NASTAR Nationals Diary – 2008

By Pat Moore

Each year recreational racers throughout the country receive notification that they have qualified for the NASTAR National Championships in skiing and snowboarding.  And each year, over a thousand accept that invitation.   This past event held in Steamboat was the fourth for me and I started the week maintaining an online diary.

Day 1 - Wednesday:
It is SO GOOD to be back! Missing last year with broken ribs and pneumonia was a bitter pill to swallow but it makes this year's return that much more enjoyable. My roommate and I caught an early flight out of Hartford and had a layover in Minneapolis. When they called boarding for Hayden/Steamboat I got on board. It wasn't until I got to Colorado that I realized he was nowhere to be found. A cell phone call revealed that he had set his watch wrong when changing time zones and was stuck in Minneapolis for another 24 hours. I lugged his gear along with mine to the hotel and headed for the mountain.

I signed up for a clinic tomorrow and hope to do the morning on skis and then switch to the board in the afternoon.

Day 2 -Thursday
I normally don't have difficulty with jet lag but I woke up at 3:30 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. At 6 am I wandered down the street to a bagel place and then hopped a bus for the mountain with two pairs of boots, skis, and snowboard. I showed up for my lesson on skis and got an eye opener. The practice runs were on Sitz and Vogue and they were set TIGHT. If ever there was a time for slalom skis, this was it. I had experienced pre-release of my bindings in a recent race so I bumped up the DIN half a notch.  Apparently that wasn't enough. On the third gate of the first run I hit a compression and subsequent lift. I felt my right heel disengaging. Incredibly the boot slamming back down reengaged. I could even hear the click! Guess I need to crank it down a little more for tomorrow.

In the afternoon, I switched to a snowboard lesson. One lane of the daily NASTAR course was set with snowboard panels and I made a about a dozen runs. I was fairly happy with my performance. Tomorrow will be the real test.

Day 3 - Friday - The Big Dance begins!
I got to the mountain via bus and hopped the Christie chair wearing skis and carrying the board and boots. I headed for Lower Bashor (the daily NASTAR venue) where the snowboard event was to be held. The nice folks there let me store my ski boots inside the shack so I'd be able to get my feet in them later. We had a timing issue delay that had me nervous about being really late for my first ski run at Vogue. I finally got to run and recorded 24 something. I watched the other two boarders in my group and estimated their times (posting was delayed for one of them at the finish) and made the decision to skip my second run. Turns out I'm in first by enough of a margin that it was a safe move. I changed boots and arrived at Vogue just in time for my first run. Not having seen the course I just attacked it. It was turny and icy and I was SO glad I was on slalom skis. The guys on GS skis paid the price and on the scoresheet it appeared I had the fastest time. I got back up and had a very good run going on the green course when I went down. All I remember is bouncing my hip off the snow and a ski releasing. I had cranked the DIN down another half notch the day before and guess I need to do it again today (Saturday). Anyhow, when the results were finally posted I found myself in second place. I have my work cut out for me Saturday.

Since the day ended early I got back on the board and made a few more runs. I managed to take a hard spill on the NASTAR course and bruised my shoulder pretty bad. Ice and Ibuprofen helped.

The raffle went well and a LOT of folks walked away with Goode Carbon fiber skis.

Day 4 - Saturday
I caught a break today because boarding was in the morning and skiing in the afternoon. The morning went well and I took the snowboard title by a fair margin. Skiing was a big “if” because I lagged Friday's leader by almost 3% handicap. Chad Fleisher set the pace and the rest of us mortals attacked the course. Once again I was glad I was on slalom skis because they gave me an edge (figuratively and literally) on the tight icy course. The results weren't posted before the awards ceremony began so I was kind of holding my breath. My goal coming into the championship was the make the podium in both events. I hadn't anticipated the possibility of winning both boarding and skiing outright. You can't imagine my elation to discover I had taken the Gold Division Skiing category as well as the Snowboard title.

My goal next year is to get into the Platinum category (I would have finished in 5th place in that category this year).

I have met so many great new friends and I can't wait to come back next year.

Before that happens, I have to race in tomorrow's Race of Champions. Apparently no one has ever qualified for that race in more than one discipline before. I'll make the first run on skis and the next one on the board. Wish me luck!

Day 5 - Sunday - The Race of Champions
The men weren't scheduled to start until 11 am so I had the luxury of sleeping in a bit before hauling two pair of boots, skis, poles, and snowboard to the mountain. I stashed my board and snowboard boots near the finish line and headed for the start. We were racing on See Me, a steep and lengthy course. The pacesetters all took off and demonstrated once again why they're who they are why we should be glad we don't race for a living.

I made my run on skis and I know I made a lot of mistakes but they announced I had the fastest raw time to that point. Amazingly it held up for another 20 racers but then the fast dudes ran the course. Overall, I had the 20th fastest raw time and was pretty psyched about it.

As soon as I cleared the finish line, I switched to the snowboard and headed back up the hill. The start of the course was steep, turny, and icy and I had seen a lot of boarders DNF so I took a conservative approach for the top few gates and tried to pick up the pace at the bottom. The run went well and I think I had the 9th fastest raw time in the non-alpine category. Here's a shot of my finish.

One of the thrills of attending this event is the opportunity to rub elbows with some of the legends of the sport. I was fortunate enough to get my photo taken with Phil Mahre, A J Kitt, Deb Armstrong, and Billy Kidd!

After the competition wrapped up, several of us explored the top of the mountain. What a great place! I rode my board hard until the light got flat and the unseen bumps caused a few "a$$ over tea kettle" maneuvers. The quads were shot and the knee was sending gentle reminders that it was time to quit so we headed for the hot tub. A terrific calzone at Mazzolla's capped off a perfect day.

Browse through a short slideshow of the event.

It will take a long time for the exuberance to wear off. Thanks for indulging me by letting me post my daily diary of a very fun event.

Make it YOUR goal to qualify and join me at the Nationals next year!

Update: Ski Racing Magazine has acknowledged the achievement.

Pat Moore has been ranked number 1 nationally in NASTAR snowboard racing in his age group and holds three national championship titles. In 2008, he became the first NASTAR racer ever to concurrently hold the titles in both snowboarding and skiing. An avid unicyclist, he's not sure what he wants to be when he grows up. Pat runs domestic and international online sales for Suburban Sports in Berlin Connecticut