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Aspen race training?


Guest Neil

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I was an official convert last year to an Alpine board. I race (believe it or not) in NC, VA, and WV for a school in NC, East Carolina Univ through the uscsa.

I'm heading to Aspen over New Years and will have 5 days of riding (31st-4th) to get in some good practice after heading to Snowshoe, WV for a few days.

Heres the question, does anyone know of any good race training avail in Aspen? I'll be staying there with a friend and it would be very helpful to spend some time with someone who is experienced in racing and or training; or where to just hit some gates. Its my last year of College/racing (club level) and I would like to end on a good note.

If anyone knows of someone to contact please let me know. Thanks!

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Neil,

The only guy I know in Aspen who can help you with that is Jim Callen who is a member here. http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/member.php?u=329 I am not sure what his situation with Aspen is this year but drop him a line.

If you can drive about three hours here to Summit County there are several team programs that allow "drop in" training. Let me know if you are interested in this.

Good luck!

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Guest wally sipes

hi neil, i am in nc and i am leaving on the 31 also. i will be there til march. aspen highlands has a nastar course set up that is good training. i am not sure of the fee for unlimited runs, $40-60? snowmass may have one also. fred wilson of aspen is a local racer that may could help also. i will be at buttermilk sun morning. cell, 7045007184 wally [orange jacket, colier or fish]

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but there is very, very good training at Copper Mountain where you can "drop in" and pay by the 1/2 day or day. Sean is an excellent instructor......strictly trains snowboard racers. I have flown kids out from Minneapolis on a couple of occasions and been very happy with the training. Call the race department at Copper if interested and ask for Sean.

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Last year 3 of the 4 areas in Aspen had Nastar. I'm guessing the same this year. For $10 a day you can have unlimited timed runs on the course. They usually open the course around noon and are open for 2 hours. Each area has Nastar on different days. You can go to nastar.com and figure out which day to be at which area.

You will get more miles of gates under your belt running Nastar than you will dropping in with a race team. It's true that the Nastar course is typically more "fall line" than a snowboard race will be but if you just converted to an Alpine board, the Nastar course will be a bit easier and a good way to start to learn the line and timing of alpine racing.

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Thanks for the posts. I will check out Nastar.com to see when they have their runs open. Maybe I'll hit a few Nastar courses then if I can head up to Copper Mtn I'll try and see Sean, or some trainer in Aspen.

Wally, I'll give you a call sometime Friday or Sat, and it would be great to also to catch up with a local in Aspen instead of having to rent a car and head up to Copper Mtn since Im staying with a friend in Aspen. But who knows, I may use my friends truck to drive up there.

If anyone else is up for riding in Aspen from the 31st-4th let me know. 336.407.4441, Neil.

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Neil,

A year ago I was at Copper and did a drop in with the local race group. I was disappointed. I got very few runs on courses and no useful advice...unless the importance of "re-hydration" breaks qualifies. From my experience, I would advise against making a special trip.

Figure this: The local race group caters to the member racers. They have their training schedule for that day which may or may not fit your needs. Then figure in the weather and snow conditions which may or may not be conducive to gate training on that day. If you make a special trip and spend extra bucks it may be worth it...it may be a bust. You might make a special trip and end up listening to a coach talking more about his credentials than your progress racing gates.

If you find someone in Aspen to hook up with and you can run Nastar, you can avoid a lot of hassles and spend no extra money.

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Hey Neil,

I live here Aspen and would be glad to take a couple of runs with you and give you some pointers. Give me a call on my cell 970-618-4306. I'll be riding ajax in the morning and shooting some video. You're welcome to drop in on that and I haven't decided where to ride in the afternoon yet so give me a shout if you get this in time.

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