I have been involved in officiating BC loppets 3 times when there have been
disqualifications.

One involved a skier who took the wrong (shorter) course even though several
hundred other people had no problem following the markings. I think he had
skied the race a previous year when a different course was used and did not
believe the trail markings that were sending him a different way. He
readily admitted his error.

Another involved a skier who changed skis half way through a classic race.
The course passed through the start/finish area half way through the race
when it finished one course and started on a different one. Many skiers
were having trouble with their wax wearing off and one skier stopped and
changed into another waxed pair of skis that he had left leaning on a fence.
He then moved from 7th to first place as he passed skiers who struggled on
with their worn wax. He was disqualified for changing skis. He thought
that if there was no ski marking he would be OK, but the rules clearly state
that you can only change one ski and even then you have to show that the
replaced ski was broken. The seven skiers he passed would have been upset
if he wasn't disqualified for taking an unfair and illegal advantage. He
was a very experienced competitive skier who should have known the rules.

The third skier that was disqualified was for skating in a classic race. He
was a contender for the win and skated up most of the steep uphills. He was
spotted by course marshals and also reported by the three or four other
skiers in the lead group in his age class. At his level of skiing he was
expected to know the difference between herringbone and offset skating. I
suspect that he missed the wax and skating up the hills was the only way he
could stay with the leaders.

On many other cases there have been verbal warnings given to people who used
a "gliding herringbone" or repeatedly skated from one classic track to
another. These were all cases where it was reasonable to assume the skier
did not know any better and where the overall results were not affected.

Scott

"Jim Flom" wrote in message
news:0MLTf.5012$nQ6.3439@clgrps13...
"Mark Waechter" wrote ...

It's not so sinister ...

The fellow in question missed a turn and thus skied a shorter lap.
He's happy to tell you that there's no way he could possibly have won
by 10 minutes.

I'm happy to tell you that the DQ'd skier is a great guy, a beautiful
classic skier, and was only dissappointed that the course wasn't as
well marked as it could've been.

The people at SovLk do a great job, so I'm not quibbling with their
efforts, either. Just trying to clear up the mystery DQ.

Certainly, and I didn't intend to imply sinister, I was just surprised to
see it and curious about different possible DQs. I could just as easily
have left out the name of the race. Didn't wish to single anyone out.

JF