing issue delay that had me nervous about being really late for my first ski run at Vogue. I finally got to run and recorded 24 something. I watched the other two boarders in my group and estimated their times (posting was delayed for one of them at the finish) and made the decision to skip my second run. Turns out I'm in first by enough of a margin that it was a safe move. I changed boots and arrived to Vogue just in time for my first run. Not having seen the course I just attacked it. It was turny and icy and I was SO glad I was on slalom skis. The guys on GS skis paid the price and on the scoresheet it appeared I had the fastest time. I got back up and had a very good run going on the green course when I went down. All I remember is bouncing my hip off the snow and a ski releasing. I had cranked the DIN down another half notch the day before and guess I need to do it again today(Saturday). Anyhow, when the results were finally posted I found myself in second place. I have my work cut out for me today.

Since the day ended early I got back on the board and made a few more runs. I managed to take a hard spill on the NASTAR course and bruised my shoulder pretty bad. Ice and Ibuprofen helped.

The raffle went well and a LOT of folks walked away with Goode Carbon fiber skis.

Here are a few photos:


Meet Wina Sturgeon (Luvtorace)

Lyn Nolen (Lil Feet)

The crowd

Billy Kidd

[kun264]

It was great meeting you on the bus yesterday Pat. Glad your ski and snowboard racing timing worked out. I ended up winning my snowboard division today. It was pretty close racing today between me and the second place finisher. Us ladies are very competitive on our snowboards.

[patmoore]

Day 4 - Saturday

I caught a break today because boarding was in the morning and skiing in the afternoon. The morning went well and I took the snowboard title by a fair margin. Skiing was a big if because I lagged Friday's leader by almost 3% handicap. Chad Fleisher set the pace and the rest of us mortals attacked the course. Once again I was glad I was on slalom skis because they gave me an edge (figuratively and literally) on the tight icy course. The results weren't posted before the awards ceremony began so I was kind of holding my breath. My goal coming into the championship was the make the podium in both events. I hadn't anticipated the possibility of winning both boarding and skiing outright. You can't imagine my elation to discover I had taken the Gold Division Skiing category as well as the Snowboard title.

My goal next year is to get into the Platinum category (I would have finished in 5th place in that category this year).

I have met so many great new friends and I can't wait to come back next year.

Before that happens, I have to race in tomorrow's Race of Champions. Apparently no one has ever qualified for that race in more than one discipline before. I'll make the first run on skis and the next one on the board. Wish me luck!

[Ron Simonson]

Big Congrats, Pat!! I would have loved to have seen your face...
more dressing for the stairway

[putterman]

Not that you need me to say it, but YOU ROCK! Congrats on the double gold, and, well this might be late, but GOOD LUCK TODAY!

[patmoore]

First of all, let me say thank you to all the notes of congratulations I've received. Ron, I really missed you this year and hope we can hook up where ever the Big Dance is next year. Mike, I met Flyin Ian! It was great to see so many old friends and meet a lot of new friends. I hope all of you can join us next year.

Day 5 - Sunday - The Race of Champions
The men weren't scheduled to start until 11 am so I had the luxury of sleeping in a bit before hauling two pair of boots, skis, poles, and snowboard to the mountain. I stashed my board and snowboard boots near the finish line and headed for the start. We were racing on See Me, a steep and lengthy course. The pacesetters all took off and demonstrated once again why they're who they are why we should be glad we don't race for a living.

I made my run on skis and I know I made a lot of mistakes but they announced I had the fastest raw time to that point. Amazingly it held up for another 20 racers but then the fast dudes ran the course. Overall, I had the 20th fastest raw time and was pretty psyched about it.

As soon as I cleared the finish line, I switched to the snowboard and headed back up the hill. The start of the course was steep, turny, and icy and I had seen a lot of boarders DNF so I took a conservative approach for the top few gates and tried to pick up the pace at the bottom. The run went well and I think I had the 9th fastest raw time in the non-alpine category. Here's a shot of my finish.

One of the thrills of attending this event is the opportunity to rub elbows with some of the legends of the sport. I was fortunate enough to get my photo taken with Phil Mahre, A J Kitt, Deb Armstrong, and Billy Kidd but I wanted to share one taken with Franz Fuchsberger, a charismatic individual and one heck of a racer!

After the competition wrapped up, several of us explored the top of the mountain. What a great place! I rode my board hard until the light got flat and the unseen bumps caused a few "a$$ over tea kettle" maneuvers. The quads were shot and the knee was sending gentle reminders that it was time to quit so we headed for the hot tub. A terrific calzone at Mazzolla's capped off a perfect day.

I'd especially like to think Mike and Susan (Mr. and Mrs. J T Bear) for their support and words of encouragement. It's folks like them that make this program so successful.

It will take a long time for the exuberance to wear off. Thanks for indulging me by letting me post my daily diary of a very fun event.

[putterman]

Pat, thanks for posting your diary. It was great hearing about your experiences and successes. I also enjoyed all your pics. Good luck on the repeat next year! I just hope I'm there to share it with you...

[LBWalkup]

One of the thrills of attending this event is the opportunity to rub elbows with some of the legends of the sport. I was fortunate enough to get my photo taken with Phil Mahre, A J Kitt, Deb Armstrong, and Billy Kidd but I wanted to share one taken with Franz Fuchsberger, a charismatic individual and one heck of a racer!

I'd especially like to think Mike and Susan (Mr. and Mrs. J T Bear) for their support and words of encouragement. It's folks like them that make this program so successful.

It will take a long time for the exuberance to wear off. Thanks for indulging me by letting me post my daily diary of a very fun event.

Pat,

I consider myself one of the luckiest people to ski in Steamboat because my mother-in-law's house is about one inch straight above the tip of your Elan's in this photo. The lovely people were wise enough to buy a place here 25 years ago. I may live in Dallas, TX but my skis live in Steamboat year round.

Great journal and photos! Your accomplishments are amazing, great skiing and boarding.

LW

[bmorecopper]

Pat,
Kudos all the way around. I would have loved to see you skiing and boarding in the ROC. A double gold, brother, you are the cats meow. A well deserved congratulations to you!

Thank you for the diary. I think I share the sentiments of some others here when I say reading it was bittersweet. You made us happy because we could live vicariously through you and having been to Steamboat before I could picture much of the event in my mind as you reported it to us. In my instance though you were driving Jean nuts. Everytime I read your posts and seen Bears pictures I would be miserable the rest of the evening. She asked me why I tortured myself, too which my only reply was, "you just don't understand". I hope you let us know when you put an album together with all of your pictures.

Congrats to you and all those who brought back some hardware. I hope everyone had a blast. Looking forward to next year, already.

Copper

[hillb007]

PAT, AWESOME JOB!!! What a super picture!

WE have to say thanks for showing us what the finish line looked like (for those of us boarders who didn't make it to that part of the race course!)

You are such a wonderful individual; we are very happy to have met you. I (Hillary) can't wait to come up and visit you at Okemo!

Ride fast- take chances- Hillary and Bruce



As soon as I cleared the finish line, I switched to the snowboard and headed back up the hill. The start of the course was steep, turny, and icy and I had seen a lot of boarders DNF so I took a conservative approach for the top few gates and tried to pick up the pace at the bottom. The run went well and I think I had the 9th fastest raw time in the non-alpine category. Here's a shot of my finish.

[Racer X]

Pat,

Congratulations! Great job in both events.

[patmoore]

PAT, AWESOME JOB!!! What a super picture!

WE have to say thanks for showing us what the finish line looked like (for those of us boarders who didn't make it to that part of the race course!)

Thanks Hillary! My dad always said that if you're not falling once in a while you're not trying hard enough. You and Bruce gave it your all. It was a real treat to meet you. BTW, if you have Scott's email address, please send it to me at pmoore@snet.net. His picture from the Race of Champions made the local paper and I picked up a copy for him.

My roommate Gary took the finish line shot.

Pat,
Kudos all the way around. I would have loved to see you skiing and boarding in the ROC. A double gold, brother, you are the cats meow. A well deserved congratulations to you!

Thank you for the diary. I think I share the sentiments of some others here when I say reading it was bittersweet. You made us happy because we could live vicariously through you and having been to Steamboat before I could picture much of the event in my mind as you reported it to us. In my instance though you were driving Jean nuts. Everytime I read your posts and seen Bears pictures I would be miserable the rest of the evening. She asked me why I tortured myself, too which my only reply was, "you just don't understand". I hope you let us know when you put an album together with all of your pictures.

Congrats to you and all those who brought back some hardware. I hope everyone had a blast. Looking forward to next year, already.

Copper

Jerry - you were definitely missed this year. Give hug to Jean and the munchkins from me.

Pat,

Congratulations! Great job in both events.

Thanks Matt. It was the experience of a lifetime. Hope to hook up with you next year.

[BobHarwood]

Congrats, Pat. I think your achievement may live on for quite a few years (unless you repeat it).

Gary didn't carry something for you to the start of the race? I'll have to speak to him.

Bob

[patmoore]

Congrats, Pat. I think your achievement may live on for quite a few years (unless you repeat it).

Gary didn't carry something for you to the start of the race? I'll have to speak to him.

Bob

Thanks, Bob. Got home late last night and I still can't wipe the grin off my face.

I saw Gary briefly before the competition began but didn't get a chance to hook up again.

JT Bear has been publishing a terrific series of photos that have truly captured the Nationals experience. When I get a chance I'll try to post an online album too.

[hillb007]

I will pass the info. on to Scott. I know that he missed his plane because of weather in Denver and ended up flying out today. He DID see the paper because I ran into him at the base area around noon yesterday. He was really psyched! I heard that Bruce was on your flight on your way home. I had no one on mine...maybe because I didn't get home until 2 this morning!

Do you have a (I hate to say this) closing date for Okemo?


[quote name='patmoore' date='Mar 17 2008, 12:53 PM' post='18046']
Thanks Hillary! My dad always said that if you're not falling once in a while you're not trying hard enough. You and Bruce gave it your all. It was a real treat to meet you. BTW, if you have Scott's email address, please send it to me at pmoore@snet.net. His picture from the Race of Champions made the local paper and I picked up a copy for him.

[patmoore]

Do you have a (I hate to say this) closing date for Okemo?

Not yet but I expect to find out Friday. I'll let you know.

I promised to put together an online album. I think JT Bear has found a great hosting service in Picasa so I'm borrowing his idea and doing the same. You've seen some of the shots already but there are plenty of new ones. Enjoy!