Ski Racing Kids!

Coach Z wrote

I forwarded the whole set of to other WF Nysef parents

I believe these were shot by a professional photographer - Roger Saks is who is credited with shooting these.  If he is not a pro he should be.

Nope - not a pro but an amateur with a good camera.

Trying to take it one step at a time.  Every council is likely to have 2-3 physically mature 2nd year u14s.  Only a one or two  at most 1st yr boys will make Easterns.  Quite a few 1st yr girls will make it as they are more mature and Nysef has some really fast 1st yr girls.  My son only weights 104 lbs compared to 175 for the boy that will likely win.

There is a race at Stratton that is focused for 2nd years development as well.

He'll be fine. The girl that won tthe U14 gs last year couldn't have weighed more than 80 pounds. It's about good skiiing

x10003q wrote

That is a great shot  - your boy knows what he is doing.

Yes and yes

hunthollowmtn1 wrote

He'll be fine. The girl that won tthe U14 gs last year couldn't have weighed more than 80 pounds. It's about good skiiing

the top girls all seem to be about the same size this year

the top boys are both big in size weighting 40 to 70 lbs more than my son and can really ski - now that the boys are hitting their growth spurts that is part of the sport. I'm sure my son will be considerably larger next season as a 2nd year.  Weight becomes even more important at a less steep venue like Bristol.  I'm hearing the top of the SG course is super flat.

Results are nice but we are taking the long view that development is more important.  Racing the Stratton race which includes more speed training may be better for his development long term.

Yep.  That Stratton thing is close to a waste of time.  OK to ski Stratton if you want but the training/race is suspect at best

did your girl attend that in the past?  I thought I heard it was a new addition for U14's

HH is your girl a 1st year 14 or 2nd?

Jimbo told me its a good event because it has a Super G training day which is hard to come by

My older kids did; Don't remember it being super g; was gs

Weight definitely matters at Stratton.  Tons of incredibly flat runouts that are unavoidable.  Race course is on the upper mountain and is rated black, but skis like a blue.  All of the upper mountain is very good cruising terrain.

At Stratton, they mostly run GS for all levels on Frank's Fall Line, which used to be North American. The top is plenty steep to get speed and they usually open it up on the flatter, lower section. It is a real fun course. You can almost see the whole course from the patio at the mid mountain lodge. I have seen speed training on the top of Upper Standard, skiers left. It has a similar pitch to Frank's as it is the next trail over.

Coach - if your son has the touch (it looks like it) and has good results while competing against the post puberty kids, he will have no problems when his kicks in.

x10003q wrote

You can almost see the whole course from the patio at the mid mountain lodge.

Coach

I just heard that they may move the super g to Saturday because of the weather  Wax accordingly

Quick question to all

Wondering what kind of wax you guys use> Do you believe in using the HF wax and CERA overlay or does this make no sense  Have debated this myself

Hunt Hollow -

CERA is a must always. Never did a single race of my career without it, starting in J4s.

The trick is to let the powder soak for at least an hour and ALWAYS on an HF base. Good hard brushing for at least 20 minutes is necessary too. It's worth getting on the hill extra early to prep the skis with this stuff. Makes a world of difference.  

Hello Coach Z,
Not trying to be mean or anything, but if you want your kid to finally start beating the heavier kids, then I would suggest switching from Elan to Head.

PG

thanks for the quick response   I am getting my wax together for states  Do you ski D1?  Where do you get your wax

HH -

No prob - wax is an important factor -- gotta know what works and what doesnt!!! I'm a Swix girl, always have been always will be, but everyone is different - it really all depends on what you personally feel works best on your ski.

Skiing D1 at Plymouth State, but the end of my career is approaching as I am graduating this spring

Hoping I'll be able to land a job coaching young rippers at an academy on the beast coast after grad, so fingers crossed! Here to gain knowledge on the circuit - its changed quite a bit from when I was their age! - and hopefully add in some knowledge as well!!

- PG

PM

I hear you

My oldest daughter always "went for it"  She was 5th at J3 States and then slammed it at JOs, skiing against Mikaela Shiffrin

Good times.  Send it

I was a Elan Pro rep for 13 years so the price was right and he has had a good run on them.  While they are not big on the higher levels race skis they make a pretty nice Jr race ski.  

I am now with Volkl after they bought Dalbello so next season that is what he will be on.  I think that will be a step up.  Regardless I don't think the ski is going to overcome a 40-75 lbs difference in the racer with everything else being equal.

His coach who has 4 fairly recent of his past racers on National teams is telling us that spending a fortune on wax at U14 is not the way to go.

With the SG moved to Saturday and the required training run in the am unless you rewax at lunch wax not going to be a factor as no U14 is likely to have two pairs of SG skis.  The coaches may to a paste or rub on for the race run.  I'll probably go with LF7 or 8

For the GS which I am assuming is now Sunday I will go with LF 6 as its supposed to be in the low teens overnight.

For the SL with a high of 51 on Monday LF10 with possibly with a low end HF paste over it.

I understand that this is an expensive sport but I am not rich and we need to keep some sanity here on what I'm willing to spend.  $100 wax is out of the question for me at this point.  He just went to using a slip and race ski this year.

Z,
I would suggest using CH for wax this weekend, since it is going to be warm. LF is normally good for colder temps.