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Mt. Snow

konabiker

Monkey
Jun 30, 2004
669
0
Santa Barbara
Red Bull said:
I got 2nd in sport DS (would have done jr x, but thought the course would be gnar :nope: ) In the first run of the final, i was standing at the gate and looked at my shifter, 9th Gear! Got a slow start on the slower of the 2 courses and had an .06 deficit. Came back my second run and pinned it, it would have been a 23 second run (fast) and i was 2 gates ahead of the kid and just ate it super hard. Made me really mad because the kid was talking so much crap, and hes 18 compared to me being 14. :mumble: Whatever, Jr X next time...

For DH i got 5th in 16 and under. (mid pack 18 and under)

I was stoked on 2 podiums in a weekend!

BTW, anyone have pics of 812, or 1345 ( Both me, Lost my # plate...)
Sweet.
 

DHCorky

Monkey
Aug 5, 2003
514
0
Headed to the lift...
The Yard sale never made much sense to me for a race course. It was fun to ride using my trials skills. I woul ride a section come to almost a complete stop regain my composure then continue. I would break it up into about three sections. Doing this in a race run in non-sense. Last the course was great using the option line. The first day of practice I remember standing at the top looking down thinking to myself why? Minaar goes through struggling and tripoding. After that everyone at the top just decided to take the option. Then NORBA made the decision to use the option line only. The same thing happened in 03 come race day the yard sale was takin out due to it being to dangerous in the wet conditions.

The video posted of last years race will only show footage of riders using the option line.
 

dogwonder

Nitro
May 3, 2005
1,849
0
Walking the Earth
dw said:
Hey, there was some money to compete for. e.thirteen put up $2000 for the 1st place finishers in the series, and Go-Ride and IronHorse put up a big chunk for the top finishing Americans. I'd love to see incentives higher, but at least some of us are making an effort to help.

dw
Props DW...MAJOR PROPS!!! I was glad SOMEBODY kicked in some cash for the riders. I was hanging with the Morewood guys for a bit and they mentioned how frustrating it is to bust your arse all year and not have any money from the series in the mix. I know it's been the same story all year from all the riders, but just keeps driving the message home.

I'm glad the athletes got some compensation for their effort, especially when they are flying down Yardsale at break-neck (literally) speeds.

I'm looking forward to seeing the new website up soon.
 

mtbpaint1

Monkey
Apr 25, 2005
326
0
University of Connecticut
look at that first picture on the second page..thats why Mount Snow has yardsale people love to see you guys either crash or go really fast, i was cruzing around the base today (sunday) and i heard spectators pissing off that they closed yardsale on account of the rain, saying it would have been even better in that case.....
 

dogwonder

Nitro
May 3, 2005
1,849
0
Walking the Earth
mtbpaint1 said:
look at that first picture on the second page..thats why Mount Snow has yardsale people love to see you guys either crash or go really fast, i was cruzing around the base today (sunday) and i heard spectators pissing off that they closed yardsale on account of the rain, saying it would have been even better in that case.....
Cripes this isn't hockey or NASCAR! I can't believe people would rather see carnage & injuries rather than damn good riding...
 

General Lee

Turbo Monkey
Oct 16, 2003
2,860
0
The 802
i think next year the pro class should make a gentleman's agreement to not ride yardsale and just take the option line. ****, in the last 3 years it hasn't been opened on race day anyway and a bunch of guys just end up paying the price in practice. it's only there so spectators can watch racers crash or almost crash. it wasn't even that hard this year since it was so dry for practice, but the consequece of making a mistake was unnacceptable.

i think we should refuse to risk breaking our necks for everyone's enjoyment.

7 years of this **** is enough





hahaha. . . and i was just reading the event promotion in the local paper, obviosly it says that "the secret to winning this event is mastering the yardsale section at the bottom of the course" bull****, no one wins the race in there. they win it on the top 3rd of the course where its all nasty and fast . . . .

and they even charged people with media passes to park their cars this year. sweet. some guy comes to cover their evet and they charge him $25 to park for the weekend. claimed the $$ is used to "re-seed" the race course. yeah, okay.
 

biker3

Turbo Monkey
General Lee said:
i think next year the pro class should make a gentleman's agreement to not ride yardsale and just take the option line. ****, in the last 3 years it hasn't been opened on race day anyway and a bunch of guys just end up paying the price in practice. it's only there so spectators can watch racers crash or almost crash. it wasn't even that hard this year since it was so dry for practice, but the consequece of making a mistake was unnacceptable.

i think we should refuse to risk breaking our necks for everyone's enjoyment.

7 years of this **** is enough





hahaha. . . and i was just reading the event promotion in the local paper, obviosly it says that "the secret to winning this event is mastering the yardsale section at the bottom of the course" bull****, no one wins the race in there. they win it on the top 3rd of the course where its all nasty and fast . . . .

and they even charged people with media passes to park their cars this year. sweet. some guy comes to cover their evet and they charge him $25 to park for the weekend. claimed the $$ is used to "re-seed" the race course. yeah, okay.
Are you Brian Lopes?
 

RD

Monkey
Jul 31, 2003
688
0
Boston, MA
Hey all,

just got back from Mt. Snow. It was a great time, although a quite bitter sweet one however. Many good friends were severely injured.

I'll get a nice little write-up on the events of the past few days going in the morning.

Ricky DeFrancisco
-e13 Components.
 

jmtf40

Chimp
May 30, 2005
41
0
Glad to hear some concern over the yard sale section. I left Mt Snow thinking how much fun I had on the course, with the exception of having the Yard Sale at the bottom haunting me. I didn't find it impossible to ride or anything, but if you f*&^% up then as we saw, there were some terrible crashes. I am still limping from a crash I had in friday practice.

From what I have noticed (not just at Mt Snow), is that there is a clash between those who are into dhing as an actual sport and those that take more of a Evil Knievel approach.

I think the sport will have healthy growth if the courses get more challenging while minimizing the bone crunching or fatal risks. I think at all dh courses the best man wins, but you can still have exciting racing without throwing in a super steep pitch that has no turns and spits you straight into a bunch of boulders.

At the end of the day do you want to be part of a sport that some locals go to watch to see some people get all f**&% up. Or, one that people think 1. those are talented athletes and 2. it is amazing the tough courses they ride(not rediculous over the top).
I can't argue that people want to see a good crash, but if the sport is marketed that way, no one will ever respect it.

As it is now, most people that I know(outside of the sport) are ignorant or ill informed to the actual sport of dh and just think of it as a bunch of dumb a&*** jumping off of cliffs and going home in an ambulance as a way to try and get attention and get on t.v. for 20 seconds a year on Fox Sports bloopers.
 

ChrisKring

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
2,399
6
Grand Haven, MI
dw said:
Hey, there was some money to compete for. e.thirteen put up $2000 for the 1st place finishers in the series, and Go-Ride and IronHorse put up a big chunk for the top finishing Americans. I'd love to see incentives higher, but at least some of us are making an effort to help.

dw
Thank you for your and E13's commitment to the sport.
 

Repack

Turbo Monkey
Nov 29, 2001
1,889
0
Boston Area
This was my 11th or 12th year racing Snow, 7th as an expert. I am impressed with the concensous of this thread and am just as sick as everyone else is of the Yardsale. Lee and Dante pretty much nailed it. I am all in favor of challenging sections of course, but they need to have some sort of bailout option. What the hell good is it to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire. One of my friends was knocked out this morning. Another crashed it on Friday and sprained his wrist badly enough that he couldn't race. A few years ago my brother broke his arm in 2 places (ulna & radius). He was lucky that is was about the least sever way you can break an arm in 2 places (sic). I could start talking about friends of friends but that would take all night. It not only is it dangerous but it is bad for racing.
Last year NORBAs insurance policy allowed them to pay out up to $1M. Actual claims were $1.5M. This was the direct casue of licensing fees jumping up to $60 for this year. It is possible to build a course that is fun but safe. I wish that NORBA would pull their heads out of their asses and start taking action to prevent scenes like the Yardsale. This year was by far the easiest that it has ever been, but crashing carried just as heavy a price as before.

I just don't get it.

Oh yeah, the EMS party on Sat night was awesome!(what I can remember of it anyway) :D
 

vitox

Turbo Monkey
Sep 23, 2001
2,936
1
Santiago du Chili
just talked to berny and she told me that yesterday she crashed, knocked herself out, broke a tooth, but still managed to race and win today!
 

JRogers

talks too much
Mar 19, 2002
3,785
1
Claremont, CA
I am glad the yard sale was gone. Even my sport-expert level self could get through there in the dry...in the wet, it's suicude.

I saw 2 pros in qualis get taken off on backboards. I saw some of the worst crashes I've ever seen today. One guy, I just saw feet in the air and he landed on one of the big rocks. He didn't move. And not the kind of "I got the wind knocked out of me" writhing; I mean limp armed knocked out cold not moving. It was scary and I hated watching it. Hannah ate it hard and didn't get up for quite some time. His face smashed into a tree at the bottom. Nobody needs this.
 

Red Bull

Turbo Monkey
Oct 22, 2004
1,772
0
970
JRogers said:
I am glad the yard sale was gone. Even my sport-expert level self could get through there in the dry...in the wet, it's suicude.

I saw 2 pros in qualis get taken off on backboards. I saw some of the worst crashes I've ever seen today. One guy, I just saw feet in the air and he landed on one of the big rocks. He didn't move. And not the kind of "I got the wind knocked out of me" writhing; I mean limp armed knocked out cold not moving. It was scary and I hated watching it. Hannah ate it hard and didn't get up for quite some time. His face smashed into a tree at the bottom. Nobody needs this.
I "heard" he got some muslces torn out of his neck. :eek:
 

Repack

Turbo Monkey
Nov 29, 2001
1,889
0
Boston Area
vitox said:
just talked to berny and she told me that yesterday she crashed, knocked herself out, broke a tooth, but still managed to race and win today!
Dude, its even better than that. It was a cap/crown/bond (or whatever) that was later glued back in. She just started crying when she found out that she won. It was cool to see.
 

SCARY

Not long enough
Wow ,thank God I skipped this season and went to MX.If you can't ride it fast,SLOW DOWN.In 01'I tore my acl in half in yardsale ,along with the subsequent surgery and 6mos off.Some of us prefer the rougher sections or courses and can't stand Big Bear type courses.That's what I thought the sport was the last I rode.Every friggen course somebody is bitchen about some obstacle ,and if you are a woman,and bitch hard enough you can usually get it taken out.My favorite part of any course has always been the yardsale/rock garden sections.Why cuz they're fun,you feel like you conquered something,and the people yell the loudest when you make it through unscathed.So realize what this sport SHOULD be and retreive your balls back from your wifes purse or wherever she hid them.Alternate lines should be available,slowing down is an option,moving down a class is too."Let's make Downhill Safe Again" bumper stickers are available at Tangerine.com. :eviltongu ;)
 

BC VAN

Monkey
May 4, 2005
624
0
i wasn't in mt snow this year...
but last year i talked with dr harry ( the main doc at mt snow) he said it's just crazy the type of injuries and the amount he see's every year. he asked me why they continue to run the same section that causes so many injuries every year?
he said for the majority of the riders this is a fun hobby/sport...i thought it was a good point from the doc

like was said in another post...it's not the section...it's the penalty for a crash, you don't need to have sections like this to have a good race.....

also ...not sure bout this year but in the past you never could get a clean shot from a full run due to all the crashes and back up( should tell you something right there)...so you never got to really try it winded at speed.

it's rare to see a section like this at a world cup dh where they do course inspections with rider rep's for saftey reasons.

scary...there's this thing that they do in utah...it's called the red bull rampage.

i don't know about everyone else...but i always thought that mt snow always had the most intense finish section when it was the old finish 93-97...you could see multi riders at the same time and with the old set up you could compare the times and see how close it was going to be.....

i say rout it back to the old finish so the fans can see more then 8 seconds of mtb rodeo!
 

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,194
4,419
vitox said:
just talked to berny and she told me that yesterday she crashed, knocked herself out, broke a tooth, but still managed to race and win today!
awesome ... big congrats there!
 

intensified

Monkey
Mar 31, 2004
519
6
Canton,Ma
Yardsale was easier then ever, after reading all the negatives about it you would think it was like it was in the past,,,if you kept your speed down (easy in the dry) it wasn't a big deal at all..People go watch there to see riding and crashing.Sorry to hear about the folks getting hurt, but out of the amount of people going thru that section a few broken bones are likley. I would rather take a crash in there then wrecking down the fast stuff up top on the course any day :evil:
 

Daver

Monkey
Jun 1, 2005
390
0
Shiddeny
What are you all, a bunch of women? Learn to ride a rock garden you pussy's, or find a chicken line. If you crash, you will generally get hurt, so try not to crash...

FFS, whine whine whine. Lopes been teaching you all?
 

dante

Unabomber
Feb 13, 2004
8,807
9
looking for classic NE singletrack
ahhh, love the comments from people who weren't even there or didn't race. CC, what was your class, and number plate? Daver?

would rather crash 10x on the fast stuff up top instead of catching a pedal on that rock in the middle (right at the end of the rut) and endo'ing into the rocks in the bottom (not me, but saw it happen more than once). if you want to prove how tough you are, fine, you and the rest of the MAD HUCKZORZ can go pwn that race next year. between that section ruining what was otherwise a kick-ass course, and mt snow being the typical douchebag resort, I doubt I'll be going back.

:stosh:
 

ska todd

Turbo Monkey
Oct 10, 2001
1,776
0
Even though I had no problems at all riding 'Yardsale' this year, I will jump on the bandwagon here and call for a new course at Mt Snow, or better yet a new venue for a Northeast DH National. Yardsale is a fun section to ride but it's not suitable for racing, especially for a National or World Cup level course. I'm not advocating that people can't or shouldn't ride challenging trails like Yardsale, just that a section like that is not ideal for a National race course.

A proper and professional course should not have to be changed to keep the sport's best athletes from getting seriously injured when it rains. It's not an excuse that "it's been dry all summer" or it was "unusually heavy rain". No, the course designers & promoters know there is ALWAYS a chance for rain like that on ANY mountain. More so, when it's the National Series finals and riders are laying it out to gain points in both quali's and finals the track should be safe for competition. A track should not be simply mowed down the hill the week of the race and some caution tape thrown up. If a small crew of guys at P'kill or Diablo can construct a good 'pro' course why can't a National level race at a resort like Mt Snow?

While I'm up on the soap-box here, I will also whine about a couple other points.

Slalom - OK, I admit it, I had a ton of fun on the course and the pro racing was exciting to watch. Tight times, upsets, etc...watching racing on the poopiest of DS courses still beats watching a 4X. But, for the time they had to prep they coulda and shoulda had something better than that course. Build some dirt (not sand) berms! Build a couple tables or drops! We were racing better DS courses at local races almost 10 years ago!

Mt Snow - I'm gonna get flamed for these comments I'm sure but, here goes anyways...it's time to give up the ghost and get another venue in the Northeast. For the last couple years the quality of the 'experience' of racing at Mt Snow has declined but this year I actually got to the point that I said "Why did I bother coming here?". Everything that revolved around the event seemed to be anti-fun, from the mtn staff, to the hotels, to the local restaurants. It almost seems like they are tired of us being up there after all these years and maybe need a break from us and our $$. Maybe it's time to shop for a new venue Norba and not rely on the same tired venue. Let's spice it up some and maybe draw some people back to the Northeast National event. I had several friends and aquaintances who skipped Mt Snow this year, some who have been going for like 10 years straight! The main reason?; "They've done it enough times now." Personally, I'd rather spend my $$ to go to Whistler for another week than race Mt Snow again.

-ska todd
 

dogwonder

Nitro
May 3, 2005
1,849
0
Walking the Earth
Why not Killington? Good terrain, plenty of lodging, and a rocking nightlife. Just need to get the management on board, which has historically not really been all that interested in quality mtb'ing.

Or better yet, Diablo...
 

DHCorky

Monkey
Aug 5, 2003
514
0
Headed to the lift...
ska todd said:
Mt Snow - I'm gonna get flamed for these comments I'm sure but, here goes anyways...it's time to give up the ghost and get another venue in the Northeast. -ska todd

I don't think just changing the venue will help. Taking the same group of people to a different venue to promote a race will not change how they do things.
 

stiksandstones

Turbo Monkey
May 21, 2002
5,078
25
Orange, Ca
Scary and Daver and others...you do not listen.

I am not about making DH "safer", the fact you bring up the word is an oxymoron-but I would have expected nothing less. The fact remains is I have been to every DH race in Mt. Snow since 1990, this being the first year in the 15 I have not attended. I have raced it, spectated it, ridden it, etc. I have seen some tracks in Mt Snow that rival the 'best in the world' courses. Then one year they throw in this yardsale, it was the dumbest thing for a race course I had ever seen, especially coming off some of the perfect tracks they had come from.

I got no problem with people riding trials sections on their mountain bike, showing their redneck buddy who has bigger balls, standing at the bottom after you got lucky riding your ass on the seat saying "wow, I conquered the yardsale"...more power to ya guys and you can all measure your c0cks at the snowbarn later-but keep that **** out of race tracks-period.

As BC VAN said, there are events catered just for monkeys like you, Red Bull rampage or huckfest 2000 in whistler bra, but keep that crap out of world class DH events. Scary you seem to think I am anti 'danger' or some crap, but take Nevegal, Italy or Cap D'ail, France. 2 of the gnarliest, greasiest (nevegal), rockiest tracks on the global circuit-those are bad ass tracks because they have flow, the rocks are race-able, not just some trials section.

It is always the 'tough guys' that either have very short careers, are sat in the hospital 90% of the season or simply just suck at riding a bike. I am a guy who loves racing and wants to see it get back to atleast what it once was-tracks like this do not encourage people to stick around nor does it encourage people to give DHing a try. If you think I want a fire road series, you are wrong-just give me back some of the classic Mt. Snow tracks that helped make DHing one of the coolest sports ever.
 

Msisle Dad

Monkey
Jul 1, 2003
569
0
Catonsville, MD
Changing the venue will help. It is tired, also the venue designs the courses not Norba.. Believe it or not Norba/Tbb has done a reasonable job for their part of these events.. The individual who maps out the courses works for the mountain...

Norba should take more responsibility for course design, or in the DS case the lack of preperation.. Two years ago they had a terrific mtx course, last year they had a good mtx design but a problem with spring water... 2005 was quite disapointing

Snowshoes "new school" Mtx course mixed with the "old school" DS course made for a fun weekend. Mt Snow's course was well you get the picture....
 

gonzostrike

Monkey
May 21, 2002
118
0
Montana
I haven't ridden Mt Snow or Yardsale.

I have ridden Yardsale-like terrain in Virgin, UT.

catastrophic injuries from slowish speed falls are not "cool" "tough" "manly" or any other synonym that the chest-thumping cuckold "tough guys" are using to describe how GNAR OOH HELLZOR the Yardsale section is.

I've seen mucho footage of Yardsale and the whole section is an orthopaedist's trauma factory. too many places to destroy an ACL or snap a bone clean through. it's not "challenge," it's DANGER.

if you have led such a horrible life that you don't feel alive unless you are in constant mortal danger, what you need is counseling and not a GNAR OOH HELLZOR race course.
 

bizutch

Delicate CUSTOM flower
Dec 11, 2001
15,928
24
Over your shoulder whispering
SCARY, (Larry)...the yardsale you rode was a piece of cake compared to what they changed it to. The yardsale you rode was much less intimidating than the current one. I've ridden it 2 of the last 4 years and it is no longer fun. It goes to the left where you went straight through some big, big sharp edged rocks. The entrance is technical but rideable but it gets progressively bigger, steeper and rockier down to the bottom. If you get off your bike at all, even slow you are hitting a haybale sized, jageed rock on a 60 degree slope...and they're all waiting at the bottom. I can never tell when you're just pushing buttons you bastard....:thumb:

Anyway, the whole argument about spectators being up there only for that is crap. When Rockwell beat Peaty, I was there. The "go-around" WAS the race course and was covered with just as many people. The roar that went up when Rockwell took the left line out of the woods was huge. People go to that section cause it's the closest thing for them to watch. Of course if you show them carnage, they'll say that's why they're going.

Bottom line is that spectators are going up to watch the riders...if it's on the route around, there will be just as many sepctators on the easier route...same as before. Everyone do me a favor here....copy and paste your comments into an email to klusk@usacycling.org and let her know your thoughts about Yard Sale...good and bad. If you don't tell her, then you're just shouting into a bucket in a field. If you want change, let NORBA know. And don't try the lazy route by posting a "link" to this forum...it's geeky and they'll ignore it.
 

I Are Baboon

The Full Dopey
Aug 6, 2001
32,382
9,285
MTB New England
Man, all this talk about Yardsale carnage makes me even more upset that I missed the event this year...not that I want to see guys get hurt or anything, but watching the skills in action is always fun.
 

intensified

Monkey
Mar 31, 2004
519
6
Canton,Ma
The course really wasn't a crash test dummy red bull thing, It was my 2nd favorite course (durango was my fave )...Changing the venue isn't a good idea (unless it moves to Sunday River :D ) Most people I spoke with loved the course and were just having fun....There are harder lines then that on trails that are open at mtns for freeriding, should we reroute them to?