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Are you a racer? Why?

liquidfeet

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Do you race? Recreational league, Masters, other? GS, Slalom, DH, SG? If you race now or have raced in the past, what motivates you?

I started skiing three years ago and read that racing helps people develop their skills, and I found a recreational league that encourages everyone no matter their skiing level to race. So I'm trying it. This will be my second year racing.

Plus, I ski in the East, so I might as well take advantage of the icy slopes and learn to ski stiff snow with those who know how.

And then there's competitiveness .... and the social aspect. Those two things probably keep me involved, since a race day is not much of a ski day. There's lots of standing around waiting and watching others. And there's helping with the race itself, doing various duties. Plus it also can be very cold (I hate that!) when you take the jacket off to help with aerodynamics. Despite these downs, it's great to see the time go down second by second, race by race. I love it.
 

tcarey

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Hey Liquidfeet,
I am a racer too. I just started ski racing in a recreational league about 3 years ago.I was always interested but never knew it was available to me other than Nastar.It has definately helped me to develope some skills that were lacking in my skiing.

Sometimes I stand in the gate and ask myself "Why am I doing this?" I think it is a love hate relationship. I do the same thing when I line up for a 5k or 20k running road race.I think I was just born competetive. It's in my blood. I love the challenge and it make me push myself beyond what I ever thought I could do!!

T
 

liquidfeet

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
tcarey,

What is your race league like? Mine is categorized by age and speed. We have little kids (not many; one five year old, and a few teens), ancient ones (WOW!! so fast and graceful), and every age in between, both women and men. We get labelled as D (slow), C (not so slow), B (some speed), A (warrants a speed suit), AA (faster!), and Open (fastest!!!). I'm a C/B. Goal: be an A. They tell me I cannot do it in one season. Hope springs eternal; I'm gonna try.

At the end of the season there's an awards banquet; it's like the ones for kids' soccer; SO many people get prizes. Last year they were goblets with basketballs embedded in them. I think the league got a bargain on them, so that's what I got. I was the only person racing in my category, so I won!
 

liquidfeet

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Everyone else:

I gather that since only one person (tcarey!!!) has responded, the rest of the folks reading this do not race. How come? I'm really curious!
 

cnewbound

Certified Ski Diva
I also love to race. I think its that feeling when your in the start gate and you know that it's all or nothing time!!!

I also love the competition.

And winning is always good.

And beating Tcarey is always fun!!!!:smile: I think i'm going to have to step up my game a bit this year though...

Crystel.
 

ski diva

Administrator
Staff member
I have to admit -- I've never raced. Maybe it's something I'd really like if I gave it a try; I don't know. I'd have to learn how to run gates first; there seem to be a certain set of skills that go along with that. And the social aspect of the whole thing looks like fun.

On the other hand, I tend to get very anxious in competitive time trials of any sort, which could suck the fun right out of it for me. And that might outweigh everything else. So I don't think I'd be a good candidate.
 

liquidfeet

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
SkiDiva,

I bet you'd be a great candidate. You don't need to know anything about running gates to start! If you can carve, you can race. Even if you skid all your turns, you can race, you'll just be slower than the carvers. Lots of people in my league do this.

I knew nothing when I began. Everyone assured me that going slow was fine, and that the fun was what it was all about. That's certainly true for many who race in my league (a recreational, "beer" league, not a Masters league, which I suspect is a lot more serious about speed). I crept down the first time anxious and scared to death. The second time I sped up, I thought, but the clock did not affirm that. The third time I sped up, no longer afraid, and again the clock told me that I was still going painfully slow. What's with that?

Any skier who has been skiing lots of years can do better than I did last year. So I encourage you to go for it!
 

tcarey

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Hey Liquid!
At Okemo our race league is called Innkeepers.Alot of the local businesses sponsor a team consisting of 5 team member one of which should be female.We also have individual scoring. We are put in differnent classes according to our speed and sex but not age.We have A,B,C,Pro and Pro Plus.
Both cnewbound and I are in the Pro-Plus.Most races cnewbound beats me.But I am getting closer to her times so she needs to watch out.

The evening of race day one of the sponsor restuarants will hold a party where we can get our times and stats. It is really alot of fun!

Terry
 

liquidfeet

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
tcarey,
That sounds similar to what this new league for me will be like. The team is 6 people, of which at least one has to be female. One score is dropped, but one female score has to be used. I don't know how they divide up the racers, nor if age applies.
The other league I raced in last year, and will again race with this year, does divide people by age. I won in my category, but I was the only one in it! Team scores don't seem to be tabulated in this league, only individual scores.
SOOOOOO,
So far it looks like tcarey, cnewbound, and I race, and we are all in recreational leagues. That's great! So where are the women Masters out there?
Last year I skied at Sunday River the weekend they were conducting the national Masters championships. The people in the lodge looked so professional -- I was so envious. I am always envious. One day...............
 

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