ISSA - International Slalom Skateboarding Association

This forum is just for daily banter like the old NCDSA slalom forum. Posts in this forum will just be a running dialog with the most recent comments at the top. This is great place to check in and get the buzz on what's going on right now.

Thanks to Jani to making this tweak to the forum so we can recapture the

Hi from Phoenix! I'm stuck here in sunny spring time desert blooming Phoenix.

Actually it's an interesting coincidence because the birth place of this site is here in Phoenix. Local Adam Trahan set up this site in late 2002 to be ie an online version of the old zine Slalom! published in the 80's and 90's. After an attempt to publish a few online articles "Slalom! Online" to replicate a magazine, he converted the site into a forum and invited me in to join him in his efforts to revive slalom again. Of course the birth of slalom was already happening, but this effort surely helped get communication around the events structured, and eventually ISSA reestablished itself.

This new discussion thread, more like the good old NCDSA, so instrumental in spreading the revival slalom stoke, is an attempt at providing a place to just quickly throw in a few words, rumours, announcements, reminders without deciding where the information belong prior to posting. Let's try it out and hopefully we'll quickly work out a method on what posts belong here vs in the more structured part of the site.

Enjoy!

/Jani

Jani,
What is a Swedish Parisian doing in Phoenix? Has the Iceland volcano stranded you in the South West? That's crazy.

I always thought Phoenix would be a great place for a mid winter or early season race. Lots of hills, good weather, easy to get to for Western US skaters. But the scene there was not huge.

It's a great place for anyone to be stranded. I'm at a Sheraton hotel with a fantastic pool and great weather. The 100+ end users of our application that we trained the other day have all left, but I'm accompanied by three customers from Switzerland, so I'm also in good company. Maybe "stuck" is not the right word, seems too harsh for this particular situation. Being "stuck" better suits those in an airport hotel in London or another overcrowded connection hub.

Also, I just heard from Corky, he's "stuck" at a golfing location in Spain. Doesn't sound too bad either.

/Jani

Oh man, I totally scrolled to the bottom to see the latest post... haha- I fail.

Adam Trahan and myself were talking abut how some topics/issues/problems on NCDSA 's slalom thread never got discussed in depth enough to the point of being solved...and I pointed to several other sports sites with threaded discussions...and also discussed the issues of anonymous posting on NCDSA and the issues caused by that....and so Slalomskateboarder.com was born in part to preserve each threaded topic..and to be easier to search.

I do miss the daily banter..and I am happy to see it return here.

Perhaps this will be news to many slalomers and snowboarders. As some people know I have been living in Aspen for the past 3 snow seasons. The first season was the best in 30 years and this last was perhaps the worst season in 30 years.

However, baffling as it may sound coming from a diehard East Coaster..... who swore he would never move to California....

I have moved to Dogtown. For good.

I am looking for people to skate with here. It is hard to find good spots. I skate on the beach a couple times a week.

I'm looking forward to Coleman sliding with Cliff Coleman too.

Claude Regnier goes under the knife again today........ as we speak.
Wishing him a speedy recovery!


On a different note...... glad to see Gilmour in California!!
Looking forward to finally skating with ya!

Hi every one over there !
I am new to slalom, perhaps a bit less to skateboarding ...
I had a warm welcome from many of you here -

I invite you to check
http://sakaroule.blogspot.com
and react: true/false / inadequate/not enough ...

I try as often as I can to post both in french and english,
(if not Creole or Castellano)
In case of emergency, call "Google translator".

Traduttore, tradittore.

Jonathan Harms wrote:

You write "Switch" ?

Cool site, Jerome! I like the mixture of various types of skating.

And yes, I write switch if I need to. It helps my regular writing too.

By the way, sign-up for this year's Slalom St. Louis race will be up either tonight or tomorrow.

I hear on Facebook that Claude made it through a complicated surgery and is doing well.

Ravitch wins a Lexus Hybrid for some brilliant idea on the carbon footprint dashboard.

Judi is working on the resurrection of the Capitola Classic

Registration for the Seismic World Cup is now open at https://www.regonline.com/seismicworldcup

People are signing up for the Oregon State Games (at least on NCDSA calendar). Lots of folks from California (Richy, Cat, Norski, Ravitch, Judy Oyama, Yandal, Eric Tokle) etc. The official signup will be in place around May 1 at http://stategamesoforegon.org

We will be having a kids/beginner race, plus our 4 normal events of Tight Slalom, GS, Hybrid, and the Peter Ramirez Memorial Slalomcross.

Come join us on the wonderful tree-lined smooth-as-a-baby's-bottom pavement at the Salem Soap Box Derby Hill.

Pat- that hill looks awesome. You might want to post the dates here, they are not on that site for 2010.

Gilmour - You left us and you never came down to the front range and raced you looser. You ever going to run cones again? How did your injuries heal up?

Kyle McClaren just signed up for Open class in the Seismic World Cup. Watch out!

Yeah, hopefully he'll be out of the "Funny Little Scooter to Hold Up Your Broken Foot in a Cast Division" by then.

Gary Fluitt wrote:Pat- that hill looks awesome. You might want to post the dates here, they are not on that site for 2010.

Dates are June 19-20. More info here: http://www.slalomskateboarder.com/phpBB ... php?t=7345

Gary Fluitt wrote:Watch out!

No kidding. In more ways than one!

Gary Fluitt wrote:Pat- that hill looks awesome. You might want to post the dates here, they are not on that site for 2010.

Gilmour - You left us and you never came down to the front range and raced you looser. You ever going to run cones again? How did your injuries heal up?

I was running a burly little hill in Aspen... 4 wheel drifts on ever gate.. super fast and steep on a crap surface.. real cheese grater stuff.. just like you guys like it.

you guys should have come.. or at least come snowboarding.

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OUST is the official Bearing sponsor of the Seismic World Cup. Check em' out at http://www.oustbearings.com

Takes a lot of balls to be a sponsor.

It's official: With all of the old guys attending the Oregon State Games, I need to hack into the Trackmate timer. Since it only outputs seconds and 1/1000 seconds, I need to add outputs for minutes and hours.

See NCDSA calendar sign-up

Just use old batteries.

St Louis here we come. In this Pic. Matt Franklin, Louis Richard, Chris Doan, Dave Pirniack through the extra syllable in just for you Dave, Gregg Stubbs, Klark FloitGraph, Joe Iocavelli, Lynn Kramer, Dave Bonelli, Glenn Bukowsky, Propoganda Fool Tim

Rumor has it that there will be a boarder cross race in CA this fall, with 10K in prize money. This will be an ISSA sanctioned World Cup Boarder X. All you trany skatin' racers are going to kill it.

Any change that rules and race calendar in full speed would be updated according new agreed ranking setup? Current situation is VERY confusing. Sorry to be once again PIA

SJ- we hear you. We're going to get the points thing sorted out and posted soon. Sorry for the delay.

Sent an official proposal to the Indianapolis Soap Box Derby Association requesting use of the facility to host an event in late August. We'll see where this goes...

Hopefully downhill.

Wesley Tucker wrote:Hopefully downhill.

Nope- it's the pumper challenge... haha.

willy demis wrote:

Wesley Tucker wrote:Hopefully downhill.

Nope- it's the pumper challenge... haha.

Sounds like fun would like to get out of the humidity of Houston.

Indiana is probably just as humid.

Announcing the launch of the Northeast Skateboard Racing Association (NESRA).

We have a website at www.sk8racing.com that should be live by late Monday 5/3/2010 for sign-ups and more info.

We will be holding a series of skateboard racing events around the Northeast United States and possibly in Canada, this spring, summer and fall.

Right now the venues include Burlington, VT, Antrim, NH and Holyoke, MA, but we hope to add at least one or two more races if possible. Contact us at info@cloudtenweb.com if you think you have a good race venue and want to see about us helping you host a race in our series.

The Burlington, Vermont race is scheduled for Saturday, May 15th, with a rain date of Sunday May 16th. Registration is from 9:30AM - 10AM, racer's meeting at 10:15, GS practice at 10:30. This is an "outlaw" race so there is a bust factor - for that reason, you must contact us at info@cloudtenweb.com for more info and directions to the event venue. Disciplines will be Giant Slalom, Super-Giant Slalom and a Sport Downhill.

All races will be single-lane, electronically timed, with each racer getting three runs per discipline. The course is 900 feet long. The GS course has 40 cones, the Super-G 20 cones, and the Downhill will use "cone features" to make extra turns in what is already an "S" shaped road. All races will use the Green Mountain Bomb Squad 5-foot high start ramp - with a transition suitable for even the lowest and longest of Downhill boards. The race road is fairly steep in the middle, with top speeds in the Downhill expected to be about 40mph, about 35 for the Super-G and 30 for the GS. There is a beautiful runout around a roundhouse right turn and up an incline - no foot braking required. A "B" push-start (all races) will be available for those who find the ramp and entire hill too daunting, or you can push-start from the top if you choose. Classes will be Open A and B only, with trophies for the top three places in each.

There will be a season points series. To qualify for the points series, you must contribute a minimum $5 donation at each event - all these funds go to the event organizer's choice of charity. You must also attend 2 of the 3 currently scheduled events (or 2 of 4, or 3 of 5 if we hold more races) with each racer's four highest finishes, no matter which discipline the finishes are in, counting towards a season championship and prizes. Stay tuned for more info on this!

If you have never raced a skateboard before, come see what it is all about. You will have world-ranked skateboard racers to talk to about equipment, techniques and where other races are being held.

The mimimum $5 donations we gather at the Burlington race will to go to the Downhillbillie's own Mr. Marion Karr's "Surf 2 the Surf" skateboard push-trip across North Carolina this coming summer, to raise awareness of brain injury victims and to benefit "Hinds Feet Farm", an organization that provides "Unique and Innovative Programs for Adults with Traumatic and Acquired Brain Injuries and Their Families".

Ok, let's ROCK!

-Rick

Nice job, Rick!

It's ALIVE! - http://www.sk8racing.com/

To come this week: race vids on site, a few more race pics, bigger text



-RF

Just curious, why IAAF has not different 110 hurdles spacing for different level groups or having races on slopes downhill for 100 meter runs? Why they run both on total flat with equal rules for all?

Rick,

Thanks for jumpstarting a Northeast series!

Is the 1st Antrim event and the Holyoke Hang both on the same day?

Terry

T Whalen wrote:Rick,

Thanks for jumpstarting a Northeast series!

Is the 1st Antrim event and the Holyoke Hang both on the same day?

Terry

You are most welcome sir. Dr. Dan and Dave K. are driving this thing too!

No, that date discrepancy has been fixed on the www.sk8racing.com website - and the dates for those are tentative anyway.

-Rick

Rick

I'll be back in boston for that weekend, I haven't been home since october but I might have to make an appearance. Whose riding up from MA?

Karl Floitgraf wrote:Rick

I'll be back in boston for that weekend, I haven't been home since october but I might have to make an appearance. Whose riding up from MA?

Nice, Glenn is coming up...bring the Weez!!

Dave K. is coming up from Antrim, let CMC know thru FB, but haven't heard back yet.

Want me to email you the location?

-RF

Series are important..

I would suggest using Needham educated course setters. Those boys set some exciting courses that are suitable for all levels....they let talent shine at high speeds but are makeable for everyone.

JG

Experienced a soft clutch in my car today- out of the blue. Not good... I've either magically got air in the line, or my pressure plate has magically lost springiness. The car still shifts just fine, and after work I am going to test for a slipping clutch.

This is bad news for me, because it could seriously jeopardize my ability to go to the STL race. If the car was rear wheel drive, replacing the clutch on the side of the road wouldn't be too bad, but as a FWD car, that would be a nightmare. The entire transmission has to come out... And being stuck on the side of the road with no clutch doesn't sound fun at all...

Here's hoping I bleed it, and lots of air comes out!

Bled the clutch line, and it seems to be back to normal.

As I turned onto a 45mph road today, I was up to about 35-40 and some guy pulled out in front of me to cross the road. He didn't see me until the very last millisecond and I had to swerve really, truly hard not to hit him. I've raced autocross in this car, and drive it pretty hard, and I can honestly say that this swerve may have been the most aggressive avoidance maneuver I've ever had to do. I'm really glad I very recently got my aftermarket rear swaybar on. The car stayed really stable as I made the crazy lane change, and then stable again as I brought it back into the other lane quickly.

Anyway, if the fluid in my brake reservoir is a little low (doesn't appear to be) then maybe during that lane change the fluid sloshed up one side high enough to allow air to get into the clutch line. That's my only guess. I'll top it off tonight to ensure, but for now- all seems to be ok.

See you in STL (God willing!)

Glad to hear it's (likely) not bad enough to require a major fix or major $$$.

Note to self: If car needs work, call Willy.

June 19-20

4 Open Events: Tight Slalom; Dual Hybrid; GS; Slalomcross

2 Beginner/Kids Races: GS ; Hybrid

Sign up now at www.stategamesoforegon.org

Got 10 pull action clamps in the mail today. That means I am definitely building a ramp this weekend!

I raced in my first DH race in 30 years this past weekend (last one was Capitola in 1980). The Buffalo Bill Downhill, right here if Golden is rad. 1 mile course with 4 hairpins and speeds in the 40's. Had a mishap in practice and slammed at about 30mph. new appreciation for leathers. Didn't break anything for once, but have a hellacious bruise from my thigh to my ribs. Anyway, kept riding so as to not lock up and had a blast. Chris Pappas was there too, and Joel Putrah and Zak Maytum, who are total DH Gods to me.
<center><img src="http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs065.snc ... "></center>
Anyway, I get a call from Pirnack at 7:30 this morning and he tells me to pick up the Denver Post. Front page of the Sports, there I am in taking turn three in my dorky leathers and all my slowness. Never fails that the biggest kook in the race gets the cover shot in the paper. I bought six copies.
<center><center>Joel nabbed 5th place and Zak 2nd place. Kyle Wester, a local skater, got third, so 2 Coloradans on the podium and three in the the top 5. Not bad. Justin DuBois put on the race and worked his ass off all weekend. One of the best races ever. Thanks to Dan Gesmer for Seismic's sponsorship of the race and Venom too. Without sponsors, we have no events like this.

some more good shots at the URL below
http://photos.denverpost.com/photogalle ... nt-2173239