Ski Racing Roundup: B-52's, Central Region, Canadian wax, golf at CVA, and Vail Resorts

Ski Racing Roundup: B-52’s, Central Region, Canadian wax, golf at CVA, and Vail Resorts{mosimage}This winter, skiracing.com will be home to weekly news roundups, leading you to regional and international developments you may have missed. Following our website re-launch on October 21, you can check in each Tuesday for Eric McCollom’s Roundup of domestic competition news. If you have suggestions for the our site, contact the editor at webeditor@insideinc.com, and if you have an idea for Eric McCollom’s domestic roundups, he looks forward to receiving your comments at emccollom@insideinc.com.

B-52’s to play at USSA’s New York Ski and Snowboard Ball

The annual USSA Ski and Snowboard Balls are some of the most important fundraisers of the year for the U.S. Ski Team. Last year, Sheryl Crow played at the New York ball, and this year the USSA Foundation has followed up by signing the the B-52’s.

The annual USSA Ski and Snowboard Balls kicked off this past weekend in San Francisco, California and Silicon Valley, California. If you missed them, fret not, for the Ski Ball Tour is coming your way. With upcoming stops in Chicago (October 29), New York (November 4), and Boston (November 12), the Ski Balls are your best bet to meet and greet with some of the U.S. Ski Team’s biggest stars this fall (unless you happen to live near training space in Chile). Bode Miller, Daron Rahlves, Travis Cabral and Hannah Kearney are just some of the A-list crowd that will be in attendance.

For more information about supporting the USST and next year’s Olympians, contact Darcy Yates at 1-800-809-SNOW or 435-647-2080 or email dyates@ussa.org.

Central Region issues discussed at alpine competition development meeting

On September 25, the USSA’s Central Region welcomed national USSA staff members to the big city of Chicago for the Central Division’s alpine competition development meeting. While the biggest news coming from the Central office is probably it’s own move from Blain, MN to Marquette, MI, there was plenty of discussion of how the region plans on developing the region’s top athletes while broadening its base.

Says Jeff Burrows, Rocky/Central’s regional competition director, ‘the Central is working on being more progressive in its thinking in order to keep and develop its kids. I’m encouraged by the way we are trying to broaden the way we use development.’

This progressive thinking, according to Burrows, includes ideas like sprint formats, 3-run races, night races, and travel to Eastern Cups or Western FIS races. Also in the works is a conditioning camp twice a year at the U.S. Olympic Education Training Center, located in Marquette, and more activity with the coach’s forum. A summer coaches’ retreat will give the leaders of the region a chance to brainstorm (and ride their bikes and fish, of course). ‘The region is, shall we say, ‘vertically challenged’ so we’re finding ways to keep ski racing fun and exciting’ says Burrows.

With the USSA aligning itself with FIS equipment regulation rules, high school racers in the region who want to add USSA races to their schedules find themselves facing harsher guidelines and the possibility of buying new gear. As the high school/USSA racer is common in the region, some at the meeting contested the USSA’s stance (presented sympathetically by Olympic champion Diann Roffe in a recent online posting. Still, on a whole, Burrows noted ‘there was a lot less conflict and more healthy debate on how to make things better. And they’re doing a lot of things right.’

Don’t be a knob, support your local Canadian ski club

Alpine Canada Alpin has announced that the Pontiac GMC Ski and Snowboard Wax Days will return for the third year. In return for a small (or enormous) donation, local club athletes will give your skis or snowboard their best personal touch. Their tune-and-wax job virtually ensures better performance for you on the snow this winter, and more importantly, the proceeds go towards your local Canadian ski club.

Participants at each location will also be entered into a drawing to win an Atomic prize package worth $250 and have the opportunity to enter a drawing for a 2005 GMC Envoy. Last year the program raised over $20,000 for ski clubs nation-wide and the hopes are to increase that total by 50 percent.

So Alpine Canada Alpin and GMC Pontiac encourage anyone who would like to get to know and support local athletes in the community to stop by a Wax Day in your area. For more information on the Pontiac GMC Ski and Snowboard Wax Days, contact your local Provincial Sport Organization:

British Columbia: (604) 737-3070

Alberta: (403) 247-5600

Ontario: (705) 444-5111

Quebec: (514) 252-3089

Get those pesky licenses in early

In order to avoid those pesky late fees you need to renew your USSA membership by October15. Go to USSA’s membership website for details and the membership forms. Just do it. Before you forget. You’ll thank us later. Stop putting it off. Just put in the mail. Join. Everybody’s doing it.

File your FIS membership under if-you’re-reading-this-it’s-already-too-late. Still, details about FIS membership, late or not, are also available on the USSA site.

They golf in Maine too

Not to be left out of the fall golfing action, Carrabassett Valley Academy held its annual golf tournament on September 25-26. The CVA Golf Classic is a two-day affair, has a 20-year history and pairs golf with a lobster banquet and an auction. 108 golfers vied for various titles like longest drive and closest to the pin and ugliest golfing attire (well no, not that one). When the dust had settled, $70,000 had been raised for the CVA Scholarship Fund. Read all the details by clicking here.

Vail losing, making money (depending on how you look at it)

Vail Resorts Inc. announced that it lost $6 million for the year. But according to a story at the Denver Post , the losses include a one-time debt refinancing and a hefty bill for mold removal from employee housing. Without those costs, the company posted a $20.4 million net income over the fiscal 2004 year, which is a bit easier to swallow than the $8.5 million loss from last year. Plus, the debt refinancing should save the company $5 million a year over the next decade.

In related news, Apollo Advisors, the New York firm that bought Vail Resorts in 1992 and made it public in 1997, is dissolving its stake in the company. While the decision will affect who serves on the board of the country’s largest ski resort company, costumers shouldn’t notice any changes. Check out the Denver Post’s story, by star resort reporter Jason Blevins, for all the gory details.

Previous Ski Racing Roundups:

INTERNATIONAL, September 15, 2004

DOMESTIC, September 28, 2004

NORDIC, September 29, 2004

INTERNATIONAL, September 30, 2004