What does it cost to have a ski racing kid?

Make friends with someone that has a (youngest) child 2 years ahead of yours so you can get in their hand-me-down slipstream and make friends with someone that has a child two years younger than yours so you can keep the good vibe going and pass stuff on to them.

Thought you ski racers/parents/coaches would enjoy this. A young woman who works for me in the summer is a race coach at Lake Louise in the winter, these are some of the kids she coaches:

ADKGurl is a second year J4 so we have been at it for several years now. It is expensive but it sends chills of pride up and down my spine to see her ski and to know I can take her anywhere with confidence, I have hiked her up into the Ridges of Alta and she rips the steep and deep. We are planning back country ski adventure to some of the slides in the area if the snow is good in the spring. There is no way she would be this strong without NYSEF - it is so worth it. Just don't get hung up on whether or not they are winning races and you will be fine.

Here are some things you need to know:
1) Speed suite at J4 & 5 are optional, it is more psychological for the kids. Wait until J4.
2) At J5 only one pair of skis are needed - a nice flexing Slalom is all you need (I have a pair of skis and boots I listed in the gear page). At J4 you can do it with a pair of Slalom skis but a pair of GS in addition will help gain confidence at speed.
3) At J4 you will need a face mask, shin guards and pole guards, these are required when they start skiing tall poles.
3) Be a tuning fanatic, touch up the edges EVERY day, it will give your racer the confidence he needs to trust the edges. Confidence means rapid improvement. You will need stones and guides and a tuning vice. Check out http://www.artechski.com and tell them you are in NYSEF and they will cut you a discount. Dominator Zoom wax is a good value wax for J4s and J5s. That is all the wax you need at the J5 level. Remember, it is all about skills.
4) Gore Ski club website has a gear page, you can get some good deal there. It is loaded with gear right now.

I also have some extra gear besides what I posted, let me know what you need. I have an extra helmet, ski pants, and may have some other stuff. Forgot to hit the local ski swap and sell it this year. I will have more skis next year for sale.

I agree that HS ski teams are cheap, but they do not provide the level of coaching and training mountain teams do. As an example, our HS ski team take kids which are on Mountain teams even down to 7th grade, and most make the Varsity because they have better skills than the non-NYSEF kids even though they are younger.

One last note - Gore and Whiteface NYSEF teams have some pretty affluent families -  they are pushing their kids hard to "win" and they usually shed stuff like a Maine coon cat in spring. Just be ready to snarf it up.

At Mount Peter, some racers tried to get on the lift without passes.  The lift operator checked for tickets and they did not have them.  They were asked to leave the lift line.  When they were told this, they said "but we are racers".  The lift operator then said "you can't get on without a pass, period."  Then, when they came back after getting lift tickets for their forgotten season passes, one of them came back and said "that's $25 of my dad's credit card, I hate you".  That really set off one of the other lift operators so, he yelled "he's doing his job".  This was hilarious to watch.