Good to see NORBA is dead, but their business model is alive and kicking!
National Champs at SolVista Bike Park
- Thread starter ballr
- Start date
This isn't the winter, and your 3 day pass has nothing to do with a race entry.
Lately I have been at Italian Cups, Canada Cups, Swiss Cups and a Superenduro series in Europe. Not one of them charged for lift tickets on top of the race entry. The race entry was also significantly lower than $60usd as well. Hell, most of them included hospitality (food, drinks etc) to go with it.
US promoters are a bunch of scammers, by and large. Bring up every excuse you want about how "cool" any particular one is. The fact of the matter is, this happens almost exclusively to American racers, you guys get boned.
Well they are trying to run a business. Those fancy dedicated bike racks (a la whizzler) didn't just show up by themselves. Yes they could've done a better job communicating the lift costs. If you don't think its worth it, come find me and I'll buy you a beer.
Oh and my real name is Full Trucker and you can find me on a sweet Yeti 303-R, herding cats in the Yeti RPM trailer.
Oh and my real name is Full Trucker and you can find me on a sweet Yeti 303-R, herding cats in the Yeti RPM trailer.
Bromont has those fancy 3 bikes per chair whistler racks as well. Bromont is the venue with the $42 reg. people are talking about.Well they are trying to run a business. Those fancy dedicated bike racks (a la whizzler) didn't just show up by themselves. Yes they could've done a better job communicating the lift costs. If you don't think its worth it, come find me and I'll buy you a beer.
Oh and my real name is Full Trucker and you can find me on a sweet Yeti 303-R, herding cats in the Yeti RPM trailer.
Also, the promoter and the mountain are 2 different things. The promoter for bromont pays the mountain for usage of the venue, as do most promoters.
It has nothing to do with communicating lift costs, it has to do with charging them in the first place. The vast majority of races DO NOT charge extra, despite what you guys believe. I'm pretty sure it is fair to say I have been to a lot more races at a lot more venues than the majority of people on RM. I've seen the cost differences.
From what I have seen Sol Vista is a great place to ride, only i'd do it when i didn't get charged $60 on top of my lift tickets.
You're the guy they should be paying to be there then right?
Would I like a cheaper race? You bet your buttocks I would.
I'm friends with several guys who run MSC and the Sol Vista Bike Park, they do try to keep costs down. Their goal is to increase riding and racing in the US, I believe that if they could lower the costs to increase attendance they would. Costs here are not the same as costs in Europe (or even in other parts of the US), apples and oranges.
Pfffffft nice.Oh and my real name is Full Trucker and you can find me on a sweet Yeti 303-R, herding cats in the Yeti RPM trailer.
For everyone worried about the lift ticket pricing, here is some info. The regular cost is $25.00 for riding from 10:00 to 5:00 PM. For all the days from Thursday through Sunday the lift is open from 8:00 to 5:00, so it is a couple hours longer ride time, and it is $15.00. Aside from your scheduled practice times, that's a lot of available riding time. Yes, paying on top of entry fees sucks, but we are trying to stay open as long as possible to make it worth your while. We appreciate everyone's support, and understand the issues in different races (such as ticket prices), we are racers ourselves. That's one reason we are trying so hard to make new, interesting courses, and give everyone the best experience we can.
Welcome to America with outrageous insurance costs to cover. I cannot fault the promoter for charging enough money to try and break even. At the same time I made the choice to also stop racing partly because of the costs.
Honestly Mountain bikers need to stop being such whiny cheap asses. I have never met a group of people that complain so much about spending money. I do not care if the rest of the world does it another way. It will not stop the constant bitching from mountain bikers about how much something costs.
Honestly Mountain bikers need to stop being such whiny cheap asses. I have never met a group of people that complain so much about spending money. I do not care if the rest of the world does it another way. It will not stop the constant bitching from mountain bikers about how much something costs.
Gotta love it...riding a 5K bike b!tching about a $15 lift ticket....
Don't like it? Don't show up. Just don't expect anyone to want to listen to you whine.
Props to Wentz & and the Sol Vista crew for actually trying to provide a legit track for the championships.
Don't like it? Don't show up. Just don't expect anyone to want to listen to you whine.
Props to Wentz & and the Sol Vista crew for actually trying to provide a legit track for the championships.
The guys complaining about a $60 race fee probably are out of money because they haaaad to buy some new wheelset/fork/brakes because they're 50 grams lighter.
Funny, lighten up the bike so its faster(directly related to racing don't ya think?) but price yourself right out of racing.
Funny, lighten up the bike so its faster(directly related to racing don't ya think?) but price yourself right out of racing.
Having put on a handful of races, it's tough to not lose you a$$. I can see people questioning where all the dinero goes when you have $60 entry with 300 racers. There are some fixed expenses that add up to more than half of that sum, and a lot of variables. The fixed expenses are tough because it costs the same whether you have 100 people show up or 350. If 100 you miss a house payment or two, if 350 you'll survive to put on the next one. Additionally, people don't think about the couple weeks off of work, the couple months of networking time, organizing sponsorship, cell bills, time away from your wife and kids, and personal liability. It's fun and very satisfying to put on a race, but it is still work and if you (as a promoter) aren't rewarded (or at least reimbursed) to some degree, you'll find the race fading away eventually. Lastly, compare the entry fees with other sports with comparable logistics, and we (as dh'ers) are still getting value I believe.
Regardless of the season, a ski lift still costs X amount of dollars to operate, you need to pay Y amount of dollars for the staff required to operate it, and Z amount of dollars for maintenance. The resort owners don't care if your riding a bike, a set of skis, or a snowboard, it costs money to get people up a mountain on a chair. If anything its more expensive to get bikers up as the lifts need to be retro-fitted to do so (money for the rack/hook/apparatus and labor to install it).
As much as I piss and moan about race fees and lift tickets to ride, its still cheaper than winter time. A LOT cheaper.
I think the real problem here is the extra lift fees were NOT mentioned anywhere in the online registration process. We're on a limited budget and figured costs pretty close for this race. I'm on my way to the bank to drop some more coin in the kids debit account and not happy about it at all.
I would be willing to be it was not an oversite.
We did attend 2 Canada Cups in Quebec earlier this summer and entry and lift fees together were under $50can and the events were well run on great courses and well attended.
With this race in Colorado and the two WC's in Canada three weeks in a row I may have to refinance.
I would be willing to be it was not an oversite.
We did attend 2 Canada Cups in Quebec earlier this summer and entry and lift fees together were under $50can and the events were well run on great courses and well attended.
With this race in Colorado and the two WC's in Canada three weeks in a row I may have to refinance.
Very well said! There are so many hidden costs in running an event and SolVista should be applauded for their efforts and attempts to put on a successful event. Based on their trailwork alone it is apparent that they have great intentions and truly want to have an event that people remember. It is refreshing to see other promoters making forward progress despite the turmoil in US racing.
The racer vs. promoter conversation is a always a heated topic, however neither is at fault in most cases. Racers want the cheapest entrance fees possible with the most value (understandable) and promoters want a successful event that will promote their venue(s) without the bottom line ending in the red. The real problem is not racers, or promoters, it is the sanctioning body which basically does nothing to help bridge the gap between racer and promoter. Where is the sponsorship assistance? Where is the promotional assistance? What is USAC doing to support and promote the sport and the top athletes? What is USAC doing to help each promoter be as successful as possible? Perhaps if there was more support from USAC the participating promoters would have the ability to lower entrance fees, increase prizes and provide better venues? Absolutely!
This post is not intended to bash USAC, but merely point out the shortcomings and the lack of support provided to participating promoters. In other sports (snowboarding for example/USASA sanctioning body) the governing body has corporate sponsorships that are actually SHARED with participating promoters. It is clear that USASA reinvests in the sport, supporting promoters, supporting athletes and has the best interest of the sport in mind. The question needs to be asked, what has USAC done for you, the racer, lately? Spend some time researching the governing bodies of snowboarding, skiing and BMX and you'll quickly realize how little USAC actually does to progress this sport.
Congrats SolVista, keep up the great work!
So the cost of lift tix sux, but the trails rawk. So we're even-steven?
Anyway, has anyone heard about this Skin Suit Friday rumor going around? Sounds interesting....From what I gather DH'ers are to wear their favorite (and thereby most ridiculous) XC, Roadie, Tri, etc. monkey suit out. Hello super tight 1984 old soviet union jersey! Or do you have that one piece roadie/time trial suit? Yeah, rock that! Brings a new meaning to letting the balls hang out, eh?
Anyway, has anyone heard about this Skin Suit Friday rumor going around? Sounds interesting....From what I gather DH'ers are to wear their favorite (and thereby most ridiculous) XC, Roadie, Tri, etc. monkey suit out. Hello super tight 1984 old soviet union jersey! Or do you have that one piece roadie/time trial suit? Yeah, rock that! Brings a new meaning to letting the balls hang out, eh?
This thread took an expected turn. The first three pages were free of inter-hate, and I was beginning to lose faith in forums.
no one mentioned this but i think it's an important fact that the lift tickets on practice days may cost extra over entry fees but each ticket comes with a daily dose of midol to ease your menstrual symptoms.
so relax. everything will be okay.
so relax. everything will be okay.
I think the point is...
We know racing is expensive. Juts be upfront about the costs in your literature. It sucks to get to a race to find out, "oh there's also XXX fees which weren't clearly listed".
That kinda thing makes people feel like someone is trying to cheat them.
As dhrace507 said the guys at SolVista are racers. They should know that sometimes tickets are included in registration and sometimes they are not. This kind of thing should be posted so their fellow racers don't get confused and discouraged.
It's a small oversight (hopefully not purposefully misleading) and maybe they will even get this info on the web before it's completely too late.
We know racing is expensive. Juts be upfront about the costs in your literature. It sucks to get to a race to find out, "oh there's also XXX fees which weren't clearly listed".
That kinda thing makes people feel like someone is trying to cheat them.
As dhrace507 said the guys at SolVista are racers. They should know that sometimes tickets are included in registration and sometimes they are not. This kind of thing should be posted so their fellow racers don't get confused and discouraged.
It's a small oversight (hopefully not purposefully misleading) and maybe they will even get this info on the web before it's completely too late.
Give this person a cookie!
amateur track video
No, it's Skin Suit Friday. Stay tuned : )
sweet... i tested some out on the local hill this winter for just this reason. the stars and bars felt super quick
bad form dave, bad form 
george, you know i put that up just for youbad form dave, bad form
I've cased the biggest two jumps on the amateur course and rode out cleanly both times. I went back up and hit'em with even more speed and cleared. Just go full bore and don't think, "This is fast enough." It's not. Go as fast as possible and you'll clear'em. Good luck Matt.
I watched somebody today come up short on the gap that is about 1.13 minutes into the video above. It's a big gap and he hit the ground hard. Couldn't get up and was screaming. Healing vibes to this dude, because I'm sure he broke all kinds of bones in the collar bone/arm/shoulder on his right side
Damn, I am pretty sure that every one that was worried about the track being tame can be officially un-worried. Them jumps is sizable, I am pretty sure they will be the biggest thing I have hit in a race. This is gonna be schweet!
I am sure it was discussed already, but I just saw the vid...the jumps are retarded huge looking from the video, especially in pinkbike feet. Is there a girl, I mean stik-line around them?
The one in that last video is 42 feet. The pro jumps are close to 50 lip to lip. There are go arounds for everything (including the pro jumps), but you will lose a lot of time because you'd be doing about 4 or 5 go arounds.
You mean a Jim M line?
fixed
What about the Angry Steve line? the one where you walk down the hill after gouging your front triangle cuz you're too much of a dumbass to make sure your linkage bolts are tight
were you pissed at that Platty tree for bending your frame? or at yourself?What about the Angry Steve line? the one where you walk down the hill after gouging your front triangle cuz you're too much of a dumbass to make sure your linkage bolts are tight
The tree. But that hasn't stopped me from continuing to ride the frame. Steel is real yo!