All races will be held on the "Turkish Pavilion" hill at Tower Grove Park (RED line on the Google map). It's an S-shaped street with a mellow slope but plenty of speed. We’ll also have our usual Friday late-afternoon fun session (not a race, just a session for those who are interested) for anyone who just wants to meet up and hang out. Friday's fun session will be on a different hill, a little further east in the park (YELLOW line on map).
All races on both days will use a standard start ramp, but those who need it will be allowed a limited push start.
FRIDAY, MAY 27, we have two things going on:
1. An afternoon/evening outlaw session at "Spot 2," a mellow hill near the east end of Tower Grove Park. Single lane, no timer, just for fun. To work out the kinks after your travel or just hang out, stop by any time after 5:30 p.m. 2. If you'd rather ride some transition, the Peter Mathews Memorial Skate Garden (built by local skaters with help from Team Pain 'crete gurus) is maybe 1.5 miles away.
View of Friday hill (from top):
SATURDAY, MAY 28, we plan a dual-lane 68-cone race. Cone spacing will be tight-ish, between 6 and 7 feet.
NOTE: The race hill is NOT steep. This race will reward anyone who can generate his/her own speed. So practice your pumping skills, cuz you’re gonna use them!
Here’s a brief video of what the hill at Tower Grove looks like:
SUNDAY, MAY 29, will be single-lane GS and single-lane Hybrid. Courses will emphasize speed and fun—makeable for newbies, challenging for experts to go fast on. In each race, you’ll get a minimum of three runs; the combined times of each racer’s two fastest runs will be used to determine the winner.
TIMING Trackmate timing system, using RANDOM beep for dual-lane racing, NON-random beep for single-lane.
AMENITIES Free food for racers on both Saturday and Sunday!
As in the past couple of years, we'll have a DIY food spread where you can make your own PB&J sammich, or grab a donut, a banana or other fresh fruit, ice water or Gatorade-type drinks. On Sunday every racer will get their choice of wrap (turkey, roast beef or veggie), hand-prepared by "Dagger Kitchens, Inc.," i.e., Laura Graf, Mary Hessler Goad or some combination of the above, plus chips and/or other munchies.
We'll have a portable restroom (with sink) at top of course, plus public restroom about 300 yards away; plenty of shade from the park's many trees; event-only pavilion with picnic tables and water pump 50 yards from top of the course.
PARKING
At Tower Grove, there's room for about 8-10 cars near the barricades at the top of the course, and there's plenty more room to park on South East Drive, just on the other side of Central Cross Drive. See map for details.
SURFACE Decent asphalt, good runout at the bottom--no footbraking required.
CASH PRIZES & SWAG Top three Pro finishers in each event will win CA$H money as follows: 1st place: At least $200.00 2nd place: At least $100.00 3rd place: At least $50.00
Top three OVERALL*** finishers in each division will receive a custom trophy, handmade by one of the Daggers. And of course we will have numerous other prizes from many amazing companies that support slalom and other forms of skateboarding – and maybe even a surprise or two. Stay tuned...
***OVERALL placing (total of both Saturday and Sunday) will be calculated by official ISSA rules, which assign a point value to each racer’s placing. Note: We're working on creating an automatic calculation of the overall results so we don't end up finishing in the dark. (D'oh!)
LODGING The "bad" news: There is no "official" race hotel. The good news: There are plenty of other hotels in and around the area, including the following:
Only a couple of miles from Tower Grove Park is Red Roof Inn. About $89/night.
The Pear Tree Inn in Fenton About 10 miles west of Tower Grove Park, but it's a quick 10 miles, straight in on I-44.
One other option: You can often get a really nice hotel within 5 miles of the park for less than $100 on Priceline or Hotwire. Just specify downtown or Union Station as the area.
Finally, a small number of racers may be able to find a place to stay with one of the Daggers. If finding a place to crash will make the difference between coming and not coming, let us know, and we'll try to work something out.
WEATHER In the event of the "R" word, we have three options: 1) Cancel the race (nooooooo!) 2) Race anyway (rain or shine), or 3) Move the race to an "undisclosed location" somewhere out of the rain.
In the race organizers' opinion, Option #1 just totally sucks; Option #2 is pretty darn unworkable, so it's not REALLY an option. Which leaves us with Option #3: If we get dumped on, we will attempt to move the race either to a parking garage downtown (location TBA). It would result in a much different race than at Tower Grove, but we’d give it a shot. No guarantees, though.
If we get just a little rain, we may be able to dry the course with some help from Mother Nature--and a propane torch, as shown in this photo of the one and only Clifton Jennings:
OTHER STUFF
Free T-shirt for every racer!
Free BBQ immediately after SATURDAY's race. All you'll have to do is walk over to the Turkish Pavilion, sit down and chow down!
Once again, Char-Master Goad will be holding it down on the grill.
Location of awards ceremony after Sunday’s race TBA. Turkish Pavilion
Assorted images from previous years:
Trophies from 2015 race
2012
2011 2011 trophy
2010 Deron “D-Ron” Rehma. Photo: Scott Spaeth
Paul Price and Chris Doan. Photo: Kevin Kissel
David Tolley (almost) gets a trim from his son Evan.
2009 "Best Beef" trophy with its owner, Tom Mangelsdorf
2008 2008 trophies
2007 2007 trophy
2006 2006 trophies
Plus other cool stuff – stay tuned!
1st Place Finisher:
Ethan White
2nd Place Finisher:
Jonathan Harms
3rd Place Finisher:
Paul Price
Overall Results:
1 Ethan White 2 Jonathan Harms 3 Paul Price 4 Steve Pederson 5 Keith Hollien 6 Brad Burnell 7 Keenan Thompson 8 Tom Weisenbach 9 Marcos Soulsby-Monroy 10 Nate Favero 11 Chris Favero 12 Paul Graf 13 Jeremy Coffman 14 David Tolley 15 Kevin Stallings 16 Paul Adams 17 Jeff Goad 18 Steven Lewis 19 Glenn Bukowsky 20 Brenden Cerney 21 Scott Kamins 22 Madison Prez 23 Matt Tabor 24 Joyce Wheldrake 25 Tod Oles (HS and GS only) 26 Reuben Wielms (HS and GS only) 27 Jonathan Seeger (TS only) 28 Rachel Wittrock (HS only)
Registered Contestants (23) -- ⚜ Slalom St. Louis the 14th ⚜
Name
Home City
Sponsors
Bio
Comment
Date Submitted
1.
Steve Pederson
Minneapolis, MN
P A V E L
5/8/2016 6:53:33 PM
2.
Jonathan Harms
Saint Louis
JBH/PG
That guy with the megaphone
Welcome back, my friends, to the race that never ends (so far)
5/9/2016 5:49:18 AM
3.
Keenan Thompson
MPLS
Rolling Tree, Chuch Crew, International Workers of the World
I've been told that my "party skills" are appreciated. You guys know what I'm talking about. 🤗
I come for that awesome quinoa and jicama salad that Harms whips up every year.
5/9/2016 7:42:52 AM
4.
Brad Burnell
Rockford IL
Don't Trip
5/9/2016 8:11:01 AM
5.
Tom Weisenbach
Lexington Ky.
5/9/2016 4:24:52 PM
6.
Jeremy Coffman
LOUISVILLE
???
Proving you can still suck no matter what life throws at you. Stomach issues, broken foot, gimp knee, going blind. I'm still sucking at skateboarding.
Lion's Choice roast beef, Silver Ballroom Australian meat pies, fried ravioli, Imo's pizza, egg fu yung sandwiches, bbq
5/9/2016 7:19:47 PM
7.
Joyce Wheldrake
Toronto Ontario Canada
me myself and i
Tenth year in Slalom Skateboard Racing...
Cant wait to try to skate that tight coarse again clean...
5/11/2016 8:42:02 PM
8.
Dave Larson
Minneapolis MN
Going as Steve Pedersons board caddy and bushing consultant.
5/12/2016 9:54:11 AM
9.
Eddy Martnez
Harlingen, Texas
Pavel, Pro-Designed ,Texas Outlaws
This rider is as OG as they come. Moth Balls
St louis Daggers. Rock
5/12/2016 10:12:57 AM
10.
Scott Kamins
Juanconda IL
The heart beat of america
A true C class hero coming all the way out from Chicago. By fare one of the fiercest of racers on circuit today. Dont underestimate this racers race instinct or you would surely lose. Buyer Be Ware!!!!
Gonna be a good weekend.
5/12/2016 11:34:03 AM
11.
Brenden Cerndizzle
libertyville
Green room
Where's that glorious bearded fella with the pbr?
Reflections off this pale face round eye may cause temporary blindness
5/12/2016 1:57:28 PM
12.
David Tolley
Huntington WV
Marc's board shop and Marla
This beard ain't getting any silver'r
Blank
5/12/2016 3:23:58 PM
13.
Steven Lewis
St.Louis MO
Me myself and I
5/12/2016 5:39:17 PM
14.
Keith Hollien
Gainesville, FL
Keith Hollien Signature Series, Radikal Trucks, FreeRide Skate & Surf Shop, AXE-ARMY & Sk8Kings and Oust Bearings.
Skateboarding for 52 years and Slalom Skateboarding for 40 years.
5/16/2016 8:32:45 AM
15.
Paul Price
Park City, UT
Pavel Racing, www.utahpowdertours.com
Stoked to be skateboarding again this year.
5/17/2016 9:10:49 AM
16.
Paul Adams
New Orleans
Texas Outlaws (NOLA Chapter)
This year I'm going to make it to that brewery and get a nice cold mug of America
5/18/2016 5:22:23 AM
17.
Madison Prez
New Orleans
Texas Outlaws (NOLA Chapter)
5/18/2016 5:25:42 AM
18.
Nate Favero
ChiXill
FBR
19 yo. My first race was St. Louis in 05
Off the couch, again.
5/19/2016 7:59:02 AM
19.
Chris Favero
ChiXill
FBR
Can't stop, won't stop!
Need a shoe buddy. Size thirteen, regular, prefer a non-puffy tongue.
5/19/2016 8:00:57 AM
20.
Marcos Soulsby-Monroy
League City
MMM skateboarding.
Disavowed
5/20/2016 8:59:03 PM
21.
Paul Graf
Alton, IL
JBH/PG Inc
Now where did I put my slalom board? I haven't seen it for at least a year.
5/23/2016 10:55:43 AM
22.
Ethan White
Columbus ohio
Pavel, Abec 11 , thriller miller, Mollica, Black Leather Racing
