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Big Mountain Skiing Update – Comp Info

Written by Team Summit on . Posted in big mountain skiing.

Below are some points I would love to share and make known, to aid in some understanding, hopefully.

  • The Rocky Mountain Division has over 700 athletes; this is about 2.5X larger than the subsequent most significant division in the US and Canada.
  • Events (and the addition of days) are at the sole discretion of the event hosts (i.e., the mountains), and NOT IFSA or RMFS.
  • The IFSA earns only $6 from each event registration.  The registration platform takes roughly a 9% tax.  The rest of the registration fees go to hosts and host resorts.
  • The Rocky Mountain division is not accepting any registrations into Rocky events from individuals in other divisions to accommodate rocky athletes first and foremost.
  • My chosen competition schedule has been done with extreme care to limit the number of competition overlaps we have.  We will be supporting ten regional events, four national events, and 5 U12 events—19 events in total, with a semi-consistent staff of 5, for 47 athletes.
  • (this one is slightly more personal) Please be respectful and kind if you decide to reach out to RMFS or IFSA.  Almost 100% of relevant communication frequently ends up in my email inbox regardless, and a nasty email reflects upon me in addition to every other Team Summit Freeride family.

Additional Supported Event Added

I've chosen to add the Vail 12-14 event on March 10th; registration opens tonight, Thursday, January 19th, at 6 PM.

Winter Park and Snowmass remain non-options.  Unfortunately, the Winter Park events directly overlap with the Taos Regional and the Kirkwood National.  Aspen/Snowmass is too tight of a window from the Abasin and Breck National events.

Registration Tips

  • Be on time. Like right on time.  6 PM can be very different than 6 PM and 23 seconds.
  • Have multiple devices attempting to register. Laptops, desktops, phones, tablets, the whole nine yards.
  • Encourage your athletes to get involved with registration, and help with their success.
  • Be 100% sure you know when registration is, what age divisions can compete in any event, etc… Being a freeride parent/athlete often requires an honorable Ph.D. in research.
  • Last but not least, angry emails/texts/phone calls will not solve issues if things don't go your way.  This is a sport built around community and helpfulness.  It is my job as a coach to advocate for every one of my athletes, and I will continue to do so – with polite and respectful communication.


As I've told many of you already, we will need to let the dust settle from this batch of registrations before we begin discussing removing athletes from waitlists, squeezing into events, etc… If you were at the beginning of season orientation, my last slide in the PowerPoint stated one thing: 
Patience

Thank you!

Daniel McFadden
Head Big Mountain Coach
daniel@teamsummit.org