Oh hey, I did a thing! I PASSED MY TEST! *Celebratory Noises, loud cheering, and some tears* This is going to be a long post. Be forewarned. :)
Warm-ups - I got to Apex with plenty of time to do some off-ice warm-ups before my 7:00am practice session. Btw, shout out (again) to Alpine Skating Club for providing a FREE practice session reserved just for testing skaters. It's a nice touch! I didn't think a 45 minute session would be enough to get everything done but it was actually too much time. With 5 minutes left, I told Christopher I just wanted to get off the ice so I can listen to some relaxing music and mentally prepare before getting on again for my test. I had about a 45 minute wait before I was supposed to get back on so I took my skates off and put on some relaxing tunes while I watched the group before me absolutely slay on their tests (congrats to both of them for passing!).
5 Minute Test Warm-up - Well, this was a train wreck! I've been able to keep my nerves at bay but then I saw the judges and my legs turned to jelly (as they do when I'm nervous). I took a couple of hard falls on my easier 3 turns and then skated back to Christopher in a panic. He calmed me down and sent me back out to finish the warm-up.
Introductions - I was the first skater in my group to go (which is always nice) and so I skated right up to the judges to introduce myself (I can't do this at the Promenade since they sit up high in the bleachers). I smiled and said "hello" and "I'm absolutely terrified right now." They said hello and that there is no need to be nervous. They are all rooting for me and they all really want me to pass. It really helped to hear that and I relaxed quite a bit. I got into starting position for my first move. Here we go...
Eight Step Mohawks - I've skated this better but I've also skated it worse. It was scratchy and my outside mohawks were not the best. Here's the video.
- Judge Betsy: Scratcy, slurred 678 step, control issues = -1
- Judge Kelly: flow consistent, some toe scratching on turning fwd to bkwd = 0
- Judge Hazel: not an even cadence on either side = -1
Cross Strokes - I heard rips on the forward strokes and I thought that was pretty neat and the backward strokes felt good. Here's the video.
- Judge Betsy: Steppy forward cross strokes, back cross strokes better = 0
- Judge Kelly: flow maintained, bkwd were cross steps, not strokes from outside edge = -1
- Judge Hazel: forward continuous flow. back continuous flow = 0
FO-BI 3 Turns - These felt good :) Here's the video.
- Judge Betsy: Good placement. Work on push to back edge = +1
- Judge Kelly: Turns done on stable edges = +1
- Judge Hazel: RFO edge good control good. LFO edges controlled 3s pretty good = +1
FI-BO 3 Turns - These did not feel good. I had a very obvious foot down. Oops. This might be worthy of a reskate later on :( Here's the video.
- Judge Betsy: FD. LBO weak, RBO 3 jumped on many. work on push to back edge = -1
- Judge Kelly: One touch down after LBO 3. Some BO 3s jumped = -1
- Judge Hazel: RFI "wiggles" after 3s. Watch toe pushing. LFI 3s lack control = -2
Spirals - Wheee! Best move! This felt good. Here's the video.
- Judge Betsy: Beautiful extension. Nice control, Nice edges = +2
- Judge Kelly: Both O+I good extension and stable lobes = +1
- Judge Hazel: Outside nice extension above hip, inside nice extension = +2
Power Pulls - No audible rips on the forward (sigh) but I got a couple on the backward! At this point in the test I was just hella excited to be done! Here's the video.
- Judge Betsy: Adequate = 0
- Judge Kelly: forward pulls shallow, backward pulls strong = 0
- Judge Hazel: fwd pulls look *unreadable*, back okay with some continuous flow = 0
Final Scores - They didn't ask me to reskate anything even though I was sure they would ask to see the FI-BO 3 turns again. So, I waited anxiously for the results thinking that I probably didn't pass. When the score sheets came out and they were passing, I started crying with happiness. Christopher said "Did you not think you would pass!?" and I said "Actually, no, I didn't think I would pass." Total disbelief! I can't believe I passed!!!! Woooot!
- Judge Betsy Final Score = +1
- Judge Kelly Final Score = 0
- Judge Hazel Final Score = 0
My husband wasn't able to come but Christopher took video for me (super thoughtful of him!).
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