Is usasa a ripoff?

Tmcauliffe

Tmcauliffe

Member
I looked into doing a usasa comp and then found out its 100 dollars just to register for an account, and 50 dollars to sign up for each comp, all that on top of lift tickets. Only to get to go on a trip to colorado at your own expense, where you pay for everything, and extra for the comp to compete against more kids. Does it get you anything special other than getting to compete against some kids, and have national rankings, i would rather save the money, and do some of the cheap 10 dollar non usasa comps, where you actually win some gear.

**This thread was edited on Jan 12th 2019 at 6:38:37pm

**This thread was edited on Jan 12th 2019 at 6:39:11pm
 
This is why TAFT was created, you can get money and just have a good time, i think some tickets are included but yeah its stupid how much it is plus going to nationals, its worth it if you qualify for rev tour or win at copper and get like $3000. USASA is also a joke, it takes nothing to qualify for nationals like the year after I did one they emailed another invite after placing 41st/45 the previous year.
 
13984999:Titus69 said:
This is why TAFT was created, you can get money and just have a good time, i think some tickets are included but yeah its stupid how much it is plus going to nationals, its worth it if you qualify for rev tour or win at copper and get like $3000. USASA is also a joke, it takes nothing to qualify for nationals like the year after I did one they emailed another invite after placing 41st/45 the previous year.
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Andy went on a rant about usasa/ussa at Spirit Mt in front of a bunch of kids and their parents who were up there for a comp. And in front of the guy who runs the freestyle program and made TAFT happen at Spirit. Don't think Spirit was very down to have them back again which is a bummer cuz now I have to drive down to Trollhaugen. I absolutely love TAFT and the idea behind it, that's how comps should be but there's no way small cash prizes can be given out all the time. Especially for the munchkin comps.

In Andy's defense, I totally agree with him about it being a waste of money and how much of that money goes to the head honchos running the organization, pretty ridiculous how high those fees are considering they're paying people to stand around with a clipboard. But in organized comps defense I think it's a great way for kids to get into freeskiing because a lot of parents are pretty set on having their kid doing extra-curricular organized sports that are "official" enough to put on a college app. Most school sports cost some money to participate in but it pales in comparison to the money spent on freeski comps, travel, tickets, etc.
 
13985083:john18061806 said:
Andy went on a rant about usasa/ussa at Spirit Mt in front of a bunch of kids and their parents who were up there for a comp.
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Idk why I thought this was so funny but this made my day
 
13985083:john18061806 said:
Andy went on a rant about usasa/ussa at Spirit Mt in front of a bunch of kids and their parents who were up there for a comp. And in front of the guy who runs the freestyle program and made TAFT happen at Spirit. Don't think Spirit was very down to have them back again which is a bummer cuz now I have to drive down to Trollhaugen. I absolutely love TAFT and the idea behind it, that's how comps should be but there's no way small cash prizes can be given out all the time. Especially for the munchkin comps.

In Andy's defense, I totally agree with him about it being a waste of money and how much of that money goes to the head honchos running the organization, pretty ridiculous how high those fees are considering they're paying people to stand around with a clipboard. But in organized comps defense I think it's a great way for kids to get into freeskiing because a lot of parents are pretty set on having their kid doing extra-curricular organized sports that are "official" enough to put on a college app. Most school sports cost some money to participate in but it pales in comparison to the money spent on freeski comps, travel, tickets, etc.
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Yeah I saw in Dan's video from killington he was talking about how there weren't magical points that get you nowhere like fis rankings, which is kinda true. I really only hate the fact that the organizations are fucked and coaches can push kids to hard. I use to do a ton of usasa comps and still would compete if I could afford the fees and time, landing a run you planned feels so good, the pressure definitely helps you improve if you can handle it. However skiing with your friends and progressing for the price of just a pass is so much fun too.
 
13985085:Not_Good said:
Idk why I thought this was so funny but this made my day
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I was cracking up a little as it was happening. He was spitting some truth but definitely the wrong place at the wrong time.
 
13985083:john18061806 said:
Andy went on a rant about usasa/ussa at Spirit Mt in front of a bunch of kids and their parents who were up there for a comp. And in front of the guy who runs the freestyle program and made TAFT happen at Spirit. Don't think Spirit was very down to have them back again which is a bummer cuz now I have to drive down to Trollhaugen. I absolutely love TAFT and the idea behind it, that's how comps should be but there's no way small cash prizes can be given out all the time. Especially for the munchkin comps.

In Andy's defense, I totally agree with him about it being a waste of money and how much of that money goes to the head honchos running the organization, pretty ridiculous how high those fees are considering they're paying people to stand around with a clipboard. But in organized comps defense I think it's a great way for kids to get into freeskiing because a lot of parents are pretty set on having their kid doing extra-curricular organized sports that are "official" enough to put on a college app. Most school sports cost some money to participate in but it pales in comparison to the money spent on freeski comps, travel, tickets, etc.
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honestly mad respect to andy for doing this. Expensive competitions being viewed as more legit is wack, what you're basically saying is that if your parents have more money you're viewed as a more dedicated skier in the eyes of colleges/society, which to me is the epitome of everything wrong with skiing today. It's a bummer TAFT might not be invited back but it's better that they hear the truth.
 
Honestly them not having us back is only hurting the skiers at the resort. We have plenty of places that want to host us so it isn't hurting me at all. I just want to give out free gear, cash and pizza to skiers....

I can see why he didn't want us back. I'm fairly positive that whoever is the USASA regional head gets the $50 entry fee from each kid that does a comp. Can anyone confirm this?
 
13985139:ParryWithAnA said:
I can see why he didn't want us back. I'm fairly positive that whoever is the USASA regional head gets the $50 entry fee from each kid that does a comp. Can anyone confirm this?
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Spirit mountain runs USSA comps not USASA. I wouldn’t be surprised if he got a part of the entry fee but comps aren’t very cheap, the judges get compensated, and the hill needs to be reserved. Even if he did get a cut of the USASA kids entry fees USASA has such a small presence in Midwest skiing that after all of the expenses for the comp he wouldn’t be walking away with much.

Aside fromm that I saw where you were coming from and that TAFT was one of the most fun days of skiing I had, but making a rant about how “those comp organizations don’t care about you, or skiing” in front of ~20 kids who had just finished their competition maybe an hour or two ago (some were still wearing their bibs) was pretty poor timing, not to mention the coaches who put tons of time and effort into running those comps. I would imagine it kind of felt like a “fuck you” to all of the coaches and competitors who put so much of their time and money into competing.

As for OP’s question, no it isn’t a waste. At least I didn’t think it was but you learn a lot competing like how to put a run/ line together,or how to improvise and adapt. It definitely made me a better skier and most of the “anti-comp” preachers have never skied in a competition and simply like to ride the hate wave so they can feel C O R E . So compete if you want OP, you can definitely learn a thing or two. But in the end competing isn’t for everyone and if you would rather follow your homies around with a dad-cam and film back swap to switches then power to you, there’s never a right way to ski so just ski whatever discipline floats your boat.

/macro-rant complete
 
13985159:Young_patty said:
Spirit mountain runs USSA comps not USASA. I wouldn’t be surprised if he got a part of the entry fee but comps aren’t very cheap, the judges get compensated, and the hill needs to be reserved. Even if he did get a cut of the USASA kids entry fees USASA has such a small presence in Midwest skiing that after all of the expenses for the comp he wouldn’t be walking away with much.

Aside fromm that I saw where you were coming from and that TAFT was one of the most fun days of skiing I had, but making a rant about how “those comp organizations don’t care about you, or skiing” in front of ~20 kids who had just finished their competition maybe an hour or two ago (some were still wearing their bibs) was pretty poor timing, not to mention the coaches who put tons of time and effort into running those comps. I would imagine it kind of felt like a “fuck you” to all of the coaches and competitors who put so much of their time and money into competing.

As for OP’s question, no it isn’t a waste. At least I didn’t think it was but you learn a lot competing like how to put a run/ line together,or how to improvise and adapt. It definitely made me a better skier and most of the “anti-comp” preachers have never skied in a competition and simply like to ride the hate wave so they can feel C O R E . So compete if you want OP, you can definitely learn a thing or two. But in the end competing isn’t for everyone and if you would rather follow your homies around with a dad-cam and film back swap to switches then power to you, there’s never a right way to ski so just ski whatever discipline floats your boat.

/macro-rant complete
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I disagree with a few things here. First, I don't believe any of the comp skiing organizations care about the type of skiing I care about. Do they care about slopestyle competitions and the olympics? yes, for sure. But a FIS official literally told a bunch of the top comp skiers that they do NOTHING and that the officials are doing everything. They don't care about ski movies, which will always be the biggest inspiration to young riders. Nobody remembers who got third in some official comp last year, but everyone remembers legendary segments. The only memorable comp moments I can think recently all involved dollo.

Slopestyle skiing is becoming increasingly divided from what your average park skier is doing. Most park skiers ride wider, rockered skis in the park now, which are rarely seen in slope comps. Just like Halfpipe, Moguls, and Aerials, slope is gradually becoming a totally different sport, separate from what your average park skier does on a day-to-day basis.

But I'm not anti competitions at all. I think comps like rail jams TAFT and SLVSH are great. The thing is, I've never been in a comp because the entrance fees are so high, not because I'm trying to be core. When I too young to be in comps, anyone could enter the annual big air or slopestyle for like 10 or 20 bucks. By the time I was at the age where I could start competing, all of the bullshit registration and membership fees had kicked in and it didn't seem worth it to pay more for essentially the same experience. Snowboarding has tons of creative competitions like SKOLF and Methodology that I would love to see replicated in skiing.

Finally, I think it's totally fine for andy to give off a "Fuck You" vibe to competition officials. Newschool skiing was founded on breaking the rules by skiing in the snowboard park and doing inverted tricks with grabs that were banned from mogul competitions at the time. It's all about riding the mountain in new and creative ways. If you have a coach and a bunch of officials making up rules and telling you how to ski, you're not freeskiing.
 
Having to pay for USSA/USASA memberships in order to pay for entry to comps never really made much sense to me. But local freeride/freeski programs are important for youth involvement as well as things like TAFT.
 
13985185:DeebieSkeebies said:
Having to pay for USSA/USASA memberships in order to pay for entry to comps never really made much sense to me. But local freeride/freeski programs are important for youth involvement as well as things like TAFT.
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If kids have fun competing despite the price then whatever, I did usasa for years and only went to nationals once, skied like ass but made as many homies as I do skiing PC now. Only fuck you I can give is to the organizations who do the stupid 100 buck membership then vary the fees from 50-75 at times. LSS ski for fun or ski for points and the hope for fame, just dont be an asshole to other skiers.
 
13985159:Young_patty said:
Aside fromm that I saw where you were coming from and that TAFT was one of the most fun days of skiing I had, but making a rant about how “those comp organizations don’t care about you, or skiing” in front of ~20 kids who had just finished their competition maybe an hour or two ago (some were still wearing their bibs) was pretty poor timing, not to mention the coaches who put tons of time and effort into running those comps. I would imagine it kind of felt like a “fuck you” to all of the coaches and competitors who put so much of their time and money into competing.

/macro-rant complete
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I don't really see as much of an issue with speaking your mind in front of the coaches, they're adults and can handle differing opinions. But I definitely agree with the point that you shouldn't be ranting about ho stupid it is right in front of the kids who might be proud of the effort they just put in or what not
 
Jesus anti comp trend is trendy. Hating comps doesn't make you ultra core. If you like to compete, good for you. If you don't like to compete, good for you.

USASA is def a waste fo a lot of people. Too expensive and you dont get anything more out of it. Honestly the random comps run by the hill were always more fun imo.

But if you're good and really like competing it's not bad to get yourself out there.

Idk whatever the situation was but kinda sucks if it was telling kids that their comp was stupid. I've hear nothing but good things about TAFT though. I tried to get it in NY but couldn't convince either mtn i was working at to host it.

Great for the sport though. It does seem like there are less events at least some places. Everyone used to have different rail jams, slopes, big airs. I mean who the hell even has big air comps anymore.
 
13985240:theabortionator said:
Jesus anti comp trend is trendy. Hating comps doesn't make you ultra core. If you like to compete, good for you. If you don't like to compete, good for you.
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thank you thats needed to be said, so many kids who stop comping turn into little assholes on the subject, just say its so fucking gay or whatever while theyre slowly getting worse since stopping and shitting on kids who arent turning swervy. ill encourage competing but for the right reasons, skiing with the homies is the best but there are other fun ways to ski still.
 
13985263:XxAc1DtR1PxX said:
If any sports pay to win its either skiing or sledding
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In terms of equipment, skiing is very do-able, you can find old or used gear, but to get a high quality park, you have to pay for expensive tickets, and to ski year round you have to pay thousands in travel, and camp expenses, and to get acsess to a coach, or to participate in comps its even more. But all those extra costs are not nessecary, people still persevere, even with some of the worst hills, and no travel opportunitys.
 
I was the same for mogul competitions in Canada. It was 150$ for the basic insurance program. It jumps to 300$ for contest and 1000$ for a world cup plan.

You had to find a way to get to the contest and sleep there for 3-7 days. You were responsible for lift tickets and contest fees were 25$ for a regional, 150$ for provincial, 400$ for a canadian series, 600$ for a Nor-Am... yeah, and you get nothing if you win except a score.
 
13985275:freestyler540 said:
I was the same for mogul competitions in Canada. It was 150$ for the basic insurance program. It jumps to 300$ for contest and 1000$ for a world cup plan.

You had to find a way to get to the contest and sleep there for 3-7 days. You were responsible for lift tickets and contest fees were 25$ for a regional, 150$ for provincial, 400$ for a canadian series, 600$ for a Nor-Am... yeah, and you get nothing if you win except a score.
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hmm i think even aspen open is cheaper but probably gotta get your own bed but can win a nice check
 
13985275:freestyler540 said:
I was the same for mogul competitions in Canada. It was 150$ for the basic insurance program. It jumps to 300$ for contest and 1000$ for a world cup plan.

You had to find a way to get to the contest and sleep there for 3-7 days. You were responsible for lift tickets and contest fees were 25$ for a regional, 150$ for provincial, 400$ for a canadian series, 600$ for a Nor-Am... yeah, and you get nothing if you win except a score.
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Gawddamn........
 
I mean most usasa comps you get a free lift ticket. Per comp, it's not that much more than just a lift ticket and if you're genuinely interested in competing, I'd say it's likely worth it. Competed in ussa comps for like 6 years but never competed outside of new england. IMO it's a pretty good system to get kids into park skiing at a young age. At that level, the degree of difficulty is multiplied by quality of execution, which includes things such as your takeoff, grab, how big you went.

I can't speak for usasa scoring, but I've heard the judging is a little bit less quantitative criteria than judge opinion, take that as you will.
 
NS should start a little comp series in the style of the Superunknown stuff. Anyone who wants to enter just drops an edit and maybe pays a few bucks. Members vote on edits, or we get a few judges to look things over. Winner gets some new gear. Nothing fancy, maybe some skis or boots or shit like that. Cheap, efficient, and fun. Seems like a good way to have some fun, and get some quality content out there.
 
14065236:SendyMcSendyface said:
NS should start a little comp series in the style of the Superunknown stuff. Anyone who wants to enter just drops an edit and maybe pays a few bucks. Members vote on edits, or we get a few judges to look things over. Winner gets some new gear. Nothing fancy, maybe some skis or boots or shit like that. Cheap, efficient, and fun. Seems like a good way to have some fun, and get some quality content out there.
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Love this idea.

Anyone can enter and its's voted upon by all members equally. Winner gets crowned "NS Champion" and has a Gold Name until the next Champion is decided.
 
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