Competition Section

[Mike W.]

Hey Guys i think we should have a section for people to post comps that are coming up rather than trying to scan through the hundreds of posts in meetup n ride or the general skiboard talk sections.

what do you think?

[mahatma]

Oh boy, here come the growing pains. Competitions for me are a real tug of war. I mean I get it and all. People with the same interests get together, show off and have fun together. That's the good side. The downside is it creates a seriousness that is disquieting. Money, external sponsors, internal bickering, ego trips, on and on. Not sure where I come down. Hmmm.

[Mike W.]

With out competitions the sport will not progress as fast as some of the other sports. I remember when i competed in early 2000's how awesome the competitions were and some of the sick progression the sport was taking. To win you need to go bigger and better than the other guys/gals which will push your comfort zone and trix.

Look at twin tip skiing.. some of the rail trix and big air trix are sick, but i have yet to see any real sick stuff like that recently from skiboarders. Having competitions are what they are, show of your skills as a skiboarder, beat the other guy, get bragging rights, have a beer or a cola afterward and just have fun.

[Mike W.]

I'd also like to mention that alot of wicked filming can be done at these comps and more skiboard videos could be made.

[NninoN]

There are like...2 comps all year...even the birds know where/when they will be. :)

[Mike W.]

My point is to having a section is to get more people involved to get more comps out there. Sure riding and giving people cards is one thing. having a frequent comp or more than 2 a year showing what skiboarding is all about is another.

[mahatma]

Well, I know I need to remain open to that type of thinking. But, I'm not interested in the sport progressing at a faster rate. It looks like it's moving just fine to me. I don't care what other sports think of skiboarding or how it "compares". Tricks and all mountain riding will continue to progress at a natural pace. We are not in competition with anything else. This is our thing. Proud to be part and require no external applause. I'm not sure why you care about skiboarding doing some version of keeping up with the Jones's. My knee jerk feeling is to get "respect" from those outside of skiboarding. I hope that never, ever happens. It happened once before and how did it end up? Believe me when I tell you as I speak from experience - it's better when they don't like us. Movies are fun and I do enjoy watching them but competitions and all they bring is one hell of a price for an extra movie.

[NninoN]

First, frequent (and technically well organized) comps will make the level of skiboarding to go higher and higher and that is good and needed thing, no matter how you look at it.

Second, the thing that skiboarding misses the most are videos!!! We just have to work more on that, for us, not for anyone else!!

[tyberesk]

My point is to having a section is to get more people involved to get more comps out there. Sure riding and giving people cards is one thing. having a frequent comp or more than 2 a year showing what skiboarding is all about is another.

i dont think the sport wants or....really needs more than 2 competitions a year. We have plenty of meetups...and a few times a year we compete against each other, seems fine to me

[mahatma]

NninoN,

Sure. I think you are right on those points. Hell, nothing wrong at all with the concept of competitions. I'm sort of being devil's advocate in the sense that I think it is important to be aware of the "whys". The whys matter greatly. We hold competitions to enjoy each other, progress this thing we love and grow ourselves. Outstanding. We hold competitions to prove to others we are as good as they are, to mindlessly attract money from wherever it might come and to become the next big thing - well, that will be just be pathetic and sad. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Live whys.

[Mike W.]

I am not saying lets keep up with the Jones's but one would think if we were no differnt than skiiers then why is our progression not moving at the same speeds if not going in the other direction?

I know i have been away from skiboarding for a while but the only thing that i have seen. progress is a bit of rails and the boards themselves. How i see it is more comps = more exposure, friendly rivalries, new riders introduced into the sport and the sport flurishing much like it is in Europe

[mahatma]

No different than skiers? Yea man, you've been away awhile. No harm done though. It's all good.

[SkaFreak]

I think the biggest problem is being able to pull enough riders to have frequent competitions. Travel is expensive.

[NninoN]

Yap, Mahatma, i got your point and i feel the same way, like, do our thing, enjoy it and dont become preoccupied with how others are looking at us or how we compare to others...but when i say to bring skiboarding to higher level i mean to improve the tricks, the riding, the lot! And for that comps and meetups help a lot!! :)

i like it to be hard core :)

....when i think about snowboarding these days....uuuuh

[mctwist311]

I agree the sport could see a few more comps but on the same token most meetups/comps are covered out of the riders pocket therefore it makes it difficult to get large groups together. you wanna pay some of us to come to a comp and compete for cash prizes more of us would be willing to make the trip and huck themselves a bit more. like ty said with how the sport is currently is fine by most of us we are not interested in risking our lives so that a few people on this site would like us more... the sport doesnt need big tricks it just needs more people to see us riding and having fun, asking ?'s getting interested and hopefully trying out real skiboards...

[NninoN]

I agree the sport could see a few more comps but on the same token most meetups/comps are covered out of the riders pocket therefore it makes it difficult to get large groups together. you wanna pay some of us to come to a comp and compete for cash prizes more of us would be willing to make the trip and huck themselves a bit more. like ty said with how the sport is currently is fine by most of us we are not interested in risking our lives so that a few people on this site would like us more... the sport doesnt need big tricks it just needs more people to see us riding and having fun, asking ?'s getting interested and hopefully trying out real skiboards...

have to disagree there on the last part.... but k...

[Davelynam]

i like skiboarding

[Kirk S]

Mahatma, Skiboarding competitions (at least the most recent one that I have been too and the more recent ones in general) don't really have that feel of "It's all about the money, the glory, and the fact that I am better than you" about them its more or less we just go and ride, have fun and enjoy how many people we got to come out. Besides when you ride with 90% of the people that show up to the competitions you already have an idea of who is going to place where. Serge even mentioned that the feel of the U.S. Open was completely different than the events of the past.

On that note I think competitions are a good thing to have when there done right.

Unfortunately this whole "done right" concept brings me to the next point I was going to make and explain that not many competitions are. I think Hershal and others had about a years worth of planning that went into the Open and you could certainly tell the difference between it and something that is just throw together.

For that reason and for the fact that coming up with enough sponsors to even meet the bare minimum of paying for lift tickets is a huge burden especially for sport with little respect.
so its a never ending circle can't get funding because your not popular can't get popular without publicity cant get publicity without funding.

2 - 3 well organized and well put together (e.g. cheap for the riders) competitions are all we really need right now to be happy.

[sempai]

I've barely skimmed through this thread, so maybe this idea was mentioned. If you want a competition section, just add the thread to the Meet Up and Ride section and keep it at the top like other threads are in other sections, how ever that is done.

[nate]

I've barely skimmed through this thread, so maybe this idea was mentioned. If you want a competition section, just add the thread to the Meet Up and Ride section and keep it at the top like other threads our in other sections how ever that is done.
Sticky

[darobbert]

It's about having fun, not about progressing the sport to make it on par with twintips. They're two different entities, independent of one another. Apples and oranges.

[Roussel]

competition is almost natural for human beings. even if we just go out and ''meet up'' everyone will naturally be trying to do their best, and one up-ing each other, and pushing each other.

its going to happen anyways, i say why not throw in a bit of organization, the potential for great promotion for our sport, the chance to get some free gear possibly cash, and progression for the sport.

[NHisfun]

i like jasons answer

[mahatma]

Roussel's points are well made and I agree. What I would like to have kept in mind as I stated is the whys matter. Those whys are not my whys or your whys but rather the consensus whys. When things are done for the right reasons then everyone walks away tall regardless of results. When things are done for other than right reasons no one profits in the end and the lesson must be relearned. I'm nothing more than a single voice and a very small one at that. It's a prideful thing to be associated with righteous people. It makes a man stand tall.

[bec2745]

I'm mostly in favor of comps as long as they are well put together (ie:US OPEN). And wouldn't mind seeing more of them. I do agree with Jason tho. Even when we all just meed up there is always some sort of vibe like we all need to push ourselves a little further. Lets get more and more people to come to the few comps/meet ups that we have each year and the sport will grow at is own pace.

But staying within the topic of this thread. No i don' think the Forums need a section for comps. As there are only 4-5 around the world maybe per year I don't think there is enough topics to warrant a whole "Comp Section" not saying we wont in the future but for now the meet-up section does a fine job.

[kirk]

Maybe a sub-category within meetups?

[tyberesk]

Maybe a sub-category within meetups?

Genious!

[Mike W.]

thats all i am asking for.. lol

[Mark]

shihhh, son

[Greco]

http://www.skiboardsonline.com/vbulletin/upload/forumdisplay.php?f=21