Well we've gone and done it . . . new "Racers" here

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We got our kids the gear when they started the middle school ski team, so age 12 ish. Raced at least 3 years before.. Still dont think it makes a real big difference at middle school level except psychologically.. Another yardstick for buying the fancy duds is nastar results, both our kids were platinum (which isn't saying much) before they got race stuff. Best way to keep the interest is free skiing, terrain park, and bigger more challenging runs/mountains., you know the having fun factor. Better investment than racing stuff is a trip somewhere cool, yank him out of school for the first week of Feb and go to Revelstoke, they he can say " you might a fast racer but I skiied the biggest vertical in north america"

We're doing his spring break in Telluride. His choice! All the ski videos on youtube we watched help inform those decisions, but I think he got the idea from Blizzard of Ahhhhs I'm so proud

 

[sparty]

We got our kids the gear when they started the middle school ski team, so age 12 ish. Raced at least 3 years before.. Still dont think it makes a real big difference at middle school level except psychologically.. Another yardstick for buying the fancy duds is nastar results, both our kids were platinum (which isn't saying much) before they got race stuff. Best way to keep the interest is free skiing, terrain park, and bigger more challenging runs/mountains., you know the having fun factor. Better investment than racing stuff is a trip somewhere cool, yank him out of school for the first week of Feb and go to Revelstoke, they he can say " you might a fast racer but I skiied the biggest vertical in north america"

Race skis are important, as is keeping them well-maintained, because otherwise it gets really hard to develop good movement patterns. A good helmet is important for what I hope are obvious reasons, and good goggles are helpful if you happen to have one of the rare kids who is capable of not destroying the lenses in the first morning out.

Pole guards and shin guards are a little different—you don't want to wait too long, because if they get a true race line going without them, they'll start backing off because it hurts. Too early and it's money you don't need to spend (yet), plus they may start making less-than-ideal moves because they want the cool feeling of hitting the gates. Forearm guards (for GS) are even worse in that regard (they can encourage some atrocious habits) but shouldn't be necessary until kids are older and faster.

And yes, the most important thing is keeping them engaged and happy to be participating in the sport, and for younger kids in particular, the focus should be on skiing, not on equipment. Spending money on good clothing may be beneficial, though, because being able to stay comfortable in crummy weather goes a long way in enjoyment of the sport (especially in places like New England).

 

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Another weekend down, 2nd race of the season in the books. Giant Slalom at Beech Mountain Resort here in NC. We had crazy tropical storm weather Friday into Saturday night. Several inches of rain, thunderstorms, tornado activity, high winds, and very warm temps. Flash and areal flooding.

Miraculously Beech had a decent course setup. Very spring conditions. The boy did well, 100th out of 125+ with a 40.75, winning time a 23.05, again from the 13-14 age group, boys this time.

Brown Mountain overlook, this is summer sky, it was 62 here (2500 ish feet). If not for the winter foilage you couldn't tell it from May or June.

 

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Will be a couple weeks before we race again. adult vacation next week, then we go to Alta Jan 30-Feb 2 so he'll miss that race, Alta is way better anyway. The weather hopefully returns to Winter by then and our hills can make a new base, for the 3rd time so far this season.