Sundown Bump or Bust III - 3/22/09

[Greg]

Everyone here agrees it was the best day of the year, beating out every comp we've ever put on here at sundown. wait till you see the footage. awesome stuff.

That is awesome to hear. That was a lot to squeeze into one day. It was great to have a crowd of spectators at the bottom of Gunny whooping it up during the mogul event. Can you fit in three bump comps next year?

 

[severine]

I may be able to take a picture, but Brian is gifted with the video editing. I have no patience for that stuff. Nice job, Bri, on the teaser! Can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[jarrodski]

That is awesome to hear. That was a lot to squeeze into one day. It was great to have a crowd of spectators at the bottom of Gunny whooping it up during the mogul event. Can you fit in three bump comps next year?

possibly. like i said, when its time to build next years event calander we'll ask our AZ for some help.

Dotty is making a more presentable version of the judges break down and the brackets. I'll scan them later today and email them to you greg... pdf...

 

[2knees]

That's a sick teaser. Pat - was that you with the monster spread-twist up top? I just love huge airs that include a twist. The spins are cool, but like Pat was saying on Sunday, the old school tricks are just awesome. I love seeing a big double twister or monster daffy and then the guy just lands perfectly in his line and rips on. I need to spend more time in the park.

ummm no, wasnt me. i attempted a spread twist in my qualifier, but it was at the bottom and it was far from huge.

 

[Greg]

Re: Course

I thought the course was great. Not your typical bump course (based on observation, not experience), but having it end at the bottom where the spectators could have a good view was perfect. It was long, but not ridiculously so, and a good way to balance on the slightly flatter pitch in spots. The lines skied in nicely. A few wobbles here and there, but that just added to the challenge. The kicker placement was great and I guess with Randy's help constructed perfectly. Jarrod - take note of those jumps - they are a good model for future bump comps. Good loft and decent landings. Obviously guys could go pretty big if they wanted to, or wusses like me could dial it back a notch. I know you guys did the best you could with the staff you had, but perhaps having a few more guys for course maintenance would be good, especially to add snow periodically to the landings to keep them soft. I hope they're still available this weekend for hacks like me to practice some more.

 

[Greg]

possibly. like i said, when its time to build next years event calander we'll ask our AZ for some help.

Dotty is making a more presentable version of the judges break down and the brackets. I'll scan them later today and email them to you greg... pdf...

Awesome. We'd be happy to give some suggestions. I'll keep an eye out for the PDF and will host it here.

ummm no, wasnt me. i attempted a spread twist in my qualifier, but it was at the bottom and it was far from huge.

Oh, too bad, cuz it was pretty sick. My goal is a twister-spread next year (the 2'o clock/nossack version, I'm sure). :lol:

 

[madriverjack]

I agree the course was phenomenal and long, but perfect. If the jumps are still up saturday I will be back down no doubt.

 

[bvibert]

Dotty is making a more presentable version of the judges break down and the brackets. I'll scan them later today and email them to you greg... pdf...

Is there going to be a break down of how everyone was seeded, or just the people who qualified?

 

[2knees]

As far as the course, i thought it was great. The skiers right line was tighter and more uniform then the left but the left kicker landings were easier on the knees. I found the top right landing to be a real bone jarring hit. As usual, for me, a little what if has crept in. I really wish i had thrown a double on my last run but my legs were quivering by then and i just was trying to hang on.

 

[2knees]

Is there going to be a break down of how everyone was seeded, or just the people who qualified?

want to know who you beat huh? :lol:

 

[jarrodski]

Is there going to be a break down of how everyone was seeded, or just the people who qualified?

i know the top 24 thing is outlined...i believe she has the prelims too...

 

[bvibert]

want to know who you beat huh? :lol:

I need to see if I beat my nemesis.

 

[SkiDork]

AFA the kickers, how were they built? I know at K they actually have wood forms that they put up and then shovel snow into them.

 

[2knees]

I need to see if I beat my nemesis.

Tim? unfortunately for Tim, i think the crash and loss of a ski basically did him in if you're looking at a score.

watching the vid, he came damn close to doing a full split on that. looked rather painful.

 

[bvibert]

AFA the kickers, how were they built? I know at K they actually have wood forms that they put up and then shovel snow into them.

I think Sundown freestyles it, kickin' it old school! Throw a bunch of snow and then shape with shovels.

 

[Greg]

I like the wood forms idea. Jarrod - you have a summer project. :lol:

 

[bvibert]

Tim? unfortunately for Tim, i think the crash and loss of a ski basically did him in if you're looking at a score.

watching the vid, he came damn close to doing a full split on that. looked rather painful.

Yeah I know, I would like to see how my pitiful score compared to the rest of the field. It's too bad that Tim crashed, he had much nicer looking turns than I had, and he hit the second kicker.

 

[mondeo]

Since it was brought up, I think it's worth mentioning that I heard a few request a Saturday comp next year or starting the mogul comp earlier. I know you guys had some unexpected stuff come up that made the event take longer than planned, but I'm thinking the Sat request is either to make it easier for those traveling (so they don't have to rush to work the next day)... or maybe they're a bunch of drunks and didn't want to have to worry about going to work hungover on Monday. :lol:

I think they don't want to go to work still drunk on Monday.

Each one of these gets bigger and better, the Sundown guys did a great job.

That being said, a few suggestions for next year:
Figure out a way to allow people to slip the course throughout the competition. Those lines got pretty rough by the qualifiers. I'd say have the 18+ skiers slip it just before the snowboarder qualifying starts, and then again before elimination. And make it known that it's not cool to run the course right after others just slipped it.

Get the snowboarders to the top before the end of the 18+ qualifying.

Announce who has byes and who qualifies. A little messy having everyone bug the guy with the clipboard right before duals.

Use a groomer to build up the landing zones. I'd think that with the side of Gunbarrel being groomed that would be possible, and result in better landing zones with less work. Similarly, groom out the starting area, and if there's a bunch of useless bumps at the bottom, groom them out too.

Give me a shovel a week or two before the competition so I can fix funkiness in the lines. There were a few wall bumps and line jumps.

Use the fact that you have multiple competitions to make things go a little more smoothely. For example, have qualifying between slopestyle and big air, allowing the crowd that gathers at the bottom plenty of time to head back up without there being a dead spot in the day's activities.

Rope off the entire course and only allow competitors on it for the entire day, until the competition ends.

 

[SKidds]

Dotty is making a more presentable version of the judges break down and the brackets. I'll scan them later today and email them to you greg... pdf...

Will that include scores from the qualifying runs? Be nice to see where I need to improve for next year's competition. I may not make both competitions (or all, if more than 2), but the spring bump or bust is a great way wind down/close out the season. Goal this year was to have a clean run and make it to the bottom standing up. Mission accomplished. My airs need a lot of work (not something I practice), but but it would be nice to see where other improvement might be needed to snag the 24th qualifying spot next year .

Props to Sundown on a great comp and your committment to your customers (and bumpers). Nice to meet a bunch of AZ regulars as well. You guys talk about the things you need to work on in the bumps, but your skills are impressive. Hey, you may not be high and mighty HS level KMart skiers :roll: (what a pud that guy is, he just doesn't get it), but there were a lot of clean, fast turns and nice airs from the Sundown contingent.

To answer an earlier question...yes, I was sore yesterday. I'm in decent shape and I'm usually not too sore after a day of skiing hard, but lapping the bumps on GB for 4 hours will beat up just about anybody. Incredibly long mogul field with little recovery time on the lift. Whew.

 

[mondeo]

AFA the kickers, how were they built? I know at K they actually have wood forms that they put up and then shovel snow into them.

Sundown guy built them by eye, The Hammer gave critiques, wash rinse repeat. Gotta say, I was a little freaked out by the pitch at first (it was like looking at a wall,) but I'm glad they were as big as they were. Better preparation for BMMC.