May 19, 2009 (Quebec) – SkiTrax’s Marty Hall has been watching and commenting on the FIS racing scene in his column Hallmarks but recently put his thoughts on paper as FIS is in meetings planning for next year and Hall wanted to share his ideas so he contacted a number of key players including Vegard Ulvang (FIS XC Committee Chairman), Sarah Lewis (FIS Secretary General), Jurg Capol (FIS XC Director), Al Maddox (CCC Executive Director), John Farra (USA Nordic Director).

Hello to you all and happy spring, which we are waiting for here in the northeast of Canada and the USA. As you know Jurg I watch and read as much as I can about xc ski racing. I have some ideas that I think will make the sport more appealing, maybe fairer and more exciting in some instances.

1. Is it OK for web pages to link to your timing page so people who don’t know about FIS and the races being timed live will be able find it on more popular web pages they use who don’t promote the FIS web page (if that made sense). This will eventually lead them to you.

2. At the US Distance Nationals in Fairbanks, Alaska (in March) I called the timing crew from Summit Timing (Ernie Page) and asked them if they couldn’t put the weather, track and other info in their header on the live timing page. The next day there it was – info about the race format, track conditions, weather conditions and forecast. For FIS you could also include scoring formats – like for the 30 and 50km races in Trondheim, Norway and other formats you use during the season for example the Tour de Ski is still a mystery for scoring, start formats etc. This got me thinking, so I called Ernie just a couple of weeks ago, he’s a computer programmer in his spare time, about advertising in the header and having a couple of web cams aimed at the start and finish lines. Viewers all over the world would be able to see the starters and finishers without being in conflict with the networks doing coverage – besides these are your races. There’s all kinds of potential – yes, Ernie said all of this is possible – it’s just a matter of what you want to see. Now it is just wasted space!

3. This item I think you have to seriously consider – electronic start gates for sprinting. It’s apparent that there are indiscretions happening without calling all the false starts that take place. There are not a lot of them, but there is good prize money on the table now for winning, and a sprint race can be lost or won at the start. Therefore FIS should be doing everything in their power to make sure ALL starts are clean. Maybe you need a professional starter and not one from the home country or local town the race is being held in. You need to demonstrate to the racers, the crowds and those especially watching on TV (replays/slo-moe) that you are doing a professional and a fair job i.e. gates can be like those used in ski cross. I think it will make the races more exciting – like watching the start of the Kentucky Derby – sitting there waiting for the gates to open.

4. I don’t know where you are with the U23 championships, but it is apparent that you might be considering not continuing this format in the future. I think for the nations on the fringe or just getting into the real mix this level of championship is a critical step for them to continue making progress to become viable on the world stage. I think Canada and the US are good examples. It gives them one more focus level to prepare for and provides their younger skiers the reason to continue on and bridge to the big stage. There seems to be less interest as the fields are smaller at the U-23s then at the Junior World. Even to the point where Sweden had a small or no team at all last winter, but their overall program seems to be having some problems right now. Having both the Junior Worlds and the U23s together is a good way of keeping expenses down as you can use the same coaches and technicians for both – of course they must be close to dead after so many races in such a compressed time.
The U23s NEED a relay to boost the idea of full teams and it makes for a more COMPLETE championship.

5. Master’s World Cup – it’s time to change this title and recognize this competition for what it is. This event has proven itself many times over. It has been going under this title for 20 years or more, and it has shown growth and tremendous staying power. There are always a 1,000+ competitors every year travelling all over the world supporting what I consider to be their WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS. I don’t know what the hang-up was right at the beginning for not hanging this title on this event, but it’s time for FIS to modernize this event with its rightful title. When I think of the many changes made by FIS in these past 10 years and how more reactive it is to making changes it’s hard to believe that it’s the same organization I used to do committee work for. In the old days it was like watching snails race when you talked about change.

The Masters are the people all over the world that are supporting all the suppliers that the racers, races and the sport benefit from. They dump big money into racing at all levels, in all xc skiing countries, so give them their due – re-name the championships. Also, you now have the IOC’s challenge with the inaugural year of the World Winter Master’s Games – don’t let them steal your master skiers away!

I’m sure there are different people responsible for all of this, so Sarah, I guess you are the conduit. Thanks for lending me your ears and I think xc ski racing is at its most exciting level ever.

Hello all again…while doing some chores this morning something I’ve been thinking about are the 30 and 50 km mass start races. I’m sure the premium WC points will be a permanent solution to keep the race pace up with more potential winners coming out of this solution. Something that should also be a permanent move is to have racing boxes (where skiers can change skis etc.) available at all races. The reason for this is the investment racers are making by starting one of these races and in the training and preparation and how small any problem – be it wax, skis, or any equipment failure – can take you out of the race. Right now it is the determining weather conditions that decides whether there are boxes or not. I think the boxes being available in all races will help to keep more people in the race. In NASCAR races, which the boxes were copied from they are there for the drivers to use on any lap for any type of adjustment. It might be just a couple of turns on a bolt that sets up the the camber of the car that makes it corner better. While for a skier it might mean a different pair of skis as the pair the skier started on are not right for the snow on the higher parts of the course.

I think the more activity in the boxes and in the use of the boxes creates more excitement for TV, the spectators and even the racers – and of course this means more strategy and tactics and now with the short loop format used in racing and with the boxes being in the stadium it keeps the spectators more in the race.

I think this is a no-brainer! Thank you and have some great meetings,

Marty