Major snaps to Rob L. et al. for pulling off a seamless event.
And the rumor mill has it that Rob may be joining the ranks of pair skating--I say, come on in, the water's fine!

Oh, more snaps to Becca (I think it was her), for providing the little plastic bottles of flavored smirnoff vodkas.
The raspberry one thrown on the ice after my freeskate came in handy, uh, let's just say, immediately after i skated. The orange one that followed was just as good.

__________________
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

ooh, i wish i could have attended the party. I was so tired from no sleep and my adrenaline rush just crashed me down. Any parties maybe in Aston,PA?

Hey Tim,
There's going to be a competitor's party at Halloween Classic too- I can't wait, since I couldn't make it to Peach!!

I have a feeling that Halloween will be wilder...

DEF - I'll be there with bells on! No Peach 05 for me, either - my best friend is getting married on Labor Day weekend and I'm a bridesmaid. :-) Ah well, NATIONALS 06 will have to suffice.

Good job to everyone! Special to Stormy and mskater for doing so awesome! I'm just so relieved that everyone did the right moves and no one's blade broke and there was fab skating to be had.

How about a rubber chicken (ask Becca or Bill P if you don't know why!) My mother's been making rasperry vodka at the moment..... me, I preferred the Bourbon that kind Beccapoo gave us at the Mountain Cup.

Wish I'd been there - sounds like you guys had fun!

__________________
Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Good gracious, am I tired!?! That was a blast! There are so many things to report on, I don't know where to start.

I'll start with the underwear banner. Hee hee. I only took it to the rink on Saturday, but it was a fun addition. Marianne Campbell was the first recipient. The look on her face when she finished her program, looked up from her bow and saw "Great Skate" spelled out in flo orange on underwear waving from a banner -- priceless!

All the comments about mskater's freeskate are dead on -- it was simply awesome. He didn't let skating against the Great Davin Grindstaff mess with his head. And his costume was gorgeous too.

Skatingatty's man/woman interp was great. She easily won her interp group, which was impressive because it was a good group, and also won her jumps event. That girl can skate fast!

My favorite event to watch was the Silver Men's freeskate, and not just because ALL the competitors were my friends. There was some really good skating in that event. My homeboy David Tsai had a beautiful skate for 1st, but Nova Sk8r gave him a good run and came in 2nd. Nova spins like a top and is amazingly flexible. And in spite of being insanely busy running a competition, Rob L summoned up the strength to lay down a darn good 3rd place program! Bill P was a very brave boy and stuck in his axel -- awesome! The best part, though, was during warmup. Both David and Nova Sk8r have hydroblade moves in their programs (David actually taught it to Nova years ago), and they entertained the crowd by doing sbs hydroblades in perfect unison. The crowd went nuts!!

Our club was very proud of Kelton B's Gold Men's win. He's a former roller skating competitor, but this was his first time competing adult Gold.

The pairs stuff was a hoot, as always. They'd split the teams in to 2 events: Silver Pairs and Gold Pairs. We got put into Gold Pairs with the great team of Sargent & Mata. Oooh, lucky us. But then they put it on the schedule and announced it as Adult Pairs and Masters Pairs. We didn't know what event we were doing. Ha ha! We found out Friday night that Bill P's U.S. partner had scratched, but they were going to allow his Mtn. Cup partner, Piret, to take her place. (Isn't that the great thing about adult comps? Nobody sweats the little stuff like this.)

They put all 4 teams on the same warmup, and this year nobody ran into anybody else. It was a miracle! In the Adult/Silver event, Bill and Piret did great, especially considering they were re-learning the program about 16 hours before. Their lift went well, and they look so cute together on the ice! Looploop and Nova Sk8r looked like ... how to describe it? ... like they belong on the ice together skating pairs. Their axel lift is fully extended and high, and their spiral sequence is to die for! I was really impressed.

Our Masters/Gold event was fun. Paul & Judy did a new program, and it's really nice. They did all their usual incredible overheads, including a platter and a press that has an extra rotation in it over last year. They also did a split twist, BO death spiral, and camel/catch camel combo spin. No surprises -- they looked great. My partner and I were very pleased with how we skated. Our only major problem was on the sbs sit spins. Those are usually in synch, but he got a bad entry into his and had to bail after a couple of revs. Oh, well. Our lifts (lutz & loop) were fine, but the throw loop could have been better. Looking at the tape, it looks like we just waited too long or something. Our camel/catch camel went fine, which was a relief becuase it had been giving us fits the last few weeks. As expected, we came in second but we were elated to have gotten a first place ordinal. First one ever for pairs.

I had a good jumps program, but of course the Great Becca Guthrie kicked all our butts with her axel combo. I came in 2nd with my lutz/loop combo -- and am honored just to skate on the same ice that Becca did. I also had a good interp. I did my "Crazy" number and came in 2nd. The lady who won our group did a really fun program dressed as a waitress, skating to "Tips." It was awesome, because she used her prop of a tray with glasses on it really well. She actually used it throughout the entire program in some really clever ways. I'm always so impressed with the interp programs people come up with. We adults can be so creative. Looploop did a beautiful interp too, with some gorgeous spread eagles and Ina Bauer. Really pretty.

And considering all her recent shoulder problems, dani had some great skates too! She medaled in Gold MITF (not bad for a Bronze skater, huh?) and had the guts to try her freeskate, in spite of being unable to skate and train enough because of her injury. Her Chaplin interp, which came in 2nd to the Great Becca Guthrie's hilarious number, was even better than last time I saw it. Dani wins the Brave Little Soldier award for having the guts to skate so soon after an injury.
One of the cool things about Peach this year was seeing a fair number of men. They had everything from No Test through Masters. It was really good to see men out there competing.

But man oh man, the party! We had such a good time. I think I danced off about 3 pounds Saturday night. I had such a good time (hint hint) that I had to skip practice ice the next morning. I loved the Hawaiian Beach Party theme. Everybody got lei'd!

My NC buddies Michele & David had a good skate in the Pre-Bronze dance event. Their tango was quite good, in particular. Michele medaled in every event she entered -- including a Silver medal in the freeskate.

I was really afraid that, with entries being lower than last year and the hurricane coming on, Peach would be less fun this year. It started off more subdued, but came on strong in the end. I'd say it was even more fun than last year! If the kids only knew how much friendship, fun, and camaradarie there is in adult skating, they'd all be dying to get old. What a great bunch of people! Snaps to Rob, Ginger, Marianne, Jennifer, and all the others who put on a great event. The scheduling seemed a little whacky this year, and there was some strangely unused ice for half-ice events, but overall it was great!! Who know what went on behind the scenes, but for us competitors, it went like clockwork.

skattingatty, hope you're okay! Let us know if we locals can do anything to help.

Rob is faaaaast! The results are already up on the Georgia FSC's website:

http://www.gafsc.org/peachclassic/peachclassic04s.htm

Oh my, what a weekend! Where to start?

First off, I'll echo everyone else's congrats to Rob, Ginger, Marianne and everyone else for such a smooth (and fun) event.

My two highlights of the weekend were passing my gold moves test (finally) and seeing Nova Sk8r skate THE BEST program he's ever done, including practice. I was so proud of my partner! The silver men was a great event; they all skated well and even more importantly had fun out there, especially the side-by-side hydroblade Skaternum mentioned.

Pairs was so much fun, too. Well, except for that moment when NoVa almost dropped me . We pulled off our sort-of death spiral, which we'd had to really limit in practice due to my shoulder problem, the loop lift went well, the throw loop was pretty good (and we only learned it last month!), and I don't think NoVa forgot our program this time either. Skaternum and her partner were terrific, much better than she'd led me to expect they'd be. Paul and Judy were amazing, and Bill and Piret...well... I can't even imagine trying to pull off a pairs program with only a few hours of practice, so major props to both of them. And thanks to mskater for teaching us a star lift at the pool!

Speaking of mskater, he was awesome! And yes, I think we must have known each other before and just not realized it. You'll be here for the New Year's comp, right?

Skatingatty, I'm glad you're ok after your accident! And your interp was a lot of fun to watch, along with so many others. Mine, well... when I got onto the ice for it, for some reason I was terrified. I haven't felt like that on the ice in a few years, so I wasn't able to get past it and therefore just couldn't sell my program. Heck, I couldn't feel my legs, so I certainly couldn't express my music very well. Oh well, there's always next time to improve on that.

Congrats to everyone on their skates at the Peach this year, especially to all my Mountain Cup buddies - you guys did great Also congrats to my friend Jenny who flew over from the UK and won Silver II freeskate.

Hopefully someday I will make it to this competition - it sounds like a great time. At the moment though I am hoping to be at the NYWC next year.

John

Congratulations to all who competed!

I am far from competing or even starting to test, yet, but now I have even more reason to work hard. I want to be pelted with vodka miniatures and honored with a sign made of underpants!

Bright orange underwear signs, miniature vodkas and everyone getting lei'd at the party!?!?!?! I better start saving up for next year's Peach!!! (Right now I'm saving up for either Adult Sectionals or Nationals...ummmm...probably the Sectionals now given that I'm not sure I can pass those Bronze moves test in time. I'm nowhere near ready to test yet!!!)

skatingatty: I'm glad to hear that you came out of it (relatively) unscathed though.

Congrats to everyone that skated!!!

__________________
Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

Hi everyone! I'm back at home in NC now-- whew! What an adventure that trip was. Thanks for your concerns. I'm doing fine-- just got a skinned left elbow and very minor marks from the seatbelt; everyone, remember to always wear a seatbelt. I've already looked at some used cars. I'd like to get a hybrid, but even the used ones are going for over $20,000. Maybe I'll be back on the road soon and able to make my Wed. skating lesson.

Yes, I forgot to praise mskater for his wonderful freeskate! I had never seen him do that complete program. Everything was dead-on perfect. Also impressive were NovaSk8r's spins and carriage. I think he could pass for Brian Boitano's younger brother, looks-wise and skating-wise. And, speaking of skater similarities, I thought Yumiko (?) looked like Yuka Sato doing her interpretive-- very artistic with flowing edges, and the blonde lady wearing a white dress with fringe and gloves, who skated to "Chicago," reminded me of Maria Butyrskaya. Lastly, I still can barely tell Jenny Baker and Sara Panzer apart!

Congrats to LoopLoop on passing gold moves. I didn't notice any problems in your interp. It was a beautiful program. I'll put up some pictures on the web as soon as I can.

Congrats to you all the competitors, if any of you guys have pictures from peach classic, send some it to the Adult Figure Skating Website so you guys can be featured.

OMG, thanks! I have a 'Tano lutz, too. No comment on the death drop. But as I told mskater and Loops, I'm really going for Lucinda Ruh's older brother--I want to achieve "glorious" spins status! Maybe by adult nationals? Stay tuned ...

__________________
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

Thanks to everyone that complimented my program; I'm still on a "skating-high" and loving every minute of it:]

Skatingatty, I just bought a used car last weekend from the Mazda/Buick dealership out on Wake Forest Road and it was the first really pleasant car buying experience I've had. They will truly work with you to get you a good deal and as of last weekend had many good cars to choose from. Ask for Rhonda if you decide to give them a try.

Btw, I was totally flipping out over the Yuka Sato "look-a-like"...really uncanny similarity during her interp.

Ok, bedtime for me...I'm sure I'll think of more to say once I've gotten some rest:]

I mostly slept and ate all day... Can't wait to go again next year and do better...

Good night all

Well done, all of you! WISH I'd been there, to have competed in (ideally) preliminary or pre-bronze dance, Ladies III Interpretive (thank heaven's I'm not Ladies II; I can't compare with Becca!) and (for Robert) pre-bronze or Bronze solo dance!

What are "compulsory moves" as compared with "moves in the field", please?

__________________
Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

First of all, congratulations to all those who participated and placed.

Is it my imagination or what but looking at the results, it seems that the bulk of the skaters were from the south. I was checking to see if any of the usual suspects I know attended and none did.

I might try to make it myself since 1) there is a pre-bronze category, and 2) our sister company the Weather Channel is there so maybe I can put the two together and really cut expenses!!

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Keeping School Figures Alive!!

I checked the numbers against last year and here's what I got.

Competitors: 132 (2003) vs. 107 (2004, based on the competitors list).
Events: 69 (2003) vs. 74 (2004, based on the schedule).

Because of the threat of a hurricane, a few people stayed home this year, so there were less than 107 competitors.

So based on these numbers, we can conclude that there were fewer people this year, spread out over more events. So the number of skaters in any one event was smaller on average than last year. But the fun quotient was just as high, if not higher, than last year.

Compulsory moves events are events where you are given the elements that must be included in your program. The program is without music and on half the ice surface. Everyone is doing the same elements, and no extra elements are allowed. Elements include both jumps and spins and often a required footwork sequence or other sequence like spirals, etc.

For the kids, compulsory moves events are a great preparation for the eventual short programs at the higher levels. For adults, it's a great way to compete an extra event that compares like elements.

Hope that makes sense....I'm a little groggy this morning.

Congrats to all of you....it's great to read about your adventures!

Congratulations to all! It sounds like you had a great time. Any potential partners there? TimDsk879??? ever consider pairs?

Unfortunately I'm the one who should get thrown

I weigh 125 lbs and 5 ' 7. I did have some experience with pairs, but I don't think I have the strength to lift. I can throw

That could be an interesting program!

Very "Annisina and Peizerat," I think! You could blow the judges away by hefting Tim.