# Pat's Peak 1/1/2009: Knee droppin' stinkin' hippies (AZ Race Team) Week 1



## roark (Jan 5, 2009)

*Date(s) Skied: * Monday Night 1/5/09

*Resort or Ski Area: *Pat's Peak, Henniker NH

*Conditions: * PP, LSGR; Clear with temps in the 20s

*Trip Report: *

Showed up early to allow djspookman to get some turns in on the new gear. Met up with skibum9995 and waited nearly an hour for the Pat's crew to get it together. ga2ski showed up around 5 and finally some of us got our race tags (some just got day tix, will get the race tags next week I guess) and hit the hill. Being the first night of racing with lots of new faces on the staff I don't want to begrudge the inconvenience, but we were told to show up early after all... :-?

Conditions were a firm base with some soft granular piles, actually much better than I expected given that I had to chisel through the ice to get into my car this morning. Race was set up on FIS. We took a few warm up runs on Duster and Cyclone. Somewhat disappointed to find Tornado closed (it did get lights, right?).

Course was pretty fast and not as turny as it sometimes can be on FIS. The yellow course seemed to be a more difficult line than green, traversing further on the start and a nasty gate halfway down a roller (do I set an edge before the roller or at the transition?,,,) New pacesetter tonight (I could have sworn I saw Zach at the bottom...) One blatant DSQ appeared to be missed as well (maybe there was a re-run, but certainly nothing in the results). An unfortunate injury held things up a bit, hope all was ok there.

We scored some early pairings, mostly running in the first ten. djspookman had a very solid first showing on teles, silvering both runs. I had to pick it up when he was ahead of me after the first three gates - always fun to have a competitive pairing. I also got silvers for both runs, which means he completely smoked me with the tele handicap. ga2ski was his usual self, ripping the first run with a sub 20 second performance. The late addition to the team also put up a very solid time, 3rd best on the team and helping to keep our average up. skibum9995 was a little disappointed he didn't get bragging rights tonight and may be in need of a shave. Although the beard does help to keep confusion down with his womanly hips and all. :-o S.B. isn't nearly as fast on the teles as alpine, but still put up some solid numbers.

The Pat's crew tore down the course quickly - no fun runs tonight. Also shut down the lifts at quarter til - a bit of a disapointment as we were ready for a couple more runs.

The bar was lively with first week excitement and some shwag. Alas, when the results came none of the yellow results were counted. Another opening night snafu, I guess. All but the team standings are updated as I write this.

Overall, the team finished second on the night. ga2ski, skibum9995 and S.K. all on the first page. A good start we hopefully can improve on.


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## tree_skier (Jan 6, 2009)

Dissapointing not to see an AZ name on top.  You seem to be missing a ripping old fart.


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## Vortex (Jan 6, 2009)

Thankx Roark.   Plesae post a linc when you can with what ever results there are.


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## ga2ski (Jan 6, 2009)

Great fun was had. There were fun runs. Scott and I took one.  I could have taken one as well when I went to get my coat, but didn't want to hold up the rest of the team taking free runs.

Besides the results issue which was quickly resolved I thought the night ran smoothly. Great job Robbie, Mandy, and the rest of the crew.

DJ - great job on your first race... not to mention being on tele gear.
I'm glad that Seth filled our team and placed so respectfully.  That was a nice bonus.

Bob and Tree_Skier_ you are missed but I know it is way past your bed times at the nursing home. 

Results are here:
http://www.patspeak.com/results/moni.txt
http://www.patspeak.com/results/mont.txt

See you next week.


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## djspookman (Jan 6, 2009)

Had a blast last night guys!  It was nice meeting you all for the first time too, although I was pretty nervous at first as I haven't got as many runs in on the new setup as I had wanted, but after that first gate, I felt fine!  I just need to get my tele-carve on and I think I can get better for next time.  Can't wait till next monday!


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## Vortex (Jan 6, 2009)

Sarah form Pats who worked on the Races came and said hi to me at the Matterhorn a few weeks ago.   I was in bed by 9pm at work by 6am.  thankx for the linc.


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## roark (Jan 6, 2009)

Definitely missed tree_skier and Bob. Mt ops was prepared for Bob with netting the whole skiers left of the course. Poor skibum didn't have a spandex twin to pair with.

Getting Seth is a huge bonus.

I knew djspookman would do well - he's one of the most competitive people I've ever met and a darn solid skier. Now I just have to stay ahead of him. Glad I convinced him to run on teles so I have a shot.

ga2ski acquiesed to the crowd and dropped too many knees second run, otherwise both runs would have been under 20 seconds. Too bad the camera missed the tele tuck finish.


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## roark (Jan 6, 2009)

re-reading my first post - I was too negative about the operations - everything went smoothly, especially for the first night with quite a few new faces. Past years have set a very high standard.


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## Vortex (Jan 6, 2009)

roark said:


> Definitely missed tree_skier and Bob. Mt ops was prepared for Bob with netting the whole skiers left of the course. Poor skibum didn't have a spandex twin to pair with.
> 
> Getting Seth is a huge bonus.
> 
> ...



Funny thing is I got the recall on my atomic bindings it mendtioned something about bindings just releasing.  I wonder what they are talking about.


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## tcharron (Jan 6, 2009)

*ScoRe!*

Last place!  :-D

I've been skiing with the kids so much, that was intimidating as all hell.  But it sure is nice to actually be able to do something that can make me better, instead of being strapped to smaller terrain becouse of the kids.  I actually think I could have done better I hadn't spent all day Saterday and Sunday out.  

I'm kinda torn, part of me is utterly disappointed in myself, but part of me says there are a million reasons why I sucked, all of which can be overcome.  :-D

I was kinda disappointed with the guys here at work.  First time I ever did a corperate race night, and I really felt not part of a team of any type.  Luckily Greg Smith on WRS Racing partnered with me to help out a bit.  I'm starting to wish I'd just taken that 7th spot when I had the chance.  Maybe next year.


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## skibum9995 (Jan 6, 2009)

Its good to be back at it again. Had a good night except for my first run, which sucked. Team placed a solid second for the night. The individual results seem to be sorted my team instead of time which is a little odd. I got concerned when I saw my name drop down the page with a snowboarder ahead of me.


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## roark (Jan 6, 2009)

tcharron - don't sweat it. 

A couple years ago I was contributing the token 1 pt for finishing. So long as you're having fun and keep at it you'll improve. Definitely helps to have good team comraderie.

Say hi next week, we're the group with the sasquatch on teles (ga2ski).


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## tcharron (Jan 6, 2009)

roark said:


> tcharron - don't sweat it.
> 
> A couple years ago I was contributing the token 1 pt for finishing. So long as you're having fun and keep at it you'll improve. Definitely helps to have good team comraderie.
> 
> Say hi next week, we're the group with the sasquatch on teles (ga2ski).



LOL!  Well, I feel comfortable that next week I can actually at least get a bronze.  Excuses aside, my ankle still hurts from the weekend, next weekend I'm going to make sure I'm not 'a hurtin.

It was definatly a wake up call, though.  I think the biggest thing I hadn't noticed but became apperent is how much I've been doing half-the-hill turns with the kids, and actually running gates felt scary as all hell when you got outside the troughs.

How are the training days they have?  Or would I just end up being embarassed when someone said, "Best advice..  Learn to Ski!"


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## ga2ski (Jan 6, 2009)

Tcharron - besides racing on Monday nights.  Pat's offers racing training on three friday nights thoughout the season.  This year,training opportunities will be offered  on January 16th, February 13th, and March 6th.    This includes all the skiing you can muster between 3PM and 10PM, as well as training from 5-7PM. Check in with Robbie or Mandy if you want to sign up for training.


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## roark (Jan 6, 2009)

I'm plan to try to make one of the training sessions.


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## tcharron (Jan 6, 2009)

ga2ski said:


> Tcharron - besides racing on Monday nights.  Pat's offers racing training on three friday nights thoughout the season.  This year,training opportunities will be offered  on January 16th, February 13th, and March 6th.    This includes all the skiing you can muster between 3PM and 10PM, as well as training from 5-7PM. Check in with Robbie or Mandy if you want to sign up for training.



Yup, already sent them an email to see if I could buy a voucher next monday night for next friday.  We work on a 36/44 schedule, and at least two of the trainings are on an off friday.


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## ga2ski (Jan 6, 2009)

Sorry you were asking the question about teh training while I was typing that the training existed.  I have never been a s I'm always traveling north on Fridays.  From the captain's meeting it sounded like the people that went really enjoy and benefit from them. I can tell you one guy that no longer races at Pat's really progressed over the three years and I believe it was mostly due the trainings.


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## tree_skier (Jan 6, 2009)

It's not just the bedtime at the ripping old farts home but I wouldn't be able to arrive untill about 7:00.  Also without bob to bust on it's not the same.


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## bigbog (Jan 6, 2009)

*...;-)*



Bob R said:


> Funny thing is I got the recall on my atomic bindings it mendtioned something about bindings just releasing.  I wonder what they are talking about.



HEY!, HEY!....it's the contraption connecting your boot with ski.... :lol: :lol:
You going to be running any gates(races) @SR...?


STeveD


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## Vortex (Jan 8, 2009)

I registered for the nastar event on Jan 31st and Feb 1st. at Sunday river.  A decent chunk of change, but cheaper than than taking a plane.  http://www.nastar.com/index.jsp?pagename=nastaropen

Way out of practice.


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