How would you judge this?

[Chef23]

They had someone in the water with her to get up which was necessary because she couldn't control the skis in the water. Once she got up she could ski. My kids were on the skimmer at 3 but weren't as comfortable as she was on the trick setup.

[Than_Bogan]

Huh -- Is there no rule against someone directly assisting the skier during the competition? I would have assumed there was.

[clemsondave]

Thanks again for all the comments. Cameron's grandfather, Steve has been following with great interest. He typed a nice response to each of your posts. May be too much to put in here, but I can assure you he had nice things to say about everyone!

 

Steve is one of the most stand up guys you will ever meet. He also knows (and probably help write) the rules better than just about anyone. If I have a question about a rule, I go to him. When we started having tournaments at our lake, Steve was first on my invite list. I knew, if he was there, there would be no question the rules were followed.

 

He and I agree, we have heard several opinions on whether it should be allowed or not. What we have not heard is a specific rule that was broken. Obviously, it is two skis. The question is about tying two skis together (either with rope or bars). The current rule book does not address this issue. If they don't want two ski's tied together, they should put it in the rule book. However, that should not effect the 2010 girl or Cameron.

 

He also sent me an update last night on Cameron. She is still excited about skiing and is on one now! Instead of the TWO she was on above (haha). She has passed the combo setup to her brother!

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y2/clemsondave/Other/CameronTrickSki2011.jpg

 

[thompjs]

TC Committee is talking with Rules on clarifying what is a "ski" with intention of disallowing the above.

 

 

 

 

[eleeski]

I would love an interpretation that lets that rig count - anything that encourages skiing. It really doesn't matter because the winner will use a regular trick ski.

 

I heard about this issue. Regardless of whether I agree with the decision, I heard that the ski was disqualified before the event started. She was allowed to ski exhibition before the event started - as a fun favor for the little girl and her family. It's cool that the exhibition skier was scored. It's not cool that a huge controversy arose because the officials at Nationals did the girl a favor. Note that my information is secondhand - but credible to me.

 

Eric

[gregy]

I'm completely impressed with both the girl's skiing. For a three year old it's incredible. I'm thinking if kids this young are going to ski in competition there needs to be some special rules that are much more liberal. We need to do what we can to encourage this in the future and accommodate there special needs.

[clemsondave]

Eric, that is their side of the story. Of course, there are two sides. That situation is the subject of the second of three protests that were filed. There are procedures for a disqualification. Not sure they were followed along with pressure put on a mom with a 3yr old daughter waiting to ski. Doesn't sound like a great situation. They certainly do not consider it a favor.

 

You don't need an interpretation to allow the ski setup. Innocent until proven guilty. There is no rule stating two skis cannot be tied together. Not to mention precedence from last year.