2014 USSA Phillips 66 Alpine Masters National Championships

Phillips 66

The 2014 Alpine Masters National Championships, sponsored in part by Phillips 66, were hosted by Eastern Division at Okemo VT on Mar. 16-22, 2014. The 2014 nationals are a four-event championships with the DH championships colocated with the 3-event SG/GS/SL nationals.

The downhill championship is a standalone national medal event and is not included in the Divisions Cup, Combined or Spyder Team awards of the 3-event SG/GS/SL nationals scoring.

Okemo Mountain has an experienced race organization which runs events at all levels throughout the season and race venues that are both challenging and masters-friendly. The Chief racing trail, site of the DH, SG, and GS events, features rolling pitches over varied terrain, which makes it a challenge for the best and fun to ski for all. The Chief trail is serviced by a high-speed detachable quad and full-service lodges are available at the top and the bottom of the courses. The slalom race will be held on the adjacent War Dance Trail, which has a consistently moderate pitch and is wide enough to easily accomodate two courses.

event results complete event results below

race photos Race Photos

Race photos were taken by Donald Dill and Bonnie Fricchione of YellowJeepPhotos. (race photo links are being posted here as available; we don't know yet if there will be any men's SL photos)

About the Photographers: Donald Dill is based in Ludlow VT. A lifelong photographer, he works throughout the greater New England area. Bonnie Fricchione is a retired software engineer who now spends winters in VT and the summers sailing off the coast of Rhode Island. She got her start photographing ski racing 12 years ago when their daughter started racing for Okemo Mountain. What started as a hobby became more serious when she started Yellow Jeep Photos Sports Photography 3 years ago with a focus on cycling and ski racing events.


Entries and Qualification

You must have a current USSA Masters competition license to compete in regional and national championship events (no temporary weekend licenses). Competitor field size for the national championships is limited to 300 entries.

In previous years, division quotas for nationals entries were established based on their percentage of registered masters licenses, with slots reserved for Canadian competitors and increased quota for the home division. For the 2013 Masters National Championship, division quotas will no longer be applied - entry is on a first come basis until field size of 300 is reached.

Registration

Registration for the 2014 National Championships will start Dec. 1. Online registration will be available through SkiRaceReg.com.

Mail-in entries can also be sent by completing a single event entry card for all events in which you wish to compete. Follow the instructions on the entry form for submitting your entry to the Race Secretary with single check for all events in which you wish to compete made payable to: Okemo Mt. Resort.

(Registration for the 2014 national championships is now closed)

There will be a $10 per race late fee for entries submitted after Feb. 25, 2104 Feb. 28, 2104, applicable to both online and mailed entries.

Fees

Entry fees for championship event are as follows:

As noted above, there is a a $10/race late fee for entries made after the Feb. 25 Feb. 28 deadline. Lift tickets will be available to all racers with bibs at the discounted rate of $30 per day. Okemo Mt. Resort will also provide a "friends and family rate" to all racers.

Cancellation

The National Masters Committee has established the following policy for cancellations: Masters must cancel two weeks prior to the event for a full refund (midnight, March 5, 2014). Masters who cancel within the two week period are not entitled to a full refund; refund percentages are at the discretion of the host area. Masters who cancel due to emergencies or recent (within the cancellation period) injury may be subject to a $20.00 service fee by the host area.

Okemo Mountain Resort has stated that there will be no refunds for non-injury/emergency cancellation requests made after the cancellation deadline is reached at midnight, Mar. 5. 2014. Okemo will charge $20 processing fee on all refunds due to emergencies and/or injuries during the cancellation period.


News and Event Schedule

The detailed event schedule is published in the Masters Competition Guide and posted on the masters section of ussa.org:

Event lodging packages are available from Okemo Mountain, with a range of options available for on-site lodging, and reasonably priced lodging and special offers are also available in the town of Ludlow.


Event Results

Note: in order to manage the large field of competitors and provide good conditions for all at this championship event, competitors are split into several groups by age and gender. The groupings are A (men 21-44, classes 1-4), B (men 45-59, classes 5-7), C (all women), and D (men 60+, classes 8-14). The SG and the GS events are run on two courses to separate the younger A/B classes from the C/D groups of older men and all ladies, while in the SL each group competes on their own course.

DH Training See DH Training Times below in the Additional Scoring Reports section for times from the DH training runs.

Race Results By Class By Group By Gender Overall
DH (training run times below) results by age class  results by group  results by gender  overall race results 
 
SG        
GS results by age class A/B, results by age class C/D results by group A/B results by gender C/D overall race results A/B, overall race results C/D
SL Group  results by age class A+, results by age class B-, results by age class C, results by age class D     Group  overall race results A+, overall race results B-, overall race results C, overall race results D
Class Combined Standings  (Final)
race results Arace results Brace results Crace results D
group A class combined standings (pdf) Agroup B class combined standings (pdf) Bgroup C class combined standings (pdf) Cgroup D class combined standings (pdf) D
 

Thursday's SG was cancelled due to unsafe conditions on the race hill - crew and competitors worked all morning to slip and pack the hill, but with over 5" of very wet and heavy snow, the conditions were determined to be too soft to safely run a speed event.

Friday's A/B SL was run on two courses with a "non-standard" class split to even out the field sizes on each course. Class 5 men were shifted from the B group course, leaving the large classes 6 and 7 on the B course, and ran with classes 1-4 on the A course.

The age class combined champions are awarded according to total race points in all three two disciplines contested at the national championships.

Division's Cup

The Division's Cup is awarded to the division with the best ratio of points scored per competitor start for all races in the national championships. Division teams must consist of at least 10 competitors to be eligible. The 2014 Divisions Cup was captured by Intermountain division.

Divisions Cup standings 2014 Divisions Cup final standings

Competitors Summary

Division Position # Competitors # Starts Division Cup Score
Central 3 10 15 1.066
Eastern 2 175 260 1.603
Far West (n/e) 4 8 -- 1.875 --
Intermountain 1 12 20 1.75
Pacific Northwest (n/e) 5 8 -- 2.5 --
Northern (n/e) 1 2 -- 5.0 --
Rocky Mountain (n/e) 3 5 -- 2.0 --
Canada (n/e) 4 8 -- 0.625 --
Total 214 competitors (169 men, 45 women))
Divisions Cup Divisions Cup standings complete standings

Spyder National Masters Team

The Spyder National Masters Team is named at the conclusion of the National Championships, based on world cup points scoring (best finish record points total) from the three two events of the triple-combined.


Additional Scoring Reports (Just for Fun!)

The standings reports in this section provide additional rankings to show standings by race points, total time, and world cup points by class and by group - these are just for fun to see different comparisons of competitor results.

NOTES: Because of the unusual class split on the two A/B SL courses, group B's class 5 raced on a different course than the 6/7 classes, so it is unfortunately not possible to provide an overall ranking for Group B in the SL event and combined. Because Thursday's SG was cancelled to due weather and course conditions, the usual triple-combined SG-GS-SL combined scoring is a two-event GS-SL scoring for the 2014 national championships.

Scoring Standings By Class By National Group Notes
Race Points Combined class combined (race points) Aclass combined (race points) Bclass combined (race points) Cclass combined (race points) D combined standings by group (race points) AB**combined standings by group (race points) Ccombined standings by group (race points) D This is the race points scoring which is used for the triple combined class national champions.
Total Time Combined alt class combined scoring (total time) Aalt class combined scoring (total time) Balt class combined scoring (total time) Calt class combined scoring (total time) D alt combined scoring by group (total time) AB**alt combined scoring by group (total time) Calt combined scoring by group (total time) D Alt ranking on actual total times that go into race points ranking for the combined champions.
WC Points Combined alt class combined scoring (WC points, must finish all) Aalt class combined scoring (WC points, must finish all) Balt class combined scoring (WC points, must finish all) Calt class combined scoring (WC points, must finish all) D alt combined scoring by group (WC points, must finish all) AB**alt combined scoring by group (WC points, must finish all) Calt combined scoring by group (WC points, must finish all) D This is the rankings when scored by World Cup points for a triple combined
(competitors must finish all races, as in race points scoring).
DH Training Results By Class By Group By Gender Overall
DH training run #1 (Mon 3/17) results by age class  results by group  results by gender  overall race results 
DH training run #2 (Tue 3/18) results by age class  results by group  results by gender  overall race results 
DH training run #3 (Tue 3/18) results by age class  results by group  results by gender  overall race results