2018 Nebelhorn Trophy: Thoughts and Highlights?

moriel said:

I would disagree. I love their RD, but the FD looked a bit like they are trying to be P/C, except they are not P/C. It also lacks a bit of the build up and power that Fix You (Shibs) had, so dunno.

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That’s interesting. A lot of ID programs lately have struck me as emulating P/C somewhat, but to be honest P/C (or Shibs) didn’t even enter my mind while watching Piper and Paul’s FD. To me, they appear to be striving to follow their own unique and original concept, as has been their trademark. The emotional build of the program to the end is subtle and unusual, and, imo, very beautiful. I’m excited for them to see what the season brings.

If anyone was interested in the Fritz-Geiger Memorial Trophy thing (lol, if anyone even knew about it), here's the point breakdown per country. You can check out the announcement for specific details on the point distribution system.

ETA:

ETA 2: I screwed up the points. Here are the real results:
1st. USA - 64
2nd. CAN - 63
3rd. GER - 57

- Piper Gilles being The Starry Night!!! :shocked: :dance2: :luv17: Swirling over/around Paul/Vincent (like night does in the famous painting) and in the end, during the last lift, covering/sheltering/taking him because "this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you"...
Vincent van Gogh's madness/state of mind/ portrayed as him dancing with Starry Night - what a mind-blowing concept for a FD! :clapper:
Their Tango is lovely as well.

- Artur Dmitriev's fricking 3Lz-3F! My jaw dropped seeing this. You think every technical aspect of skating has been taken care of but people still come up with stuff like this. Bravo Artur! :clapper:

- Alina Zagitova killing it. No, puberty didn't kill her jumps, no, she's not disappearing from skating after winning OG. If you have more questions - she has gala program for you.
And what a beautiful young lady she has become

- Alina Zagitova: Beautiful display of technique! When the choreography suits her, she shines. Like the footwork in the short program. She still has room in embodying the role of Carmen in the long program and working on showing off her lines better like she did in last year's free, but this is just her first outing of the program in earnest. I think she'll get there as the season progresses.

- Keegan Messing: Fantastic win! Wonderful short program that suits his style and allows him to get all of the GOEs. A little surprised that he's still keeping his free skate from last year since I didn't find the choreography as mature as the short.

- Kneirims: Those side-by-side jumps are still very inconsistent. Don't particularly care for the short program, but I can definitely see Savchenko's influence on the transitions in the long program which are much better than before. Hopefully, this is a long road in them becoming artists because the rest of their elements are improving steadily (those jumps tho!).

- Gilles/Poirier: Strong pair of programs this year. Lovely choreography in the short and long. For the short, they need to have a bit more push-and-pull tension, that intense snap between them, in the tango. The long program is quite innovative with the lifts and has multiple points of interest. They can clean up the one-leg footwork section and make that final lift a bit shorter. Once they do, they'll be in that 120-point category.

mau said:

I remember that someone from Germany said on a thread that it’s not easy to get to Oberstdorf. I doubt they’ll change the location tho, it's like a tradition since the competition is named after a mountain in Oberstdorf.

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It's not hard to get there, it is harder to get away, especially if a competition/gala lasts until 10:30. There are no trains running anymore, and to really watch everything you have to basically have a one week holiday in Oberstdorf and rent an appartment or live in a hotel, and that's expensive. The tickets are not expensive though.

Germany is not Japan. Is there any Challenger event that is sold out (sans the ones with Yuzuru) - even in other countries? Heck, even events like Skate Canada, IdF and CoC look low attendance and empty, and this isn't new. That's the reality of figure skating. Alina was just announced a week ago. If you wanted to go you had to plan the trip in advance, this was short notice. You cannot see this well on the stream but usually there are seats on the back where the judges are, you are not allowed to sit there. So you perhaps think - there is no one, but the audience is all concentrated on the opposite side.

So glad Alina Zagitova performed as a champion here. In spite of all that hate towards her since last season. In spite of huge pressure, unfortunate document problems last week...in spite of everything! I was kind of worried about her. Yes it's just CS, season debut...but I feel like winning here was very important for here. So congratulations! And what a way to celebrate the victory! Yes you're survivor Alina, a fighter! This program probably should be present with more serious and fierce face, but she just couldn't resist to smile, didn't she? It's always joy to watch skaters smiling!
(tiny addition: Alina's SP dress is gorgeous!!)

And what a fighter Mai Mihara too!! There's always confidence that everything gonna be fine, whenever she's on ice. And most of the time it's really going very well! Also she's such a sweetheart as a person and it definitely reflects on her skating too. I don't know, but for me Mai always joy to watch. Congrats with well deserved medal here!
Btw, I'm glad she keep her EX from last season. This program is amazing, one of the my favorite EX programs last season. Those twizzles though...wooow! Making me dizzy just watching it :eeking: And that new dress is stunning too. Actually it's first time I like Mai's costumes, like all of them (maybe different color for SP dress would go better, but this one pretty too).

My "highlight" of the horrendous men's event was seeing Daniel outdo his 197 score from Ondrej Nepela with a 189.03.

Someone help him, please!

Congrats to Alina for skating clean, but her programs are as uninteresting to me as ever...I felt nothing at all watching them. And the amount of Celine Dion here was simply unacceptable. :disapp:

I appreciate everyone who competed here, they have done all a great job, but oh my, I am still under a huge wave of respect and admiration after Alina's performances. :luv17:

She is looking amazing at this beginning of the season, it does not matter what the current rules are or what program she is performing, she is always ready to slay and show again and again why she is the reigning Olympic Champion: her jumps are higher, with great flow (even though physically she grew so much and dealt with so much pain due to her Osgood-Schlatter disease), her spins are great executed, better step sequences, harder transitions, strong presentation with high speed and coverage of the ice, overall everything is at a very high level.

I love all her programs, they are very different one from another, but one detail is present in them all: she shows a beautiful joy during skating, is enjoying every second from these programs, she is doing what she loves the most and is very, very good at it. Alina had two amazing previous seasons, but won't stop here, the girl is very ambitious and such a hard-worker, she is showing a great competitional mood and wish to improve every day, so I don't know what will happen at the following competitions, but I really appreciate her for this attitudine. Her biggest competition this season will be herself, if she will skate clean she will be very,very hard to beat.

mau said:

I remember that someone from Germany said on a thread that it’s not easy to get to Oberstdorf. I doubt they’ll change the location tho, it's like a tradition since the competition is named after a mountain in Oberstdorf.

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Yup. I would have gone this year, had it been in a more reachable spot. Even though Germany is a neighbour, it is easier for me to go to places like Helsinki, Ljubljana or basically anywhere in Europe where there is an airport. In fact, even Toronto or New York would be easier. If I try to look for directions on Google maps with public transport, it says they don't exist.

Tulipstar said:

Yup. I would have gone this year, had it been in a more reachable spot. Even though Germany is a neighbour, it is easier for me to go to places like Helsinki, Ljubljana or basically anywhere in Europe where there is an airport. In fact, even Toronto or New York would be easier. If I try to look for directions on Google maps with public transport, it says they don't exist.

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They do exist, it just takes a bit of time. And you can basically come only from the north, because the alps are cutting off the way out. Fly to Munich Airport and then take the train to Oberstdorf. It takes awhile, but it's definitely possible. Like I wrote above, if you plan to go there, I would recommend to make a holiday of several days out of it and stay in Oberstdorf while you're there - the trip to Munich Central takes 2 1/2 hours by train. It's really beautiful, so if you have enough of skating you can hike or paraglide off the mountains.

Great Event! Probably my favourite so far.
Alina really surprised me! I didn't think before that I'd find myself warming to POTO or Carmen from her but she performed them really well! After test skates people were really doubting her jump stability now that she's grown but she proved everyone wrong. Though the programs are actually nice, I wish they would do something about the cluttering of both music cuts and transitions. The music cuts WAY too often in the SP and she really needs to hold her positions more. Otherwise, a solid debut!
The Japanese ladies were really nice. As always, I loved Mai's soft knee bend and both her programs are lovely. I wish they had let her try and keep her old SP and do a new FS as she never really reached her potential with Libertango but already did with The Mission. Her extension has, in my opinion, improved and her jumps are, as always, solid. I really liked both Marin's programs. The SP was a new look for her that she will hopefully grow further into and I thought the choreography was great. Her FS was beautiful. Obviously her jumps had issues but Raf is a great technical coach so I trust he will help sort those out.
Loena was a revelation! She really feels every note of the music. Liked Mariah's short program but wasn't totally sold on the long. Her hair and dress really reminded me of Ashley Wagner. Audrey Lin skated well. Is she a contender for the Skate America spot or has that been already given?
Despite all the mistakes they made, the Knierims have so obviously improved. Working with the Olympic champions has helped them a lot. Their speed, power and refinement is so much better. The short program is so good. Modern and edgy is a great style for them. Thought the costumes were a bit distracting but they were bold.
Keegan Messing was brilliant. For some reason, he really reminds me of Javier Fernandez? His jumps are :luv17: Sad for Daniel Samohin. He can do a lot better than he's done this season. Hope he doesn't get discouraged.
The Parsons had great attack, especially in the RD. Good season starter for them! Some improvements may need to be made though if they hope to overtake Hawayek and Baker for the Nationals podium. Loved Gilles and Poirer! They're so underappreciated! Both programs are great vehicles for them! I really hope to see them doing well this year! Not only do they have great choreo but they really sell it and their lifts are great! The free skate is so beautiful.

MaiKatze said:

They do exist, it just takes a bit of time. And you can basically come only from the north, because the alps are cutting off the way out. Fly to Munich Airport and then take the train to Oberstdorf. It takes awhile, but it's definitely possible. Like I wrote above, if you plan to go there, I would recommend to make a holiday of several days out of it and stay in Oberstdorf while you're there - the trip to Munich Central takes 2 1/2 hours by train. It's really beautiful, so if you have enough of skating you can hike or paraglide off the mountains.

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I've known a few people who attended Nebelhorn and they all say how much they enjoyed the experience. I personally think it's good there's a time-honored tradition of having this competition. Kind of makes it stand out from others. Also I've heard that it's really intimate
and tight knit so it's a great place for interactions with skaters.

Yeah this isn't a "go for the weekend and attend the comp" kind of thing, but there are lots of other competitions for that kind of thing.

Mrs. P said:

I've known a few people who attended Nebelhorn and they all say how much they enjoyed the experience. I personally think it's good there's a time-honored tradition of having this competition. Kind of makes it stand out from others. Also I've heard that it's really intimate
and tight knit so it's a great place for interactions with skaters.

Yeah this isn't a "go for the weekend and attend the comp" kind of thing, but there are lots of other competitions for that kind of thing.

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I actually wonder if some sort of place describing how to go to specific competitions on this forum would be useful.
There are many competitions that are held at the same venue every year, and for the others, we have users from all around the world who can share how to get there and so on.

Dunno, something like "how to get there from nearby major cities" + "tips how to get around, such as how to get to the rink" and so on. Figure skating trip advisor stuff.

Manitou said:

I have no more to say about the skating, everything has been said already, but I don't understand why the attendance was so low. There are more people on high school obscure sporting events than there were on this one. Even if all the skaters' parents and siblings had come then there would have been more people than what we saw on the screen. It must be really uncomfortable for a skater to skate and then bow to mostly empty seats.
I understand it's not soccer, but either figure skating is really declining in popularity in Europe, the choice of the place was just wrong, or the advertising was terrible. Or all of it.
For me watching an empty arena behind the skaters was simply disturbing.

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This year was my 10th Nebelhorn Trophy and I haven´t seen it so full like this year (last year was also very full). I haven´t watched the stream, but last years the cameras were mostly on the side of the audience and you aren´t allowed to sit near the K&C, it´s only for the skaters, coaches, journalists etc.
And like MaiKatze alreay said, Oberstdorf is a small town and very secluded with no big towns nearby. Either you need a car or an accommodation.
Additionally figure skating isn´t a very popular sport in Germany. I think even after the Olympics the most Germans have never heard of Aljona and Bruno.

Pandicorn said:

,
Additionally figure skating isn´t a very popular sport in Germany. I think even after the Olympics the most Germans have never heard of Aljona and Bruno.

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Figure skating used to be very popular during the days of pairskaters Marika Kilius & Hans-Jürgen Bäumler, who were native Germans.

silverfoxes said:

My "highlight" of the horrendous men's event was seeing Daniel outdo his 197 score from Ondrej Nepela with a 189.03.

Someone help him, please!

Congrats to Alina for skating clean, but her programs are as uninteresting to me as ever...I felt nothing at all watching them. And the amount of Celine Dion here was simply unacceptable. :disapp:

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Thank you!!!!! LOL....like i was thinking "is Celine getting a check or something from this??!!!"

Alina was hands down the BEST!! I warmed up to her from the beginning of last season and so happy to see her progress here! Both programs were great in my opinion...but the Carmen FP is the best....i can only wait to see this progress throughout the season.

If Alina is not careful, she just may become like the ORIGINAL Carmen: The legendary, two time back to back Olympic Figure Skating Champion in 1984 and 1988 Katarina Witt! In my opinion she even resembles Katarina ---the meticulous hair, her poise under pressure, the beauty! Ugh! I love Alina....
,

moriel said:

I actually wonder if some sort of place describing how to go to specific competitions on this forum would be useful.
There are many competitions that are held at the same venue every year, and for the others, we have users from all around the world who can share how to get there and so on.

Dunno, something like "how to get there from nearby major cities" + "tips how to get around, such as how to get to the rink" and so on. Figure skating trip advisor stuff.

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Also, it would be nice to have information on local competitions and ice shows. I missed a local one because I heard about it after it was over. I think it would promote the sport more.

Jeanie19 said:

Also, it would be nice to have information on local competitions and ice shows. I missed a local one because I heard about it after it was over. I think it would promote the sport more.

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Yeah... Maybe something like fanfests, but where people would have threads for their own towns and post tips and useful info
There are tons of helpful people here, and it is quite common to see traveling tips and useful info in competition threads for example, but its all scattered

I'm very happy for Keegan. I still kind of claim him since he used to skate for the US. I think he has backing and opportunity in Canada and he's representing the well.