Masters Round-Up and Remembering Bill McGrath

By Published On: November 16th, 2014Comments Off on Masters Round-Up and Remembering Bill McGrath

Phillips 66 to Sponsor Eastern Regionals

USSA Masters Coordinator Bill Skinner has announced that Phillips 66 has expanded its sponsorship of masters skiing in the United States from three events to four. The company has added the 2015 Masters Eastern Regional Champions at Okemo Mountain and Suicide Six, Feb. 25 to March 1, to its sponsorship agreement, which also includes the 2015 Masters Downhill Championships and the FIS Masters Cup/Western Regional Championships in Aspen in February and the 2015 Masters National Championships at Sun Valley in March.

Photo: Lisa DensmorePhoto: Lisa Densmore

“This give Phillips 66 exposure in the East,” says Skinner. “It’s also a start toward potentially holding the annual FIS Masters events in North America in the East next year. Europeans have expressed an interest in the East Coast. It’s easier for them to travel there, and it’s been over 15 years since an FIS Masters event has taken place in the East.”

As part of its sponsorship of the Masters Eastern Regional Championships, Phillips 66 will contribute $1,000 toward social events, and will help pay for championship awards, masters team vests and additional social events in Aspen and Sun Valley for a total sponsorship package of more than $10,000 for the season.

Photo: Lisa Densmore

Photo: Lisa Densmore

Get Ready for New Rules

Masters racers will notice a couple of changes this winter, including the order in which they start the clock and the GS panels they whack. Here’s a rundown on the rule changes affecting masters skiing in the United States, plus clarification on slalom disqualifications.

Start Order

At USSA regional and national competitions, the second-run start order will be in reverse order of finish within each class based on first-run times. In other words, the fastest will go last. The reason for the rule change is twofold: to give new, less experienced racers the opportunity to ski a better course; and to build excitement as the competition within each age group unfolds. The new start order for masters mimics other USSA and FIS races, which flip the top 30 for the second run. Masters races rarely have more than 30 racers in an age class, but in the rare event a class has more than 30 competitors, all racers will take a second run in reverse order based on first-run times.

There are exceptions. At the FIS Masters events in Aspen, FIS masters rules supersede this new rule. Only the top five after the first run will flip, with other racers starting the second run in order of finish. Each USSA masters division has the choice to follow the new second-run start rule or not at non-championship events.

Photo: Lisa Densmore

Photo: Lisa Densmore

Helmets

Time to toss your old helmet! For winter 2015-16, all USSA and FIS athletes competing in GS, super G and downhill, including masters racers, will be required to wear a helmet that bears a CE mark and conforms to one or more of the following new helmet standards: CEH.Din 1077, ASTM F2040, SNELL S98 or RS98. The rule takes effect this winter for all FIS competitors except masters racers. Next year, all U14 and older competitors, including masters and forerunners, need to wear an approved helmet.

FIS Gate Panels

Anyone who gets too close to a gate panel in GS or speed events this winter has a higher chance of keeping his or her shoulder intact. After testing quick-release panels over the last couple of years, the new panels are now in the rulebook. Rather than a tie or a clip, the USSA/FIS-approved panels are secured on the poles with a hook and loop (Velcro-like) closure and cost about $20 each, or about $800 for a 40-gate GS course.

Hiking in Slalom

Single-pole “open” slalom gates have been the standard for several years, but many masters (and other) competitors remain unclear regarding what counts as legally making the gate if they have to hike mid-race. Slalom is the only discipline in which a racer is allowed to hike, and only if it does not interfere with the next racer. If the next athlete is about to overtake the hiker, then the hiker must leave the course and score a DNF.

For single-pole gates, a competitor must hike uphill AROUND the missed gate (the spot where the pole goes into the snow), then continue down the course from the other side of the pole, making sure to be in the correct left-right rhythm of the course when he or she resumes the run. If a racer misses the first or last gates on a course or a gate in a vertical combination (hairpins, flushes, delay gates), all of which have two poles designating the gate, then the racer’s feet must cross the imaginary line created by the two poles to be legal.

Remembering Bill McGrath

On Nov. 1, 2014, several hundred masters racers from around the United States gathered in Park City, Utah, to celebrate the life of Bill “The Sheriff” McGrath. He was one of the top masters racers in the U.S. from the mid-1990s until colon cancer compromised his ability to race several years ago.

Bill emerged onto the ski racing scene when he joined the Eastern masters circuit. He earned four SISE Cup overall titles in New England after many close battles in a friendly rivalry with legendary Olympian Tyler Palmer. A civil engineer, he and his wife, Darci, moved to Park City during the build-up before the 2002 Winter Olympics, and he only got faster.

“He smoked the field at his first race in Intermountain,” says Bill Skinner, USSA Masters Coordinator and a racer and coach with the Park City Masters program. “At the awards party, the word in the room was, ‘There’s a new sheriff in town.’ The nickname stuck.”

Bill The Sheriff McGrath. Photo: Bill SkinnerBill “The Sheriff” McGrath. Photo: Bill Skinner

The Sheriff added three Jans Cups (the overall title for the Intermountain masters circuit) to his mantel in 2000, 2002 and 2005. A standout at the masters nationals and FIS level as well, he was named to the U.S. Alpine Masters Team in 1997.

Bill grew up in a ski racing family in Norwich, Vt., but left the sport after high school to pursue track and field. While brother Felix competed on the World Cup, brother Rob captained the Dartmouth Ski Team, sister Swithin coached at Bridger Bowl, and father Bob won at the masters level. Bill, with his long legs and lean physique, set records at the University of Vermont in the 1,500-meter run.

Photo: Felix McGrathPhoto: Courtesy Felix McGrath

Few could out-ski The Sheriff. He was always one to watch at a masters race: a combination of finesse and strength on course; an ageless competitor among many who had passed their prime; and an inspiration to those new to the sport. With his tilted grin and twinkling brown eyes, he exuded an openness and warmth for his fellow competitors that gave each of us courage to go faster — instead of feel we hadn’t a chance to live up to his standard.

Bill McGrath receives the 2005 Jans Cup award. Photo: Bob Skinner

Bill McGrath receives the 2005 Jans Cup award. Photo: Bob Skinner

I have many fond memories of racing with Bill at New England masters races, but one in particular stands out: the Gibson Cup at Mount Cranmore, a two-day event (slalom and GS) with the cup going to the fastest man and woman after both days. The first year, I won the Gibson Cup for the women; Bill won for the men. During his last run of slalom, the entire race hill was a flurry of bobbing gates. He turned in the air off one knoll, reached his feet left and right, barely making the next dozen gates, then crushed a flush on the flats to post the fastest time. His skis seemed to smile every time they bent in an arc. He was all legs and energy. I felt honored to stand next to him on the podium holding our plaques that read like a who’s who of ski racing. Bill might not have won World Cups, but he was a true champion.

On Oct. 21, 2014, two weeks short of his 50th birthday, the Sheriff turned in his badge, but he will remain a star to all who have raced with him.

Photo: Felix McGrathPhoto: Felix McGrath

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About the Author: Lisa Densmore Ballard

Lisa Densmore Ballard has garnered close to 100 masters national titles and four world masters titles since 1991. This long-time coach, racer and member of the U.S. Alpine Masters Team also chairs USSA's Masters Committee.