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What does NS think of skiercross?

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Dave_Marshak
Posts: 68 - Karma: 11
Well like it or not Racing is apart of our sport. A huge part in fact, but I am not here to ask about gate chasing, I think we are all on the same page as far as that goes.

BUT What about skiercross racing? Is it enough that they don't have to wear spandex webbed suits, or do jibbers find the mentality of skiing to win by time instead of style a bad thing?

I am just curious about some park rat opinions.
Nov 24 2010 10:20AM
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Funnel
Posts: 7815 - Karma: 1,531
There's no discretion when it comes to time. It's a far more superior format of judging than say Slopestyle or Big Air.
Nov 25 2010 4:03PM
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i.am.green.man.
Posts: 220 - Karma: 48
skier cross is sick in my mind. it just looks fun as shit. i mean whaat better than you and your buddys racing back to the lodgge. same concept
Nov 25 2010 6:22PM
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GayWolf420
Posts: 37394 - Karma: 120,199
Skiercross is one of my favorite events to watch besides slope and big air. It may look easy but I have talked to some guys who compete in it and its not easy at all. It takes a fuckload of training just like other racing disciplines like GS/Super G. Add rediculously fast speeds with burms, jumps and rollers and its basically like motocross on snow. Ski racing in general is some tough shit.
Nov 25 2010 6:26PM
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Yung_Gnarley
Posts: 9092 - Karma: 3,022
Skiercross needs to go back to it's roots (chinese downhill) and away from the formal racing scene. All these dudes in their racing suits and gs skis thinkin they're the shit lolz.
Nov 25 2010 6:32PM
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GayWolf420
Posts: 37394 - Karma: 120,199
Chinese downhill format would be more than worth it to watch. It would be the best thing to watch. A bunch of dudes hauling ass down some steeps with moguls, crud and other obstacles.
Nov 25 2010 6:37PM
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inthewoods
Posts: 1074 - Karma: 111
chinese downhill in chile. This year they didnt have a ski cathegory. i was bummed.

Nov 25 2010 7:03PM
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PeterWojnar
Posts: 3937 - Karma: 678
I really like Darron Rhalve's new take on it-- in tahoe there will be 3 competitions this year, a big mountain skierx race.

basically it goes down like this:

Start at the top of a sick big mountain type zone at a ski area.

Heats of 4

Finish at the bottom

First 2 to the bottom move on to the next round.



FUCKING NUTS. Stupidly awesome.
Nov 25 2010 9:01PM
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McFellon
Posts: 1841 - Karma: 2,005
it looks fun. there was kind of a course set up at okemo when i went there last year, but it was really late in the season and it was melty and slow
Nov 25 2010 9:05PM
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stowe=snow
Posts: 171 - Karma: 14
i stopped at bromley on the way to middlebury and the thing i did the most was the skiercross course, SO FUN
Nov 25 2010 9:42PM
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Chompo.
Posts: 4952 - Karma: 88
I think its a lot of fun... I think it would be really sick if the threw like cannon box in there somewhere....
Nov 25 2010 9:58PM
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Randyinthepark
Posts: 4 - Karma: 10

Last march break i rode a professional course in switzerland and it was unreal. Like it was said before though, it would be really cool if they threw some style points or something along those lines into the scoring to make it a little more interesting

Nov 26 2010 9:17AM
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Funnel
Posts: 7815 - Karma: 1,531
Damn, that is going to be SO sick. It's almost like an SSX race.
Nov 26 2010 9:21AM
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technique.
Posts: 1538 - Karma: 308
id like to see mandatory rails. like huge gaps that you have to slide or die. but have a couple options on which rail you take so you dont have two skiers going for the same rail at once hahaha
Nov 26 2010 1:51PM
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K.C.Deane
Posts: 1730 - Karma: 315
Its super fun. Moto X on skis.
Nov 26 2010 2:24PM
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alexat955
Posts: 2732 - Karma: 112
i was there last year. free red bull, skied part of the course, rode up the chair with him. /claim?
Nov 26 2010 3:50PM
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I_Am_Mod
Posts: 13214 - Karma: 3,753
skier X is so brutal, skier x and super G are the most impressive winter racing sports imho ....

def. wanna do skier x sometime, i've done the courses on my own, but if you race it's probably 10x more exciting :D
Nov 26 2010 4:33PM
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Ehh...
Posts: 1897 - Karma: 1,423
Skier-cross but.... have rails and stuff in the middle for a style section. Like moguls where they have the jumps at the end of the section. Kinda like that.
Nov 26 2010 4:36PM
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TheClap.
Posts: 21664 - Karma: 4,140
stupid
Nov 26 2010 5:01PM
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AGOF
Posts: 2038 - Karma: 3,602
agreed. they are running on race skis. why the fuck would you ruin them on rails. and beyond that, it would be hard to deal with some of those courses with dulled down edges. maybe just larger jumps.
like fatty ass step overs and step downs.
Nov 26 2010 7:00PM
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B.Aussie
Posts: 5852 - Karma: 4,531
Ski Cross is pretty legit, i've had way more injuries from it then any other form of skiing, although i'm competing competitively at a high level.
I race Europa cup and Norams, have qualified for World Cup and am just waiting for a spot to open up for me.
There's something crazy about going off up to 80ft jumps 45 miles per hour with 3 people either side of you.

As for race suits, they're not allowed as ski edges can cut through them too easily straight to skin because they're so tight, and ski cross has a riders pact not to get too tight, they want to keep it old school and slightly freestyle.
Nov 26 2010 8:12PM
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ChrisSkisChronic
Posts: 1128 - Karma: 230
And beyond that, imagine 4 people trying to get on 1 rail within 1 or 2 seconds of each other. I don't even know why I dignified this idea with a response...
Nov 26 2010 8:16PM
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steezenskis
Posts: 1044 - Karma: 31
whats wrong with skiing to win? Racing is a little uptight but skier cross is awsome. Its the chinees downhill.
Nov 26 2010 8:16PM
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B.Aussie
Posts: 5852 - Karma: 4,531
You're good at ski cross.
But there is a huge difference from USASA to Noram to Europacup to World Cup in increasing order.
The only thing that scared me in the USASA National course was the jump with the dodgey speed that was overshooting, whilst the Noram at Sugarbowl had a 60ft Hip that was breaking backs that was pretty intense, it's all relative.
Nov 26 2010 8:19PM
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Mr.Huck
Posts: 6096 - Karma: 14,896
I want my daughter to grow up to be as awesome as you. 
Nov 26 2010 8:23PM
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p-oskier
Posts: 1407 - Karma: 58
It looks really fun, I would have loved to try racing in it after my ski racing career was over.
Nov 26 2010 8:37PM
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alexat955
Posts: 2732 - Karma: 112
I skied that course but didn't hit the jump. I'd say it was closer to like 80 ft. My coach hit it an said it was fun but I would never hit a jump like that. Skiercross is scary as shit
Nov 26 2010 9:16PM
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Ehh...
Posts: 1897 - Karma: 1,423
It was a joke chill man. Skiercross would be pretty dope if they made it a bit more contact like a roller derby almost. ha imagine that.
Nov 26 2010 9:21PM
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es94
Posts: 291 - Karma: 67
looks like fun to me

Nov 26 2010 9:33PM
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doyle.
Posts: 1624 - Karma: 596
I love rippin down the ski cross course at blackcomb... btw I saw Ashleigh McIvor today at whistler
Nov 27 2010 1:17AM
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.jersey
Posts: 1925 - Karma: 9
when i first saw skiercross i thought it was the coolest thing skiings had to offer yet imo. I love racing down the mountain with friends and launching off of jumps. If i had a chance to do it i would deffinately try
Nov 27 2010 1:19AM
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jacksonski
Posts: 7 - Karma: 10
I can't believe it's taken this long! Skier Cross is one of my favorites if not THE one ! Exciting ti race and watch!
Nov 27 2010 1:31AM
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Sklar
Posts: 8864 - Karma: 31,612
why thank you
i can't wait to step it up from usasa this year

and Mr. Huck, yes we would all like a daughter to be ass bad ass as her
Nov 27 2010 1:53AM
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Sklar
Posts: 8864 - Karma: 31,612
i'll just leave this here...

What is skicross? ...This is skicross! from Sylvain Miaillier on Vimeo.

Nov 27 2010 4:27PM
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Smuffy
Posts: 4686 - Karma: 3,408
hahaha agreed. my daughter is gonna be raw as fuck

as for skier x, i dont have any legit courses to ride near me. i never liked watching it, but its always been at the top of my to-do list. hopefully i can get out and compete somewhere
Nov 27 2010 10:06PM
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Sklar
Posts: 8864 - Karma: 31,612
bump for stoke for this season of skicross

and for anyone trying to figure out where/how to get into skicross, because i know i had a hard time finding it, check out the usasa, great place to start http://usasa.org/
Nov 28 2010 10:32PM
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Keith_M
Posts: 795 - Karma: 771
I'm a huge fan of skiercross. Think it looks so fun. I'd actually love to get into it. Not sure how to get involved though.
Nov 28 2010 10:42PM
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soulskier
Posts: 17806 - Karma: 3,841
i love watching it, and would do it for fun not actually racing. i know i'd screw up my knees if i wee to compete
Nov 28 2010 11:46PM
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tride
Posts: 1038 - Karma: 26
It used to be Moto X. Now it has been toned down to death because it is 100% ex-racers doing it, and they have taken 99% of the freestyle influence out of it.

It's a completely different mindset from boardercross. (The majority of boardercrossers are from freestyle backgrounds, used to compete in pipe etc., and hey want their courses to be nothing close to a race course.)

In skiercross, they've moved the gates down the berm until it's a point where nobody has to ride the berms anymore, they just do a gs turn on the fllats. They knock the lips down so that they can be "pressed" over like when you come over a roller in a super-g. Rarely, if ever, do you see a skiercross course anymore where you have to pop, or really work a transition.

Cypress was ok because Jeff Ihaxi built the course primarily for the snowboarders, and refused to tone it down too much for the skiers (although he was forced to make the start section easier, and table some of the triples). Because of that, it became very evident how most of the athletes competing had little or no freestyle background, watching some of them struggle to pump the transitions in the start section was downright embarrassing.

I have nothing but respect for ski racing, and for the racers who decide to do skiercross, they are unbelievably talented athletes. However, it is a terrible shame that skiercross has altered itself to suit the racers, instead of making the racers learn more freestyle skills and deal with more of a "moto" style course, rather than the modified 4man super gs that they mainly use today.

Boardercross did it right, they kept their courses true to a freestyle skill set, and didn't cater to snowboard racers, that's why you barley see any hardbooters in a boardercross anymore.

In skiing, it's like they took a motocross course and modified it so that roadracers could get through it.
Nov 29 2010 12:19AM
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Sklar
Posts: 8864 - Karma: 31,612
^^^^
umm tone down the course for skiers? the skiers were still 8 seconds faster in qualifying, and having no trouble on the features. More often than not it is the exact same course for skiers and boarders, and the gatesate is nearly identical too
are you at all involved in skicross on the lower levels, 100% racers is BS

has it been toned down from what it used to be? maybe i don't know i haven't been around long enough to see that

Nov 29 2010 12:28AM
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Sklar
Posts: 8864 - Karma: 31,612
^^^^
umm tone down the course for skiers? the skiers were still 8 seconds faster in qualifying, and having no trouble on the features. More often than not it is the exact same course for skiers and boarders, and the gatesate is nearly identical too
are you at all involved in skicross on the lower levels, 100% racers is BS

has it been toned down from what it used to be? maybe i don't know i haven't been around long enough to see that

Nov 29 2010 12:29AM
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tride
Posts: 1038 - Karma: 26
Yes, Jeff had to change the start to make it easier, and table some of the gap features too.

Yes, some of them had an incredible amount of trouble with the mini-ramp style start section, I was standing right there, trust me.

Of course the skiers were faster overall. In a race course, a skier will always be faster than a snowboarder.

I don't know abut lower levels, I was commenting on the upper levels of Skiercross, World Cup specifically. If there is less racing influence on course design at the lower levels, then I'm happy to hear it.

In snowboardcross the Gold medalist in Cypress was also a previous Halfpipe World Cup gold medalist (Maelle).

I would love to see skiercross get back to the moto-style roots like that, where the courses dictate that an athlete needs an extremely strong freestyle skill set as well as speed to be successful.



Nov 29 2010 1:11AM
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B.Aussie
Posts: 5852 - Karma: 4,531
I believe the reason it was toned down for the skiers was because the course was too fast for the features when the skiers hit it and there was not enough snow to make the landings bigger. As it was even scaled down there was a lot of overshooting and speedchecking which isn't usual in world cup.

Your point earlier abut the berms is correct, and that is drawn from racing, however it is also to do with the awkward angle that a lot of berms put skiers in with two skis it's harder to ride than the one board, however it has gotten better with some of the older guys practising the berm transition and drawing speed in the qualifications, but this is impractical in the heats as they would get cut off by the race carvers.

There is still the freestyle background too it, the riders pact of baggyish clothing and the uproar about the courses being iced in Europe.

Yes the start was found tricky, however it wasn't lack of freestyle skills, just watch the Blue Mountain world cup last year, there was the huge roller section that had to be worked on to be able to not get injured. The top world cuppers have amazing ability to work the features and gain speed, just watch X games 10 footage of Stan Hayer winning, there is some awesome technical skills.

There are a lot of racers, however there are a lot of top racers that have been unable to do well in ski cross because they lacked the appropriate freestyle background.

But I do see what you're saying, and it is a race there are bound to be racers trying but a lot of the top racers ie. Ophelie and Fanny Smith were not amazing alpiners but are phenomenal ski crossers.

Nov 29 2010 4:59AM
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Fuknhipster
Posts: 283 - Karma: 133
kiier Cross is dope. mad fun to race friends
Nov 29 2010 5:17AM
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tride
Posts: 1038 - Karma: 26
Yeah I know Stan and have raced against him (back when I used to do skiercross). He's a great freeskier, and so are many of the athletes.

I wasn't trying to diss any of the skiers abilities, not at all, only commenting on how course design for skiercross over the past five years has really been geared towards accommodating the ex-racers (especially at World Cup, and especially in Europe),

Like I said, it's just a turned into a very different mentality from boardercross, where the vast majority of the athletes come from freestyle backgrounds, and the courses are built based on those skills, which is why very few of the snowboard racers are able to be competitive against the riders with a lot of pipe and freestyle experience (Jasey-Jay being a notable example).

Your point about the berms is exactly what I'm talking about. It might be "harder" to ride berms on skis than to carve around the gate on the flats, especially for the racers, but so what? It's supposed to be hard, make them deal with it and learn new skills, instead of simply accommodating the race skills that they already excel at.

Skiercross is a very exciting, and very entertaining event, no question. However these days it seems more like another race discipline than a completely different sport with a different culture.

As someone who has done a lot of skiercross in the past, I just think it should involve a completely different set of skills than racing does. Just as motocross involves a completely different skill set than motorbike road racing.

Just my opinion, lots of people like it the way it is, and that's cool too.
Nov 29 2010 5:10PM
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Sklar
Posts: 8864 - Karma: 31,612
^^^
you seem to know your shit, and so does brooke, i guess i was looking for an e-fight for no reason
Nov 29 2010 6:07PM
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cwillygood
Posts: 6831 - Karma: 1,829
itd be super nasty to try but watching it is kinda lame after like 2 races..but the crashes.....yes
Nov 29 2010 6:44PM
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raidergti
Posts: 95 - Karma: 10
im a former skierx racer, and i can say that it is just as exhilarating as any type of skiing or any activity in general.  it was a ton of fun, but it was scary as shit, and alot of kids under 18 like me get hurt when youre bumping it up at 50mph
Nov 29 2010 9:39PM
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soulskier
Posts: 17806 - Karma: 3,841
^that was a nice little discussion to read
Nov 29 2010 9:57PM
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B.Aussie
Posts: 5852 - Karma: 4,531
I don't feel like we were fighting I think we were both having a discussion.

That guy seems to know what he's talking about and has an interesting perspective on things, was a good discussion I think. Showing people a couple of opinions.
Nov 30 2010 2:19AM
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NoTeefa
Posts: 9566 - Karma: 129

I'll be the negative Nancy here...

I wasn't sure what my opinion was until I reviewed that little xgames finals video and I have to say... no sir, I don't like it. Its just a bunch of racers tucking down a hill... Sure, they catch some air, but so do downhill racers. I'd watch it to see them crash and break limbs, that'd be entertaining. But, ya know, I hate football as well, so I'm sure my opinion isn't very common, it never is.

The chinese downhill was pretty rad.

Nov 30 2010 7:15AM
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