The Inside Edge - A closer look at ski racing rankings vs. medals
n World Cup update — Mikaela Shiffrin held her lead in the overall standings, placing fourth (missed the podium by .39) in her first Super G of the season at Cortina, Italy. Northwest girls Laurenne Ross and Jacqui Wiles were 10th and 21st respectively. In the Downhill, Breezy Johnson was 10th with Stacey Cook close behind in 11th. Jacqui Wiles rounded out the US points winners in 17th.
The men were at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany where the US put five racers in the points both days. Travis won the first downhill, and was the top finisher at 12th the second day. Tommy Ford was the top US GS finisher with 14th place.
n Western Region Speed Series — Good weather, great snow, and 100 percent support from Schweitzer Mountain allowed SARS to carry off one of the best speed series seen in recent years. The Edge travels a lot, and has yet to find a more professional and thorough race host the Schweitzer Alpine Racing School. A big part of the team as the Masters racing group who works tirelessly before, during and after the events.
The only local athlete competing at the FIS level was Farli Boden, who performed well in all events. In her first FIS Downhills, she finished a very respectable 21st and 24, establishing a strong initial points profile. She finished 40th and 41st in Giant Slalom, improving those points as well. Super G results were not in at press time, and will be reported next week.
n No such thing as “too much” ice cream — The Junior Race Series came to a successful end last Friday, with significant improvement amongst all of the racers. If the entire field is considered, the improvement was nearly 27 percent in handicap scores.
The Most Improved team was the Night Stalkers (see photo) with a 36 percent reduction in their aggregate handicaps. Members included: Race Barrett, Landon Bouy, Berkely Cox, Bode Demmons, Slate Fragoso, Lilly Knepper, Conner McClure, Riley Murphy, Blake Sherill, and Hank Sturgis, plus coaches Mark Kubiak and Conner Matlosz.
The Most Improved girl was Fiona MacDonald with Marlee McCrum as runner up. The Most Improved boy was Royce Sharp, followed by Truman Baker as runner up. The Fastest Girl was Erika Edmundson, followed by her sister Avery.
And the Fastest Boy was Slate Fragoso, followed by his brother Klein. The only thing better than the awards and prizes was bottomless ice cream bowls. The Edge probably gained three pounds this week. Special thanks to the coaches that volunteer each year and make this program possible..
n Social Justice comes to Ski Racing — Hopefully you read last week’s explanation of how points and rankings are computed in ski racing. In short, it’s a very detailed and fair system, rewarding those who step up to face tougher competition and take risks. I believe the Edge referred to it as a meritocracy. Unfortunately there’s trouble, “right here in River City.”
One of the perplexing phenomena in ski racing is that participation drops at about the age of 13. The racing hierarchy wrestles with finding a solution to the problem, failing to recognize that most other sports face a similar phenomenon for many of the same reasons. Having been deeply involved in the ski racing, and being an astute observer, The Edge could list some of the issues driving athletes out of our sport: 1) Total cost (equipment, coaching, entry fees and travel) increase as athletes move into their teens; 2) Most athletes tend to specialize as they enter the High School years, and previously acceptable conflicts between sports must be resolved, normally at the expense of one sport or another; 3) Racer travel requirements and training days per week increase after age 14, with a big impact on school attendance. The Edge’s own daughter was told she couldn’t take any AP classes if she missed more than 14 days per year of school. She quit racing, earned a full scholarship, and became a Chemical Engineer; 4) While baseball, basketball, soccer and virtually every other varsity athlete sees his or her name in the newspaper, very few communities cover ski racing as we do in this town; 5) And finally, a hidden cause, families who purchased condos at their favorite mountain are suddenly caused to be elsewhere half of the time. The Edge can attest that a serious teenage ski racer disrupts the entire family balance.
However, the Pacific Northwest Ski Association (PNSA) focused on increasing medal opportunities as a lure to keep teen racers in the game, and in the process interfered with the integrity of the points system we lauded last week. The Edge is certain this idea was well intentioned, if ill conceived.
As explained last week, racers entering the points system begin with a “ranking” in each event of 990 points. The goal is to get to zero points (Hello World champion) or as close as possible. During this journey a racer’s start positions improve as their points get lower. So if one has the 20th best points entering a slalom race, he/she will start 20th. The advantage of starting before the ruts get deep is self-evident.
However, the new PNSA policy divides point holders into five “Categories,” with No. 1 being the best and No. 5 the worst. The reasoning is to create numerous medal opportunities at each race, with three medals awarded within each category. Hypothetically, the fourth fastest racer overall could receive no medal, while the 88th finisher who was fastest amongst Category 5 could receive a Gold medal. Hmmm, best of the worst. The athletes aren’t fooled — we hear these referred to as “fake” medals. I hate to say it, but the athlete that makes career decisions based upon these medals is missing the great life lessons available in ski racing.
But it gets worse. In order to ensure the competition for the medals is fair, the start order within each Category is randomly generated for each race. So for instance, one might be the fastest Category 2 racer present and the 20th fastest racer present overall, yet due to the shuffling within his/her Category could be starting 45th, towards the end of Category 2. Trust me, starting 25 places later in a ski race is a significant handicap and will impair that racer’s ability to advance within the larger point system.
There is already a system in place to satisfy medal collectors. Athletes U16 and older have numerous levels of racing available, beginning at the Evergreen Cup and progressing through Northwest Cup, FIS Elite, NORAM and ultimately World Cup. Those seeking to elevate their World and National rankings enter the most difficult races for which they qualify, and seldom earn medals — instead, they crawl up the rankings. Those interested in a lower level of racing, may compete at those levels and get all the medals they want. Hopefully the powers to be will see the futility of this effort, and return us to the equitable and efficient system used by the rest of the World.
n Forerunners — Every scored race must begin with Forerunners. These racers are not competitors, but play an important role. They validate the fairness and safety of the course and report any discrepancies to the jury. Forerunners are expected to ski the course at race speed, and must have the skills to safely navigate the track. Often younger racers, not yet qualified to enter a given race, are given the chance to forerun. Not only is selection a vote of confidence by one’s coaches, but it also is a great training opportunity. This week Addison McNamara and Morgan Wohlaib had many runs through FIS Downhill and Super G courses. Lots of smiles.
n Starlight Racing begins Friday — If you’re reading this and not yet signed up, better get on the stick. The adult version of Friday night racing kicks off with teams composed of alpine and telemark skiers, snowboarders competing on coed teams for bragging rights and prizes. Call the Schweitzer Activity Center at 255-3081 for further information, and watch here for weekly reports.
n USASA Slopestyle/Rail Jam Competition — Saturday and Sunday the freeride community will compete. Call the Schweitzer Activity Center at 255-3081 for details
n Potpourri — A little snowfall is working into the forecast, but it’s time for some serious snow dances. Any comments, recommendations or contributions to this column may be sent to Shep Snow by e-mail at shep@thesnowschool.com. Negative feedback should be sent to someone else.
The Inside Edge runs every Thursday during ski season in the Daily Bee.