Hans,
Yeah, I forgot. I grew up in the country and just never got into the habit of ALWAYS setting the first cone for a sweep to the right. It's easily corrected though: Add one cone or delete the first cone. (I made the same mistake on my Folly Beach course design last year and we corrected it in just this manner after some complaint from the racers. No big deal.)
Michael, that "golden rule" was an ISSA directive layed down some time in the past 15 years. It says that all courses for an ISSA sanctioned event must be entered from the right. Since I never even heard of the ISSA until last year (:-)) I'm still not really keyed into all their rules. No complaint here, it's just never a rock-hard habit I ever got into.
You guys are like contractors: once the architect lays down the plans, god help the guy who alters the final construction from the design!
![:smile:](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
Don't take this stuff so seriously. Play with it, make adjustments. If a cone is put down right on a manhole cover, make a change. It won't hurt my feelings.
Jani, I guess I could figure out some sort of numbering system. Probably something like
(First Entry): Type of course (1=tight, 2=hybrid, 3=giant)
(Second Entry): Recommended hill (1=shallow, 2=5-6% grade, 3=STEEP)
(Third Entry): Suggested level of difficulty (1=Simple, 2=moderate, 3=challanging)
So, I would say these first three course would be:
Course 1 Course Design # = 2-2-2
Course 2 Course Design # = 3-3-2
Course 3 Course Design # = 2-2-3
A few months ago I wrote a post where I made the analogy of rating and riding slalom courses to the "parameter codes" used in making synthesizer music. I liked it when I wrote it and like it now. All that needs to be done is making a standard for road conditions and hill steepness. That way in much the same way a musician can digitize every aspect of his sound (volume, wave form, filtering, sustain, etc.,) we could "digitize" a race course and make all aspects of an event public long before an event.
I still am troubled by the fact that slalom courses are kept a secret from the participants up until an hour before the racing starts. I know, it's the way it's always been done. Doesn't mean, though, that I have to like it and can't keep arguing for a change in philosophy. If we really want to see speeds and daring explode on the course, wait until the time comes when 40 racers show up for an event and all have practiced the course layout for a couple of weeks. Then, the challenge is putting your skill up against another guy who's also practiced for a couple of weeks. It will make for a completely new dimension to the racing we've all seen for the past three decades.
BUT, that's not why I drew these course designs and the ones I'll do in the future. Mainly, I just want people new to slalom who have never been to a major event to know what we're talking about. Trust me, until you've seen a "Gilmourian Curve," or a "Tight stinger" or even "tricky offsets," you have no clue what is being discussed. I hope my scribblings make it a little more clear for the newbies picking this up for the first time.