NASTAR National Championships, March 26-29 2009
The World’s Largest Recreational Ski & Snowboard Race Program Returns to Steamboat March 26-29, 2009. The National NASTAR Championships is the ultimate reward for anyone who races Nature Valley NASTAR (NAtional STAndard Race).
The Steamboat Springs event will bring together over 1,300 Nature Valley NASTAR racers of all ages and abilities from across the country for three days of spirited competition, first-class hospitality, world-class skiing and the chance to race alongside some of skiing's all-time greats including Olympic medalist and World Champion Billy Kidd, Olympic gold medalist Deb Armstrong and more.
Building upon past opening ceremonies, a free music concert will kick things off and set the tone for the festivities. Participants rocked out to Rusted Root as Steamboat’s signature Champagne Powder® snow fell from the sky in 2008 and to platinum artist and part-time Yampa Valley residents Big Head Todd & the Monsters in 2007. Stay tuned to nastar.com for all the details on the upcoming championships.
ResortQuest recommends the Torian Plum and Bronze Tree for NASTAR families. These properties afford excellent views of the Steamboat Ski Resort, plus as ski-in properties, they are easily accessible for quick breaks from the NASTAR events! If these accommodations do not meet your needs, check our our complete Steamboat lodging options.
Developed by SKI Magazine in 1968, NASTAR is the largest recreational ski and snowboard race program in the world. Since the program's inception, more than 6 million skiers and snowboarders have raced NASTAR. NASTAR’s mission is simple - to provide a fun, competitive and easily accessible racing program that, through the development of a handicap system, allows racers of all ages and abilities a means to compare their race results to other competitors across the country regardless of when and where they race.
This is accomplished by establishing a National Standard for all races. The National Standard is the Par Time or the "0" handicap which every racer competes against when they race Nature Valley NASTAR. The "0" handicap is set at the Nature Valley NASTAR National Championships and is the fastest time possible on a Nature Valley NASTAR course. World Champion Daron Rahlves is the National Pacesetter for the 2006-07 season.
Each time a participant races Nature Valley NASTAR, they earn a handicap which represents the difference between their race time and Daron Rahlves' time expressed as a percentage. It's easier than it sounds - if a participant earns a 15 handicap, they are 15% slower than Daron Rahlves. Don't like percentages? As you just learned, prior to each race, resort pacesetters set the course's Par Time which is the time Daron Rahlves would have raced the course had he been there that day. So if the Par Time is 23.32 seconds and your time is 27.24 seconds, you are 3.92 seconds slower than Daron Rahlves. course had he been there that day.
You do not have to be Daron Rahvles or Bode Miller to race Nature Valley NASTAR. Whether you are young, old, an expert racer or just a beginner, Nature Valley NASTAR is for everyone! Nature Valley NASTAR is a great way for families, friends and co-workers to ski and compete against one another. In fact, with the Nature Valley NASTAR handicap system you don't even have to race at the same time or location to compete. You can also Teams can also register to compete against other teams across the country and every time an individual races their results are be recorded for their team.
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