Why was Skate America moved to November?

[yuumagical]

I'm super bummed about this. Had it been anywhere Colorado and west, I'd be planning on going. Being from the West Coast, this is too far for a short event. I went to Boston because it was a week, and well worth it for Worlds. Dang...

There's always next year...

This has been disappointing but not surprising for me. I think I'll just take a weekend trip to Salt Lake City this summer anyway.

 

[moonvine]

Good question! There are no sports bars or TVs in bars. People actually talk to each other. Now with Starlink, they could have that but right now, the TV in the room has some sports. Somehow, people prefer to do other things like live dance shows and string quartets..or watch the sun set. People with upper level internet can however stream.....

Depends what line you are on. Carnival certainly has sports bars. Peacock likely not.

 

[moonvine]

So much for SA for me.

I’m concerned about the Challenger? Can’t we just give it to Canada? That way we’d get to see it.

 

[CoyoteChris]

You are right, I have never sailed Holland America. I have no problem with quiet ships, but I have no problem with party ships either, doesn't mean I need to party

(although I enjoy watching them. Costumes just like skaters. )

And I like Lake Placid as a host for SA, although I realize it may be an enormous pain for anyone west of the Mississippi, or maybe even west of the Ohio.

There is a regional airport but it is unclear to me about the available ground transportation to access it. Usually, a car is a pita at an event but in Lake Placid , it worked out well.

Depends what line you are on. Carnival certainly has sports bars. Peacock likely not.

Exactly. I am sure many Party boats do have them. I always ask other people at my dinner tables what they think of over Cruise lines. No 6,000 pax ships for me....wait...there is a cruise line named Peacock? Noooooooooo!

 

[CoyoteChris]

I'm super bummed about this. Had it been anywhere Colorado and west, I'd be planning on going. Being from the West Coast, this is too far for a short event. I went to Boston because it was a week, and well worth it for Worlds. Dang...

I feel your pain. I went to Boston twice...once for nats and once for worlds...but no more....I am not a good flyer as it is...and last time I flew I had to sleep all night in the terminal...or not sleep....due to a failed emergency exit chute arming circuit...all planes were full...lots going from Seatac to Spokane...all full..... and now people who should know better wont deal with the ATC crisis...the data link between the radar sites and com sites has gone down 3 times and they are still flying planes out of Newark????? ATC people are going home sick over this.... I would too.

 

[moonvine]

There is a regional airport but it is unclear to me about the available ground transportation to access it. Usually, a car is a pita at an event but in Lake Placid , it worked out well.

Exactly. I am sure many Party boats do have them. I always ask other people at my dinner tables what they think of over Cruise lines. No 6,000 pax ships for me....wait...there is a cruise line named Peacock? Noooooooooo!

No no. I meant the sports bar would probably not have Peacock.

 

[4everchan]

So much for SA for me.

I’m concerned about the Challenger? Can’t we just give it to Canada? That way we’d get to see it.

I don't think there is ACI this year....

 

[TallyT]

I gather from different places that the area is beautiful bit not exactly the easiest for access or a quick weekend stopover; I do hope for fans that the stream is decent quality because that may well impact audience numbers.

 

[apgold]

I gather from different places that the area is beautiful bit not exactly the easiest for access or a quick weekend stopover; I do hope for fans that the stream is decent quality because that may well impact audience numbers.

It all depends where you're coming from. If you have a car and live within driving distance in the northeast, the trip is doable.

I am planning to go at this moment, but since I am carless, I will be taking the daily Amtrak from NYC to Westport, NY (7 hour ride along the scenic Hudson river) plus have to order a car service to drive 45 minutes to Lake Placid. There used to be a free shuttle (as part of the Amtrak ticket) but that has long been dormant since 2019. I also managed to get a cute, inexpensive Airbnb right on Main Street which is walkable to the arena.

This trip will cost less than going to Nationals in St. Louis in January (and I hate flying in the winter time with people being sick), so Lake Placid it is. I have been there before in 2017 so I know more or less what to expect. I just hope there are no giant bugs on the ice, dislocated shoulders in the men's event or sudden withdrawals due to a skin infection (IYKYK). I also hope the restaurants near the Herb Brooks Arena order extra food to accommodate the demand.

I imagine that tickets will go on sale sometime in June, perhaps after the skaters are announced. I found a handy map of the lower bowl of the Arena on this page where I imagine most of the all event tickets will be sold. There really isn't a bad seat in the house and the seats are pretty comfortable from what I remember.

 

[TallyT]

It all depends where you're coming from. If you have a car and live within driving distance in the northeast, the trip is doable.

'Doable' isn't the greatest of endorsements, especially in a global cost of living time I'm not sure this was well thought out by officialdom but ehhh, we'll see because I have also now googled and yes it is very very pretty, especially in winter.

I just hope there are no giant bugs on the ice,

Depending on how giant, that might be fun (I might mention that when I googled the first thing that came up was the horror movie of the same name.)

 

[moonvine]

I don't think there is ACI this year....

Why?

 

[moonvine]

It all depends where you're coming from. If you have a car and live within driving distance in the northeast, the trip is doable.

I am planning to go at this moment, but since I am carless, I will be taking the daily Amtrak from NYC to Westport, NY (7 hour ride along the scenic Hudson river) plus have to order a car service to drive 45 minutes to Lake Placid. There used to be a free shuttle (as part of the Amtrak ticket) but that has long been dormant since 2019. I also managed to get a cute, inexpensive Airbnb right on Main Street which is walkable to the arena.

This trip will cost less than going to Nationals in St. Louis in January (and I hate flying in the winter time with people being sick), so Lake Placid it is. I have been there before in 2017 so I know more or less what to expect. I just hope there are no giant bugs on the ice, dislocated shoulders in the men's event or sudden withdrawals due to a skin infection (IYKYK). I also hope the restaurants near the Herb Brooks Arena order extra food to accommodate the demand.

I imagine that tickets will go on sale sometime in June, perhaps after the skaters are announced. I found a handy map of the lower bowl of the Arena on this page where I imagine most of the all event tickets will be sold. There really isn't a bad seat in the house and the seats are pretty comfortable from what I remember.

It’s cheaper for me to go to St Louis. Or Kansas City or Allen or Detroit or many other places. I think even San Jose.
You were fortunate to get lodging. It’s my understanding most of the hotels are booked out and the remaining Air B&Bs are quite costly.

I’m surprised they would need extra food. The competitions I have seen at that arena haven’t been well attended.

 

[moonvine]

I gather from different places that the area is beautiful bit not exactly the easiest for access or a quick weekend stopover; I do hope for fans that the stream is decent quality because that may well impact audience numbers.

The stream should be fine. I haven’t seen a really bad stream for a GP that I remember.

 

[moonvine]

I feel your pain. I went to Boston twice...once for nats and once for worlds...but no more....I am not a good flyer as it is...and last time I flew I had to sleep all night in the terminal...or not sleep....due to a failed emergency exit chute arming circuit...all planes were full...lots going from Seatac to Spokane...all full..... and now people who should know better wont deal with the ATC crisis...the data link between the radar sites and com sites has gone down 3 times and they are still flying planes out of Newark????? ATC people are going home sick over this.... I would too.

You could not get me on a plane atm. If Gracie is in California and I want to go I’ll have to deal with the 4-5 day train trip. Absolutely no planes.

 

[4everchan]

Why?

no idea but they are back with the John Nicks and Cranberry cup combo.

 

[Weathergal]

A quick OT answer: When a cruise offers a “comp” that includes free tipping, the crew still gets the same tips — paid for by the company. This is a nice perk because usually, the cruise customer pays for them via daily billing.

HAL has a sneaky plan to help us pax out, help HAL out, and help out the crew members. Many countries dont tax tips. So we get "billed" $17 a day that we can opt out of that goes into a tip fund for the crew members that serve us. Its called "crew gratuity". In any case, I carry a wad of cash and tip many people every day, and my room stewards at the end of the boat ride, but I also pay the crew gratuity. If you book out far enough, HAL picks up your daily Crew Grantuity payment out of their own pocket. The beverage staff, hotel staff, and restaurant staff work really hard...11 hours a day or more with a break, 7 days a week...8 months. I tip them cash which doesnt go into any fund and they appreciate it. They are in many cases supporting 3 generations back home. AND they are friendly. Asian people are the best!

Thanks - I was hoping that it was something like this but didn't want to assume. Speaking of which, @CoyoteChris I sincerely apologize as I didn't mean to imply that you wouldn't take care of the staff. It just seemed like an odd perk for the cruise line to offer, and I was trying to understand it.

I've only had the pleasure of taking one cruise, our family truly enjoyed it. We had great respect for the staff, and we really enjoyed meeting them. Our son was five at the time, and one of the things we did to get to know the staff better and also make things a little educational for our son is we'd ask the staff how to say hello in their country. It was a great icebreaker. Our understanding was that the staff really depends on the tips and many people are away from home for long periods of time and send money home to their family. They were so good to us and made our whole family feel so welcome, even in the "fancy" dining room - my in-laws took their children and their families on a cruise for their 50th wedding anniversary. There were 10 adults and 10 children - from ages 4 to 17ish. If I remember correctly, we did all the tipping at the end of the cruise - I can't remember the specifics, but if I recall correctly, the cruise line even advised to budget for this as part of your bill, etc.

My only issue with your comment is that, yes, some of the staff were from Asian countries, but some were from other countries - and all were wonderful.

ref Weathergal "I do like the idea of Lake Placid for SA. Quite frankly, I just want it to be at a venue that is well run and decently attended. "
Sadly, this may be one of the last well run venues, if it even still is. There was a time where venues /events were locally run. You bought a physical ticket...sometimes in the form of an ornate looking credential for an all event pass, and local people could change anything that was not right on the fly..... now, I am seeing news stories about big ticket companies running everything from afar and making people have a smart phone and a gpay app and charging "convienience" fees and lots of other garbage fees...when I was at an SA in California, the decision was made on the fly to open up the practices to anyone....at Spokane 2007, an on site person made the decision to give away hundreds of tickets to novice dance, for instance....people had a ball....

USFSA needs to find a way to connect with the average fan. Yes, they need to grow the fan base, but they also need to stop alienating the existing fans. A well run event is the minimum that they should be doing first and foremost for the skaters, of course, but also for the fans.