Question: League racing- can I do it?

[eclaire]

My local hill has a race league. It seems like a pretty large and diverse group of people and they race in teams of four, 4 nights a week. I've been watching them and have started to think about trying it next year.

The problem is, I'm a solid intermediate skier but I'm nearly 50 years old and haven't skied gates since I was a teenager. Often when I look at the course it seems to be sheer ice, which is totally intimidating because I'm not sure that I'm that good! I believe they do offer gate training/ lessons so I suppose I could start there, but I guess I just feel insecure about trying. I'd need to find three other people, preferably women of my age to start a team, I'd imagine. How do I do that? Do I need to buy racing skis or other gear? I'm skiing on Black Pearls now and I wonder if they'd be too soft? On the other hand, I don't want to invest in race skis only to find that I can't cut it. How serious are these leagues or is it just an excuse to get together for a beer after the race? Am I crazy to think this could be a good thing?

Sorry for all the questions, but I'd love to hear from any Divas who race, and especially novices or older skiers just starting to race. What has your experience been like and what advice could you share?

 

[bounceswoosh]

I don't have answers to anything but your first question - "Can I do it?" Yes, you can. Absolutely!

 

[mahgnillig]

I went to a women's ski clinic today where they had set up a mini race course especially for us. I had never skied gates before, but it was really fun! The instructors made it totally ready by saying it's just like regular skiing, but you don't get to pick your turns, the gates pick for you. After that, everyone completed the course successfully several times.

I wouldn't sweat the equipment choices to start out with since there's no point investing a lot in something you don't know you'll like. I your position I think I'd go along and talk to the organizers to see if they know of anyone else who wants to try but doesn't have a team, and go from there.

 

[geargrrl]

Tammy to the white courtesy phone..... Not sure how to tag her from tapatalk....

 

[MissySki]

My local hill has a race league. It seems like a pretty large and diverse group of people and they race in teams of four, 4 nights a week. I've been watching them and have started to think about trying it next year.

Just out of curiosity, which mountain?

 

[eclaire]

Nashoba Valley. Very small hill but only 15 minutes from home so great place to get in a couple of hours of night skiing after work.

 

[litterbug]

Tammy to the white courtesy phone..... Not sure how to tag her from tapatalk....

I think all we do is type the @ sign--like @Tammy...

 

[litterbug]

Yay, it worked!!

 

[Tammy]

@litterbug

Yep, it worked indeed.

Our local league is truly a "beer league": very laid-back and everyone is there to have fun. You might want to see how your team scores points for this particular league. For my local league, each team has four members, and one of those members must be a woman. On the first night of the races everyone gets a seed time, and then you are paired up in duels according to your time. If you end up being faster one week you get paired up with someone with a comparable time. This way, the organizers try to make it fair for all abilities.

If your league has some kind of training prior to the race I highly recommend taking advantage of it. My initial challenges were similar to yours: dealing with icy ruts and just being able to trust myself to know what the heck I was supposed to do in the course. If the league does not offer that kind of training try to seek out some lessons that focus on carving. I'm still working on making good carves since I'm so new to the sport.

You don't need to go out and buy race-specific gear, but some people do. I have race-specific gear b/c I've been doing some USSA Masters-level racing and related training this year. I also have the BPs and, although they are surprisingly great at high speeds, I think that having a stiffer, narrower-waisted, front-side carver ski will help in the course. It doesn't need to be race-specific for a beer-league: perhaps you can pick up a used front-side carver pair of skis at a ski swap so you don't have to spend so much $$. If you do purchase a stiffer ski, I'd recommend keeping your edges sharp prior to each race. There's a great article in the Gearipedia section of this site written by Volkgirl on DIY tuning. It will save you money in the long run.

If I can race after only 7 seasons of skiing, so can you . Good luck and have fun!

 

[ZealouslyB]

I too beer league race, on a little ant hill called Lost Valley in Maine. We ski every Thursday. The set up is very different: teams of 12-15 people. Everyone gets a 'handicap' based on their age, gender and equipment. There are 4 scoring categories, top racer from each category for each time scores point. You have to have 'alternative' racers on your team AND who score: alternative means anyone other than a male on skis. So as a female tele skier who's pretty fast and has a good handicap for my time, I'm actually sought out to be on someone's team. :-). Some people race to be fast, a lot of others do it for fun. I used to race, love to be on a race course but I don't take it seriously. It has improved my tele skiing significantly. And this is where I met my diva dude, and we're now been together 8 years. It's just as much a social league as it is for skiing.

So my question is: what's your aim in doing this? Is it to get better? Be a competitive racer again? Just have fun and ski? Then, does this league met your needs? Because you certainly CAN do it, and it'd be a lot of fun if it's what you're looking for!

 

[volklgirl]

We race every Thursday, with teams of 6. The top 4 from each team earn team points that apply to the team standings. Ours is run on our standard NASTAR hill (a blue) for 5 of the 8 weeks, then 2 different blacks for 1 week each, then the end of the season Downhill/SuperG.

We have everything from ex-US-Development-Team racers to first-year-just-doing-it-for-the-grins racers along with snowboarders and telemarkers, but we're all just there for the competition, fun, food, and drinks.

Absolutely you can do it, and no, you don't need special equipment for your first year. If you find you love it (and you likely will ), then a cheater GS ski in a 165-175 length would be a great addition. Race lessons and clinics are the fastest way to bring your skiing to the next level really, REALLY quickly.

 

[Tammy]

^^^^ what Volklgirl said .