Well, it is simple and complicated at the same time.  We can look as far as in the FIS rules or as close as to the last weekend's club race.  Neither is perfect nor for everybody, nonetheless, it is important that we don't loose its identity, i.e. what it feels like to ski a GS.

Skiing at a small resort, it barely makes sense to actually have a pair of "true" GS skis and we start doubting our own capacity to bend the ski, anymore.

Yet on occassion, club races get scheduled behind the USSA races and use the same course.  What a pleasure it is to discover on these rare occasions that we still have some stamina left to bend the skis, that the skis can really talk back and that we really have to think ahead of time not to get pushed outside of the intended line by our own momentum.

So what is the definition of a GS?  I trully believe that it is one that keeps our skis alive and our bodies and minds busy to hold onto the fastest-line, and not on the "are we there yet" question.

I would like to thank the USSA event course-setter and the MVSC/PSC coaches for bringing the GS spirit back to life during last weekend's racing events at 7Springs.  The memory of the day will last for long and I, for sure, am going to keep my GS planks ready for another feast like this.

-code2ski GSer