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Steamboat Springs — The first day of the NASTAR National Champ--ionships in Steamboat Springs was a tough one for 73-year-old Blyde Patty, but after two disappointing runs it didn't take him long to find the silver lining.

"Tomorrow, there is always tomorrow. That is, as long as I wake up in the morning," he said with a slight smile on his face.

Blyde Patty and his wife, Margaret, are among more than 1,300 ski racers on the slopes of the Steamboat Ski Area this weekend who are competing for national titles in the Nature Valley 2006 NASTAR National Championships.

Blyde Patty is competing in the 75-79 category of the Platinum division, and his wife will be racing in the 70-74 category of the women's gold division.

Skiing has been a part of the couple's lives for as long as they can remember. Blyde Patty said he used to ride the train from Golden to Union Station in Denver and then on to Winter Park every weekend to ski. He met his wife while he was working as a lift operator at the resort.

"I was lift operator, and her brother was a lift operator," Blyde Patty said. "One afternoon he told me he was going to a dance and asked me if I wanted to come along. His sister joined us ... I didn't need to look any further. We've been married 55 years, and have not missed one year of skiing in that time."

The pair attended their first NASTAR National Championships in 1985. That year, the event was held in Sun Valley, Idaho, and drew 109 racers to compete for national titles. The past two years, the Pattys have qualified for the national event, and Margaret Patty won a title in her division last year.

But she is quick to point out that her husband is the speed demon in the family.

"He is a much faster skier," Margaret Patty said. "He is like a rock coming down the course, and I'm like a cotton ball."

The Pattys said they like coming to the national finals because they enjoy the competition and camaraderie that come along with a NASTAR event. They qualified to come to the nationals by racing in Winter Park. Despite living in Grand Junction, they made it to the resort 14 times to race this winter, and both were near the top of their age divisions.

Blyde Patty said the conditions for Friday morning's race were tough. The course is a little steeper than he is used to, and the icy conditions made it difficult to finish the race.

"I wiped out on my first run, but I was able to get back up and finish the race," Blyde Patty said.

His second run was a little better, but it wasn't exactly what he wanted, either. He said he was hoping for softer conditions today and better results on the course. But he said anytime he gets the opportunity to race is a pretty good day.

NASTAR (National Standard race) is the largest recreational ski and snowboard race program in the world. Since the program's inception in 1968, more than 5 million skiers and snowboarders have taken part in NASTAR races.

This year, competitors at 120 resorts throughout the country, including Steamboat Ski Area, hosted NASTAR events. The top racers from each resort were invited to come to Steamboat to take part in the national championships, which will continue through Sunday.