NASTAR is the world's largest known recreational ski

Ski

A ski is a long, flat device worn on the foot, usually attached through a boot, designed to help the wearer slide smoothly over snow. Originally intended as an aid to travel in snowy regions, they are now mainly used for recreational and sporting purposes...

 and snowboard

Snowboard

Snowboards are boards, usually with a width the length of one's foot, with the ability to glide on snow. Snowboards are differentiated from monoskis by the stance of the user...

 race program. It allows ski or snowboard racers of all ages and abilities, through a handicap system, a way to compare themselves with one another and with the national champion, regardless of when and where they race. Since the program's beginning in 1968, more than 6 million NASTAR racer days have been recorded. It has been available at more than 100 ski resort

Ski resort

A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing and other winter sports. In Europe a ski resort is a town or village in a ski area - a mountainous area, where there are ski trails and supporting services such as hotels and other accommodation, restaurants, equipment rental and a ski lift system...

s in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

. Many U.S. Ski Team stars got their start ski racing in NASTAR programs.

History

The NASTAR system borrowed from a French program started in the 1950s, in which ski instructors were rated by the percentage they lagged behind the time recorded by a top national team racer in slalom. Instructors five percent or less behind the fastest time won Chamois pins, qualifying them as pacesetters at their home ski areas. Unlike Nastar, the competitions were expert slaloms.

John Fry, former editor-in-chief of SKI Magazine,
adapted this percentage-of-time system to a program for recreational ski racing in the United States, calling it the 'National Standard Race'. The program, given the acronym NASTAR, was introduced in 1968 as a means to compare the performance of recreational ski racers at resorts across the United States. Nastar courses are simple, open-gated giant slaloms on mostly intermediate terrain, allowing skiers of all abilities and ages to experience racing. Just as in golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

's handicap

Golf handicap

A handicap is a numerical measure of an amateur golfer's playing ability based on the tees played for a given course. It is used to calculate a net score from the number of strokes actually played, thus allowing players of different proficiency to play against each other on somewhat equal terms...

 system, skiers can compare their times and compete with one another regardless of where and when they compete. It takes into account varying terrain and snow conditions. The program started with 8 participating resorts and 2,297 skiers in the first year, but quickly grew in popularity, to more than 100 resorts and 6 millions skiers and snowboarders having participated by 2006.
The program went through several national sponsors, the latest being Nature Valley.

Handicap system

The National Standard is the Par Time or the "0" handicap which every racer competes against when they race NASTAR. The "0" handicap is typically set by a U.S. Ski Team racer or former champion.
Runners-up establish handicaps against the winner by their lag time percentage. These 'traveling pacesetters' compete against pacesetters from each NASTAR resort at sanctioned Regional Pacesetting Trials prior to the start of the following season. These events enable pacesetters from each individual resort to establish their own certified handicap against the national champion's Par Time or "0" handicap. The resort pacesetters use their certified handicap to set the Par Time at their local NASTAR course each racing day, and in turn give each participant who races at their resort a handicap that is referenced to the national champion. The Par Time is approximately the time the national NASTAR champion would have raced the course had he been there that day.
Various allowances are then made for age group, gender, disability if any, snowboarders, etc.
Every skier, regardless of ability or disability, can ski with a time referenced against the national champion, corrected for the specific resort and course conditions and his/her level. Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze designations are based on performance in several races, relative to each racer's age, gender and ability group. Championships are held near the end of the skiing season each year.

Standard NASTAR course

Participating NASTAR resorts are allowed some leeway in determining the location and set up of their NASTAR race venue but typically it is visible from a high traffic lift or lodge. The resort can decide whether to have single or dual courses. Each NASTAR course is essentially a modified Giant Slalom (GS) course with anywhere from 12 to 20 gates that racers must maneuver around. Gates are set with 18 to 20 meters distance between gates vertically and 4 to 8 meters of offset. Each resort is encouraged to standardize its course(s) to have a par time of 23 seconds and set courses so that no course is within 5% of the cap time. The "cap time" is the time it takes the local pacesetter to tuck from the start to the finish of their course without going around gates, and is the fastest possible time down the venue.
Although the look and feel of each race venue varies, the above constraints, especially the nearly fixed par time by the pace setter, will tend to standardize the results.
The overall standardization allows the participants to compare race times wherever and whenever they race.

NASTAR database

NASTAR requires all participants to register. This is a free and easy process, which can be done online from home, via the NASTAR web site.
Once registered, each racer pays a small entry fee per race.
Races are timed electronically using a mechanical lever for the clock start and an optical beam sensor for the clock stop. The race results are saved on a computer and are uploaded by the resort to the central NASTAR database each race day. Once the data is on the central database (typically by the end of a racing day), it is publicly accessible and racers can easily view their performance history from various dates and resorts at any time.

Resort participation

Every ski resort in North America is encouraged to participate in the NASTAR program. The NASTAR organization sends out presentations and questionnaires to all resorts in the off season, to determine the resorts eligible for participation during the coming season.
Participating resorts then receive a NASTAR kit and instructions that allow them to upload daily race data into the central NASTAR database. They also must have certified NASTAR pacesetters that can perform a pacesetting run on the designated course each racing day, to calibrate the handicap for the course conditions on that day.

Alpine Division skiers

Prior to the end of the season, the 3 top Alpine

Alpine skiing

Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...

 Division performers of each resort in each of the 4 medal divisions (Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze) are invited to compete in the National Championship. Those who choose to participate, compete against others in their respective category. Each racer is assigned a division in his or her appropriate gender and age group for the national race to 'level the playing field'. After the competition, for each gender and age group, the fastest 3 racers are awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. Gold medal winners then compete in a final "Race of Champions" competition to determine the overall champion based on handicapped time, along with the fastest 3 racers based on 'raw' time.

Non-Alpine Division skiers

The non-Alpine Divisions (for the purposes of NASTAR championship racing classification) are Telemark

Telemark skiing

Telemark skiing is a form of skiing using the Telemark turn. Unlike alpine skiing equipment, the skis used for telemarking either have a binding that only connects the boot to the ski at the toes, just as in cross-country skiing, or may be released to only connect there.Telemark turns are led with...

, Physically Challenged, and Snowboarders

Snowboarding

Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a slope that is covered with snow on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet using a special boot set onto mounted binding. The development of snowboarding was inspired by skateboarding, sledding, surfing and skiing. It was developed in the U.S.A...

. For each division, the top 100 performers during the season in their respective age and gender group are invited to compete in the National Championship. After the competition, Gold, Silver and Bronze medals are awarded for the fastest 3 racers by handicap in each division, gender and age group.

Participation

The National NASTAR Championship brings together over one thousand participants from the United States and Canada, of all ages and ability groups. The 2006 Championship was held in Steamboat Springs

Steamboat Springs

Steamboat Springs may refer to:*Steamboat Springs, Colorado, a town in Routt County, Colorado, United States*Steamboat Springs, Nevada, a collection of geysers located in northern Nevada, United States...

 and included 1,337 racers of ages 3 to 86, from 44 U.S. states and Canada.

NASTAR as ski instructor qualification

Traditionally, ski instructor certification was based more on subjective assessment of form and technique rather than objective clock-based performance. Lately this has been changing, as a result of the wide availability and growing popularity of NASTAR.

On August 8, 2004, the Rocky Mountain Division of the Professional Ski Instructors of America

Professional Ski Instructors of America

The Professional Ski Instructors of America is an organization offering training and certification for U.S. Ski Instructors, and trains the bulk of U.S ski instructors...

 (PSIA

PSIA

PSIA or psia may refer to:* Physical Security Interoperability Alliance, industrial standardization initiative promoting interoperability of IP-enabled security devices* Pounds per square inch absolute...

) voted to allow a NASTAR gold medal (equivalent to a racing time within 16% of the national U.S. champion for a male in his 20's) as one of the pre-requisites for future certification of a Level 3 Ski Instructor. The Rocky Mountain Division of the PSIA includes the biggest ski resorts in the U.S., such as Vail, Aspen

Aspen/Snowmass

Aspen/Snowmass is an expansive winter resort complex located in Pitkin County in western Colorado in the United States. Owned and operated by the Aspen Skiing Company it comprises four skiing/snowboarding areas on four adjacent mountains in the vicinity of the towns of Aspen and Snowmass Village...

, Steamboat

Steamboat Ski Resort

Steamboat Ski Area is a major ski area in northwestern Colorado, operated by the Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation in Steamboat Springs. It is located on Mount Werner, a mountain in the Park Range in the Routt National Forest. The ski area first opened on January 12, 1963.The ski area has 165...

 and Taos

Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico

Taos Ski Valley is a village and alpine ski resort in Taos County, New Mexico, United States. Located 2200 feet above the town of Taos, the alpine environment of Taos Ski Valley offers a cool escape from the desert heat in the summer and perfect conditions for powder skiing in the winter. The...

and has 6,000 members, half of which are certified as Level 3, the highest rating for an instructor.