Mike Avila (Mr. Warpath here on RDP), is now in his second term as president of the NWSRA and he is absolutely Hellbent (pun intended for the ski race crowd) on bringing the fun back into ski racing and getting the politics and agendas out! That being said, Mike is also known for being exceptionally competitive in the ski race world. So a relatively simple question fell on the shoulders of Mike and the Board of "How do you make serious ski racing fun?" Almost an oxymoron in itself with "serious" and "fun" in the same question. This question has been asked quite literally 100's of times in person, and in our ski race section to which everyone has always had their own ideas and very rarely anyone can agree on a solution. Somehow though this last Parker International was different than years past, it was serious racing with serious fun mixed in.
I asked Jim Lancon/Boat 512 of WOT Marine why this last Parker International had such a good vibe to it, and what he felt made it such a great event. His answer was astonishingly simple and it goes right back to Mike Avila, The Board, and their solution. Jim said "Mike and The Board combined both the circle style racing, and the marathons to come up with a kind of hybrid style event." To most that aren't in the ski racing crowd that won't mean much, but even to novice fans as myself it's actually pretty huge. What it does is cater to both groups of ski racers (circles and marathons), and encourages new participation from grassroots while exposing them to the best of the best. The end result larger events, more fun, and ultimately the spectators get a better show with more boats and skiers of all skill levels.
In talking with long time ski racer Andy Anderson on the same subject he felt that the energy and excitement that the grass roots guys bring with them always makes an event a lot of fun. He mentioned them getting to run both days was a definite plus and agreed that this years Parker Internationals had a great positive and fun vibe to it. We talked at some lengths about people that are going above and beyond to help out new guys and further the sport as a whole.
So from Andy Anderson, myself and RDP thanks to the following guys for going above and beyond at the 2013 Parker Internationals.
Boat 512 - Jim Lancon Jim is always willing to pull any skier, new or old. He has been great for new people trying to get into the sport.
Nordic Boats 192, 373 - Randy Davis and Steve Davis pulled in multiple races ranging from 16 and under kids, grass roots, up to the mens open winner Todd Haig.
Boat 107 - Glen Anderson Glen was in almost every race, including grass roots, novice, and is always willing to pull new skiers
Boat 1 - Mike Avila Mike Avila pulled multiple races. He also let Freddy Brennan drive former World Champion and Catalina Ski Race Winner Martie Wells. This was Martie's first race outside of Catalina in 10 years.
And a heartfelt WELCOME BACK to the family of Ski racing to :
Martie Wells 2003 World Champion and 2 time Catalina Ski Race Winner.
Joe Mitchell Boat 525. Restored former ski race boat Sudden Impact. Twin Turbo Hallett Vector named "Coin Toss".
Anthony Maric bought former ski race boat "Kix" formerly raced by the Saunders family (Erin Saunders family who won the last two Catalina Races in the Womens division), and raced it this weekend. Boat # 87.
Lee Spinder and Lee Squier in boat 78 came out of retirement for the first ski race outside of Catalina that Team Schiada has raced in over 10 years.
Finally one of the coolest stories of the weekend, is about boat 36! This family showed up at the ski race reunion last September, knowing very little about ski racing but wanted to give it a try. With the help of Andy Anderson, BJ Hipskind, and Jim Lancon they got to ski on borrowed equipment and caught the bug. During the US Open in San Diego they again showed up and skied with borrowed equipment which further set the hook. For the Parker Internationals they showed up with their own boat, bought gear, team shirts and WON the Grass Roots race.
written by RiverDave
Pics by OCPhotographics.com
Stats by Andy Anderson
