National Champs rumors

straight up Northstar
by far one the best bike park on the East Coast. the terrain is rocky, loose, pretty steep, and wild. Everything about Northstar screams nationals. the village is great, mountains even better, and Northstar, as a growing resort, could use the attention.

kev1n wrote: straight up Northstar
by far one the best bike park on the East Coast. the terrain is rocky, loose, pretty steep, and wild. Everything about Northstar screams nationals. the village is great, mountains even better, and Northstar, as a growing resort, could use the attention.

West coast* and mammoth is bigger and better venue. but i think anywhere on the west coast is fine. maybe more PNW

Angel Fire!

Pretty sure there is a big USAC meeting this weekend. Perhaps they'll figure something out...

sugarbush in warren, vt. lets dooo it.

too bad sun valley doesn't have a bike park...

yet.

NORTHSTAR would be a great venue....
If they held it a different weekend than the PRO GRT was scheduled. June 18th is possibly too early with the snow, it was last year.

They need to either build another course or use something on the Vista side, with new sections.... Booondocks isn't spectator friendly. And Gypsy isn't a worthy course.

it won't be determined this weekend. USAC will be looking over a few bids this next week... hopefully something will be determined soon... they also need to determine the date of the event.

it's possible that a brand new venue is found that hasn't had a high caliber race to date.

my vote: mammoth.

7 springs bike park. A good fun place. Fun course, alot of speed. not to techical. fun jumps. One of the gravity east stops. Sick rock garden. Huge table tops at bottom. And awesome people. I vote 7 springs, Pa.

I think Northstar would be great! It has tech trails that can really show a riders bike controol. As long as it is something a bit more chalenging then Gypse. Something on the otherside of the mountain would be awesome.

Diablo LOL.

I think it makes sense to have it be as similar to Champery as possible. National Champs is what USAC uses(with a few petition exceptions) to determine who to send to Worlds.



If they use Northstar, they really need to use something other than Gypsy, and make it more privateer friendly than the ProGRT was (i.e. allow on site camping, lower the pit fees, allow vehicles to leave at night/return in the morning)





I really would rather see national champs at Schweitzer. That place is burly, a long track and it's steep and rough. Plus, the new operators are excited about bikes and want to bring big races back there. Bring back Alter boy!

-KT

Vote: schweitzer!!!

Schweitzer was gnarly. Remember the big g-out at the bottom of those steep rocks?

If u want ur Mtn to host national champs, have them contact USAC asap. Or they can always contact me, and I can get them the info and in touch with the right people

Schulze wrote: Angel Fire!

ya ANGLE FIRE!!!! oooo sickest course, that's a mans track!!! fast rocky and loose
or NORTHSTAR.. it has the room and lifts ready for the people

My vote goes to Schweitzer! LEGIT, BURLY track. A real mans track.

They could definitely have a great World Championships qualifier here.

Basically, National Champs should be steep, long, and challenging. Have these three things and I won't care where it is...

thom9719 wrote: I think it makes sense to have it be as similar to Champery as possible. National Champs is what USAC uses(with a few petition exceptions) to determine who to send to Worlds.



If they use Northstar, they really need to use something other than Gypsy, and make it more privateer friendly than the ProGRT was (i.e. allow on site camping, lower the pit fees, allow vehicles to leave at night/return in the morning)





I really would rather see national champs at Schweitzer. That place is burly, a long track and it's steep and rough. Plus, the new operators are excited about bikes and want to bring big races back there. Bring back Alter boy!

-KT

YESS!!!! they need to cut a trail off comstock and make a real 4x course

angel fire makes the most sense,psuedo central location and sick ass tracks!! best 4x in the country, definitely top 3 best dh track in the country yes please!

I say Diablo or Whiteface or Plattekill

am i a dick to think there won't be an actual gravity national champs in 2011? not because the dhers and people like JDD don't care, but because the governing body can't be bothered.

maybe we can determine DH national champ with a video contest on vital instead?

Spomers Idea sounds better than what might really happen. On the other hand I believe Timberline would make a great location.

sspomer wrote: am i a dick to think there won't be an actual gravity national champs in 2011? not because the dhers and people like JDD don't care, but because the governing body can't be bothered.

maybe we can determine DH national champ with a video contest on vital instead?

Nah, there will be one, they'll just host it on a "real" DH course.........Like Sea Otter.

-KT

OOOOOh! my vote is for sea otter!

Deer Valley....Hate to say it, but that's what I am hearing.
For the record, I want it to be at Mammoth. I love that place!

man, really?

I fail to see why they didnt choose Northstar, its the best venue and with the new trail crew on the mountain, a 4x course and a fresh DH course would have easily been made.

what a fucking shame

sspomer wrote: am i a dick to think there won't be an actual gravity national champs in 2011? not because the dhers and people like JDD don't care, but because the governing body can't be bothered.

maybe we can determine DH national champ with a video contest on vital instead?

respectable idea, but none the less a bad idea.

USA needs nationals, whether its a pain in the ass to find a location or not, its a necessity to keeping downhill racing a active scene in the states.

across the globe, countries like Australia, countries in Europe, and even countries like Indonesia have National races; and saying that USA couldnt manage to host a Nationals race is just embarrassing...

we need nationals,
we need northstar

What about Windham! I'd say that Angel Fire "WAS" the best 4x track in the US. But, after racing the World Cup finals at Windham this year, that track was easily better then Angel Fire. Sadly, I'm a little concerned about Angel Fire's 4x future, given the unfortunate events that took place at that venue this past Chili Challenge, RIP Craig Lange.



The DH track is pretty awesome, has a bit of steep at the top, would be a great "World Cup" level venue to choose Worlds nominations. ( not that there isn't other options within the country. )



The first thing that comes to my mind though. Windham has a World Cup race locked up for the next two seasons, perhaps they could care less about National Championships. Hosting the event won't do much for the venue that a World Cup can't . Or perhaps their budget is already spent in securing two more World Cups. I've heard that hosting a World Cup is a damn pricey venture.



Your thoughts?