NASTAR Nationals Diary 2010

A participant's view of the largest ski and snowboard competition in the world.

By Pat Moore

NASTAR (National Standard Race) has been in existence since 1968 and is the largest recreational ski and snowboard race program in the world.  Each year over a thousand racers attend the NASTAR National Championships.  This year they were held at Winter Park, CO.  I began competing in 2004 as both a skier and a snowboarder and have attended every year but 2007 when injuries precluded my participation.  In 2008 I began a series of online diaries.  This is the latest installment.

Wednesday, March 24th
Because of Winter Park’s altitude, I came out here early arriving yesterday. Registration went very smoothly and the discount on tickets is great. All registrants got a very nice hooded sweatshirt. Four of us are staying in a beautiful condo but the WiFi signal is crappy. I’m not sure how frequently I’ll be able to post these daily wrap-ups.

Winter Park is much bigger than I had envisioned. My roommate Rob and I explored a lot of the mountain with my brother who drove up from Breckenridge.  I expected to have shortness of breath and headaches because of the altitude but the only issues I’ve had to deal with other than two bum knees is some quad burn. Late in the day we headed over to the public NASTAR course where I ran into a friend from Baltimore. I made a couple of runs and on both of them I felt something pop in my left knee – the one where I partially tore my ACL a few weeks ago. I was a little tentative on the first few gates in case the knee gave way but I was able to complete both runs.

The competition is very tough in my age group. Many of the top skiers in the country are here.  I’ll be tickled to finish in the top half of the thirteen participants.  There are only three of us in the snowboard division but the competition is strong there as well.

Tomorrow I plan to spend the day on my snowboard and will make some more runs on the NASTAR course. Competition begins Friday and it’s going to be a real struggle to get from the snowboard course to the ski course without being too late for my first run.  The program doesn’t make allowances for dual entrants so I literally have to be in two places at the same time.

Stay tuned……

Thursday, March 25th
I finally got a WiFi connection but not sure how long it will last.

Today was a Bluebird day with spectacular conditions. I spent the whole day on the snowboard and made a few runs on the daily NASTAR course. I had just completed a run when I watched Mark Temple, a fellow snowboarder and first-time Nationals participant fall and slide into a gate. He rode the sled down and the X-rays revealed a fractured fibula. The competition was over for him before it ever began.

I arranged to store my ski boots in the top restaurant tomorrow so I can make a quick changeover from board to skis.

I had the pleasure of meeting Dick Cole today. He will also be competing as a skier and boarder tomorrow. He's in the Men's 75-79 age group!

I was feeling pretty good but have to admit I made one run too many. I was descending Hughes making nice carves on my board when I got hung up on a heelside turn and went over the edge of a trail. My roommate Rob saw me disappear from view. Fortunately I was able to stop in deep snow only a few feet below the lip and was able to drag myself back up.

The evening gathering went very well with a food served indoors and music and dancing outside. The band was very good. I took a lot of pictures and have just started uploading a few.

Friday, March 26th
Racing begins! The long-awaited day is at hand. I got up early and dragged the gear to the bus. Once the lifts opened I had help transporting the snowboard and extra boots to the summit restaurant. I then switched to the snowboard and headed to the race course where the starter was kind enough to allow my age group to start early so I could get to the ski race course quicker. I had planned on only making a single run but I got too aggressive and skidded to a complete halt. I had no choice but to make a second run which went pretty well. The recorded time was higher than I expected it to be. Going into tomorrow I need to make up 0.76 seconds.

If anything, I did worse at the ski venue. I explained to the starters why I was late and they had me get in line. The course was steep and tight - just the way I like it. Unfortunately I made a lot of rookie mistakes in the upper part of the course and did a lot of skidding. The second run was no different. Most of the other racers in my class had no difficulty and I'm sitting in 10th place out of 12. Prospects for moving up more than a spot or two are bleak.

At the evening festivities heavy snow began to fall during the introduction of the US Team and Olympic stars. Four-time Olympiand and NASTAR Traveling Pacestter AJ Kitt said that his 4-year old triplets are now racing NASTAR and will be competing at next year's nationals. A representative of Warren Miller productions did a nice tribute to NASTAR Director of Operations Bill Madsen and his 20 years of contributions to the program. Many prizes were given away!

It's now 9:30 pm and the snow isn't showing any signs of easing off.

Saturday, March 28
What a day! I caught the 7:30 shuttle bus to the mountain and had a light breakfast while getting suited up. I headed for the Snowboard course and applied a little High Fluoro to my board. I had a good run (almost a platinum) and was able to erase the deficit I needed to take over the top spot and secure my fifth national championship. On my second run I tried to really smoke a run. 2/3 of the run went great and then I remember the back of my helmet hitting hard. I was lying in the ski course so I dragged myself back to the snowboard course and then straightlined the rest of the way skipping the last three gates. The announcer actually called out a time! I made sure it was changed to a DNF (Did Not Finish).  The video of the run is online.

I had the luxury of not having to speed over to the ski venue as it wasn't scheduled until just after noon. That gave me ample time to change gear and do a course inspection. Examining the course was an eye opener. Most of the course was laid out nice but the last three gates were so offset that I envisioned disaster in the making. I watched US Olympic legend Phil Mahre miss the last gate and DQ and that gave me even more reason to be cautious. I managed to negotiate the course with a very conservative time (does that mean I beat Phil Mahre? ). I was so far out of contention in my class that it seemed prudent to skip the second run. A substantial number of the racers on my course either missed a gate or crashed at the end. My roommate Rob entered the day in sixth place in men's 55 - 59 Platinum. Last year he finished fourth and was hoping to make the podium this year. He needed a Herculean effort and he got it. His second run was the second fastest of the day and it earned him 3rd place. Here's a shot I took of his second run.

The awards ceremony was very well attended and the crowd enthusiastically applauded every medal recipient. To prove that snowboarders don't take things too seriously, I dressed as my alter ego, Elwood Blues.

Tomorrow is the Race of Champions and it will be held on Lower Hughes, the same course I ran today. Tomorrow the start will be moved higher up the hill. It will be fun to see the pacesetters running against each other to see who is fastest.

Sunday, March 29th
Another Day in Paradise! The snow finally stopped falling and blue skies emerged. Course conditions for the Race of Champions were immaculate. I had a perfect course when I came out of the gate. The course maintenance workers were really on the ball. Lower Hughes (skier's left) is a challenging but fair course with a side pitch which favored toe-side turns on my board. I had an "okay" run and could have been more aggressive. It would have been fun to take a second run to see if I could lower my time.

My 89 year old father who lives in South Carolina had never seen me snowboard but was able to watch the live streaming video of my run and listen to the narration. My wife in Connecticut and my daughter in Massachusetts also were able to view the race. What a great innovation!

Pat Moore has been ranked number 1 nationally in NASTAR snowboard racing in his age group multiple times and holds five 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.