San Jose, California will host 2018 U.S. Nationals (Dec. 29, 2017 - Jan. 7, 2018)

[Willin]

@AJ Skatefan For most sporting events and concerts in downtown SJ occurring at SAP or Levi's Stadium, the official hotel is the Fairmont. It's not currently listed/designated as the official hotel on the website, but I don't know if that's public information or only available to competitors via the competition announcement. The Fairmont has many conference rooms for competition events, press conferences, and registration, so it's a likely choice for the official hotel. It's also the first hotel listed on the event site. The website lists the Hyatt as an alternate hotel, though I'd bet some skaters will also stay at the Hilton, Mariott, and Four Seasons.

 

[AJ Skatefan]

Thanks, Willin!

 

[TanithandBenFan]

I was told earlier this year by the organizing committee that the Marriott is the HQ hotel.

 

[aftershocks]

How do vendors at Nationals get their credentials? Sponsorship by or affiliation with USFS, or just permission and a fee?

 

[ross_hy]

For those who are local, how easy/difficult is it to get from SFO airport down to San Jose using public transport? That's looking like the best option for me.

 

[Willin]

@ross_hy Not entirely easy. The easiest to fly into, if it's convenient for you, would be SJC (San Jose Minetta International) - it's maybe a mile or two from the rink and another mile or two from downtown. There's also plenty of free shuttles from SJC to the various hotels.

To get from SFO, you'd have to take several forms of public transit to get there. The easiest would be to BART from SFO to Millbrae and then transfer to Caltrain, which will take you to downtown SJ. Depending on what time you come in and what schedules they are running that day, it may take a long time to get down there and the transfer timing between the two systems may be poor. (Not to mention it is terribly, terribly, awfully crowded during the commute) I believe the fare would be about $10-$15, which would certainly be less than a cab or Uber/Lyft.

 

[AnnM]

I've heard it's the Marriott, which was also the skaters' hotel in 2012. IIRC, some coaches/skaters/officials stayed at the Fairmont in 2012, so that might also be the overflow hotel this time.

I do recall seeing a lot of coaches and other skating glitterati at the Fairmont lobby bar during 2012 -- just FYI.

 

[MacMadame]

It's a known hangout for that sort of thing. They have some really cool (but expensive) martinis in the lobby bar too.

 

[Sugar64]

I gave in and bought the Champions Package w/o the exhibition. I hope they'll start selling individual tickets for the Sr. SPs soon!

 

[Anita18]

Has anyone managed to sign up to volunteer? I don't see it on their website (their website is awful, btw...) and I don't know if it's too late to try to sign up for it.

Although, they seem to give us less and less perks as volunteers. 2009 Worlds in LA, we could go to any event if we weren't on shift, it was epicccccccc. 2012 Nats in SJ, we had to buy our own tickets! I suspect it will be the same this time, so I might not bother volunteering if it'll be several hoops for me to even try.

I'm still less than a year in with my new job in SF city govt, and I don't get paid time off until then. I'm still considering how much time to take off. But obviously I'll go, since it's so close. Just deciding how long...

 

[Willin]

@Anita18 The call went out for ice sweepers through the local figure skating clubs, but I'd assume we're too old (and unwilling to pay the $200 fee). I wonder if the other volunteering stuff will be through them as well? Technically CCIA is hosting, so we'll see what they say as well.

I'll PM you if I hear anything more through my club since I'm interested. Hopefully I can volunteer at good events at the Senior/Junior level. Last time I got practice ice for Juvie/Intermediate pairs and ice dance - so just a lot of overinvolved everybody with much more lax security to not prevent their overinvolvement. Also a 10-year-old with a real fur coat having a temper tantrum.

 

[Anita18]

Thanks @Willin! I've never volunteered for any on-ice stuff - I was able to fill in an online form for 2009 Worlds and 2012 Nationals to volunteer for the information desks, but I'm wondering if they had that link months ago and I missed it in my new job/moving mess.

 

[MacMadame]

I'm closer to SJ than you are (by a small bit) and I'm not going.

 

[Lanie]

For those of you who still need flights Alaska Air has deals going into SJC as low as $49 right now. I can score a flight for that price out of Burbank, so I may grab 'em.

 

[nguyhm]

@ross_hy Not entirely easy. The easiest to fly into, if it's convenient for you, would be SJC (San Jose Minetta International) - it's maybe a mile or two from the rink and another mile or two from downtown. There's also plenty of free shuttles from SJC to the various hotels.

To get from SFO, you'd have to take several forms of public transit to get there. The easiest would be to BART from SFO to Millbrae and then transfer to Caltrain, which will take you to downtown SJ. Depending on what time you come in and what schedules they are running that day, it may take a long time to get down there and the transfer timing between the two systems may be poor. (Not to mention it is terribly, terribly, awfully crowded during the commute) I believe the fare would be about $10-$15, which would certainly be less than a cab or Uber/Lyft.

I'm looking into taking Uber from SFO to Caltrain station - which would cost much less than Uber all the way from SFO. My arrival time would be around 2pm. The airfares for me are a lot less expensive to SFO than to SJC. I appreciate any recommendations/advice you provide.

 

[Willin]

@nguyhm I think it sounds like a good plan. Still, Caltrain can get very crowded during commute time (which, in the bay area is more like 3pm-7pm), so if your taxi time/walk/baggage pick up (if you have any)/uber take longer than an hour after arrival - which is pretty realistic during daytime at SFO - you may want to consider just uber/lyfting down to San Jose.

 

[tylersf]

I just got a job in San Jose. I didn't think I was going to go to the championships, but now I might. I should just park at my office and take an Uber to SAP Arena.

 

[tylersf]

Hi Anita. I volunteered for the 2012 Nationals at SAP Arena like you did. I agree with a lot of things that you said. Some of the volunteers were actually competitive skaters who didn't do nationals that year.

I was gossiping about my old coach (famous) to someone, and BAM there she was right near me. Talk about embarrassing even though it wasn't anything bad about her. I was telling someone that I was probably her worst student ever. Still embarrassing.

Thanks @Willin! I've never volunteered for any on-ice stuff - I was able to fill in an online form for 2009 Worlds and 2012 Nationals to volunteer for the information desks, but I'm wondering if they had that link months ago and I missed it in my new job/moving mess.

 

[Anita18]

@tylersf @Willin I JUST got an email from the volunteer coordinator from 2012 Nats. So if you're on the email list from last time, you should be good.

And yeah, she explicitly mentioned no complimentary tickets at all. I'm not sure if I'll volunteer then, I have SO MUCH going on right now. I wasn't sure if I could devote the entire week to volunteering in the first place, and if they aren't going to be any perks at all, the answer is leaning more toward "no."

 

[tylersf]

I got the email too. I'll just see what happens.

@tylersf @Willin I JUST got an email from the volunteer coordinator from 2012 Nats. So if you're on the email list from last time, you should be good.

And yeah, she explicitly mentioned no complimentary tickets at all. I'm not sure if I'll volunteer then, I have SO MUCH going on right now. I wasn't sure if I could devote the entire week to volunteering in the first place, and if they aren't going to be any perks at all, the answer is leaning more toward "no."

 

[tylersf]

I just filled out the volunteer form. Hope I get good slots. I hope they get better snacks for volunteers this time.

 

[A.H.Black]

Question about Tickets. Are all tickets being sent out via email? What will happen if someone needs to sell theirs. I have often purchased tickets at the last minute from someone who needs to sell theirs. I don't want to miss that chance this year. I haven't had any experience with online tickets.

 

[TanithandBenFan]

Question about Tickets. Are all tickets being sent out via email? What will happen if someone needs to sell theirs. I have often purchased tickets at the last minute from someone who needs to sell theirs. I don't want to miss that chance this year. I haven't had any experience with online tickets.

Online tickets are usually issued as a PDF document, so the seller should be able to print and mail you the applicable tickets or email the PDF pages to you.

 

[A.H.Black]

Online tickets are usually issued as a PDF document, so the seller should be able to print and mail you the applicable tickets or email the PDF pages to you.

Thank you!

 

[jlai]

I am confused about the online schedule at http://skatesanjose2018.com/. The top schedule and the bottom do not match. E.g. The top has jr dance on wed and thurs and the bottom has jr dance on wed but no mention of short dance.
And each schedule is missing some lower level events.
I want to know when to fly in if I want to watch jr dance.

 

[Debbie S]

Yeah, it looks like they've got the time and place wrong for Junior SD and then missed the FD on the bottom sched. The top looks more detailed/accurate to me, but I am that they have Junior events (namely the men's FS and SD) happening at overlapping times at different rinks. And that they scheduled Junior SPs before some of the Novice SPs. Which means I will miss the Junior Men and Ladies SPs b/c I'm not arriving until Tuesday (and with the hotel rates as they are, I'm not arriving any sooner).

 

[missing]

The senior events seem to be scheduled pretty much for Eastern Standard Time, so I assume they'll be shown live on some network or another. And they don't seem to have that nastypants mashup of lesser pairs and dance teams in the morning and better pairs and dance teams in the afternoon.

Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018
6:00 p.m. – Opening Ceremonies & Senior Ladies Short Program

Thursday, Jan. 4, 2018
1:00 p.m. - Senior Pairs Short Program
5:25 p.m. - Senior Men Short Program

Friday, Jan. 5, 2018
1:00 p.m. - Senior Short Dance
4:00 p.m. - Senior Ladies Free Skate

Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018
11:45 a.m. - Senior Pairs Free Skate
3:45 p.m. - Senior Men Free Skate

Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018
10:30 a.m. - Senior Free Dance
6:00 p.m. - Smucker’s Skating Spectacular

***Event schedule and venue location subject to change.***

 

[acraven]

I'm with Debbie: It's really frustrating as an all-event ticket purchaser not to be able to see all the novice, junior and senior events.

 

[pairskatingfan]

Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018
11:45 a.m. - Senior Pairs Free Skate
3:45 p.m. - Senior Men Free Skate

Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018
10:30 a.m. - Senior Free Dance
6:00 p.m. - Smucker’s Skating Spectacular

***Event schedule and venue location subject to change.***

Considering the early starts for the senior pairs free skate and senior free dance, do you think that they finally will have all of the couples compete together? Not a fan of how they have been splitting up the groups.

 

[myhoneyhoney]

Christmas At The Park in Downtown San Jose is extending their season another week so everyone attending Nationals can enjoy it too!
http://www.christmasinthepark.com/