2008  U.S. Nationals

The 2008 U.S. National tournament was held in Wisconsin, at the Blue Moo in Alma Center. Alma Center is located in the northwest area of the state, and the Blue Moo is a man made lake dug by local dairy farmer, Blake Heller.

As much of the nation is a ware of, the midwest experienced heavy rain and severe flooding in the early part of  the summer. The Blue Moo, although un - affected by the flooding had it's highest lake levels ever, early on. In addition to the high water we experienced less then desireable conditions(like, whitecaps) for most of the tournaments held there during this season. This was not the case however at this years nationals. Although we had moments when the wind kicked up, most of the 5 day event had near perfect conditions.

The tournament kicked off on tuesday, August 12th with age division slalom and tricks. There was alot of great skiing going on, with lots of smiles and pb's to go around.

Things started heating up on thursday when open slalom, jump, and open pro tricks were scheduled. The day, weather wise, was the poorest of the week and the chief judge had to delay the schedule for three hours due to heavy rain and thunderstorms. This delay prompted some schedule changes which moved pro tricks to friday( talk about karma)

With pro tricks moved to friday, open jump slid up a slot, and the skiers did not disappoint. There were some exciting jumps, and crashes, with Royal Wiseman, from Texas, leaping the farthest and securing the top seed in the finals, which were held saturday.

Dan Baumgartner talking jump strtegies with Scott Jones
Friday started with more age division when your's truly mysteriously ruptured a bicep while waiting to ski mens 3 slalom. By early afternoon we were into the big dogs, with open and open pro tricks scheduled.

It was a beautiful friday... 80 degrees, sunny and dead calm wind. Glass conditions! Perfect, right?? Wrong! For some reason the open men and pro's were having troubles. Tournament jitters, something in the water, no sleep, bad luck? Call it what you will, but I can't think of one skier that stood up both passes clean, with the likes of Baumgartner, Hetherington, Farrell, and St. Onge all going down early in their runs.

Saturday, however was a different story. Easily the roughest water of the week, we were sure to see more falls, right?? Wrong. Although the water was'nt terrible it was chippy at best and sometimes down right nasty! This did'nt stop the open and pro trickers though. They made up for their miscues on friday by skiing some phenomenal runs, with KSO blowing away the field skiing over 10,000 points featuring a multiple turn pass that still makes me dizzy! Brian Hetherington, from Wisconsin, transplanted to Winter Haven Fla. took the silver in pro tricks with two beautiful runs featuring multiple and one foot turns.

Jamie Kumlien enjoying the jump event
15 year old Jamie Kumlien, of Janesville Wisconsin won gold in open tricks with an awesome display of two foot turns that vaulted him into the pro division. He is an excellent skier that all pro trickers should be aware of... He's only going to get better... You're mine Jamie!

Ryan Boyd walking in after the jump event
Mike Salber won the open mens overall and Elaine Heller  the womens.

In summary, the tournament was a huge success with many skiers showcasing their talents and opening some eyes. It is always enjoyable to see everyone from the other regions and really nice to see Willie around again. That man is entertaining to say the least. He exemplifies what it's all about - having fun??

Willie displaying his navy seal skills

KK