NASTAR Operations Transferred Back to Active Interest Media

[Philpug]

Active Interest Media (AIM) and U.S. Ski & Snowboard today announced that NASTAR operations will transfer to its previous ownership, AIM. Through this transition, AIM and U.S. Ski & Snowboard will continue to partner in the marketing, promotion, and growth of the 52-year-old NAtional STAndard Race series that boasts more than 100,000 annual races at over 100 resorts around the country.

“NASTAR can trace its roots back to 1968 when the program was developed by SKI Magazine,” said AIM CEO Andrew Clurman. “We are excited to bring NASTAR back under our roof at AIM with SKI Magazine. AIM is well-positioned to continue to develop the lauded NASTAR brand, and we look forward to garnering greater awareness and participation in the sport of ski racing nationally.”

“NASTAR has always been an important entry point for aspiring racers to our development pipeline in alpine ski racing and we are excited to see it continue to grow under AIM once again,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard President and CEO Tiger Shaw. “Many of the best U.S. Ski Team athletes got their start at NASTAR - a tradition we expect to continue. We look forward to working with AIM to inspire participants of all ages to get involved in ski racing.”

U.S. Ski & Snowboard will transfer operations to AIM in the coming months. AIM will handle all forward operations interfacing with resorts while U.S. Ski & Snowboard will complete any outstanding business operations from last season. Any advance registrations for the Nationals this year will be honored in 2021 and will be transferred to AIM in the transition.

NASTAR participants can expect a seamless transition and look forward to a great 2020-21 season!

Inquiries and questions may be directed to:

Outstanding business regarding last season:
Lindsay Arnold, [email protected]
U.S. Ski & Snowboard

Questions regarding all future activity:
Jess McGee, [email protected]
Active Interest Media

National Championships Entry Information
(855) 912-5965
https://nastarsupport.ussa.org

 

[Jack skis]

Probably a good move for the future of NASTAR as having it under the US&S umbrella meant it was a minor part of the organization as I saw it. I hope NASTAR can continue to operate in the future simply because I enjoyed being able to participate in the program. When CBMR dropped NASTAR I was disappointed, but managed to still get a few runs by driving to Telluride and once to Taos. It was way easier when the gates were at Crested Butte about 15 minutes from the house.

 

[Johnny V.]

Yes, sure hope NASTAR continues as our (and I'm sure many other) beer leagues around the country use their software for results and team points. Plus it's entry level racing for kids and big kids who may decide to take the sport to the next levels.

 

[James]

So this is good?

 

[fatbob]

So what was the point of USSS acquiring it in the first place? At the time IIRC it was lauded as a smart marketing move and a way of making NASTAR more relevant in the 21st century? Is it a sign that it's just a problem child in business terms?

 

[Philpug]

So this is good?

I guess it is good in that it is keeping it going.

 

[Rudi Riet]

So what was the point of USSS acquiring it in the first place? At the time IIRC it was lauded as a smart marketing move and a way of making NASTAR more relevant in the 21st century? Is it a sign that it's just a problem child in business terms?

I always saw USSS' acquisition of NASTAR as a fool's errand. They tried to market it as a "more accessible" way to enter the USSS development pipeline, but it really wasn't. Young skiers who get good at NASTAR outside of a race training program will hit a bit uphill climb when they move to a race team. And the junior racers who end up cleaning house at NASTAR Nationals? Most are members of proper race teams who are not regular participants in NASTAR racing.

NASTAR will always exist on its own plane, and it should. It brings basic recreational racing to the masses, albeit at a lot fewer areas than it once did. But it's there and provides an outlet for recreational skiers or lapsed racers to hit the gates, which is good. It allows ski schools to show their pupils how to run the gates, which is good. And it helps to normalize gate racing, which is essential for the survival of alpine racing as a sport in the U.S.

 

[da-cat]

I have a small collection of NASTAR pins from a small number of resorts.
I love the challenge when I gave the gates a try. My last run was about 6 years ago and it earned me a National ranking for age, category and state. It isn’t much but every once in a while I will ping that for fun.
I was flattered that year when I received an invitation to the NASTAR Nationals from that run, but when I bragged about it, someone said that everyone who raced is invited. ?
Regardless I couldn’t make it to Colorado that year but it sounded like a way to really learn about the gates.
I may have asked this question of PUGSKI before: Can I say with pride that the invitation to the NASTAR Nationals was exclusive and meaningful about my skills?

 

[Jack skis]

You did have to qualify for Nationals (there may have been some exceptions, but they were rare). However, you could qualify at either Platinum, Gold, Silver, or Bronze levels, and by 5 year age groups, and of course by gender. One also had to have a certain number of days of racing, though that qualifier may have been relaxed. Unlike say USS&S the idea was to get as many people to Nationals as possible. Having qualified for and gone to Nationals it was fun to meet competitors in "your" group from all around the country, and to match runs with them. It certainly wasn't at Masters level racing ability, but some who raced NASTAR were Masters competitors, or skied at that level. Gave me a chance to race the same course as Bode Miller when he was a pace-setter at Park City. His times were better than mine, considerably.

Rudi one of the reasons there are fewer areas offering NASTAR was the decision of Vail and its areas to drop the program and replace it with their own version. That and P&L problems combined to really decrease the opportunities to find areas offering NASTAR.

 

[Rudi Riet]

Rudi one of the reasons there are fewer areas offering NASTAR was the decision of Vail and its areas to drop the program and replace it with their own version. That and P&L problems combined to really decrease the opportunities to find areas offering NASTAR.

I recall when VR decided to "roll its own" in terms of public gate racing. Yet at many VR properties I know that left NASTAR veterans cold. And many of VR's later acquisitions held onto NASTAR because it became very clear that the mojo didn't transfer from the established rec league to the new kid on the (corporate) block.

But for the non-VR properties holding NASTAR - and there were a ton of them back in the 1980s and early 1990s - it also became a game of competing for dollars. Many NASTAR venues lost favor (and staffing) to terrain parks and tubing facilities. It became a money sink for these resorts and they packed it in.

In doing so a lot of regional beer leagues and semi-official masters programs folded - for example, the Mid-Atlantic masters league has atrophied to almost nothing in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. It's quite sad.