Insight to Racers

I think a some park rats that hate racers because it's the cool thing to do. VIce versa. The point is racing WILL make you a better skier, like it or not.

Almost every big mountain skier has racing background of some sort.

Shit people hate on moguls but the best freestyle skiers in the world came from mogul comps....candide, tanner, etc...

Just don't touch my pow stashes but other than that do w/e the fuck you want.

Hate and you'll probably get hated.

 
Both my sisters raced growing up so I Kind of learned from them as well as my parents. Racing is 110% ballsy. Sending it down a sheet of ice at 80 mph is nothing short of gnarly with razor blades on your feet. People hate out of jealousy and envy. So a lot of the time, the hate is fueled by insecurity because they probably can barely edge on a mellow groomer.
 
I raced my last 4 years of High school and couldn't be happier that I did. I still have the urge to go rip through a course when I see one up on the hill. Racing can be as serious or chill as you want it to be. Me and a couple friends were in it and we were competitive with each other, betting who could get the fastest run or who could break the most gates, such a good time. and at all our races we brought our park skis and lapped the park till it was go time and then headed back.

If someone out there is thinking of racing, I would tell you to do it 12 times out of 10. you will improve as a skier like crazy and have a wicked good time!
 
also, wearing a race suit isn't the worst thing in the world, especially when there are girls that are nippin out wearing them right next to you ;) just dont pop a chub
 
My problem with racing generally comes from the same area as my problem with skiing academies (racing and freestyle), and large strict coaching programs.

I dislike the people who ski and dump thousands and thousands of dollars into their coaching or the schools they go to. I find that to be what is ruining the feeling we all get from this sport. They kill the uniquness of our sport. Bode Miller was always one of my favorite racers, he pushed boundaries and had a self taught aggressive vibe. He didnt back down to anything or anyone. Even getting kicked out of high school and off of many junior teams growing up. And ski racing generally HATES Bode. Simply because he refused to be like everyone else. Even though nothing about racing is mellow, racing went soft, we cannot let freeskiing do the same.
 
I used to race and it deffiantly made me the skier i am today its still fun to go fast through the gates every once in a while....
 
I was on my highschool team this season and we went up one sunday and it has snowed a foot so I brought my Salomon rockers and they started scraping the course so I just took off on a few free runs... when I returned they said I wasn't "welcome" to race with them any longer hahaha turned out to be one of the better days of this year
 
Chub is a good thing. If i could have perma chub i would. Makes the junk look bigger. Popping a boner is a whole different story
 
Wow. Those guys don't sound nice. If you can't take a few pow runs because THEY weren't ready, that's pretty bad. Glad it turned into something good though.
 
Which part? The being awesome part or skiing 150 days a year?

I managed to grab 40~ days only skiing weekends and I live in freaking South Dakota. The people I'm referring to are Montana kids who have weekday practices as well as occasional school practice.

Not sarcastic, just sad to live in the midwest. :/
 
ski racing is cool....if you have extremly rich parents who can spend $20 000+ a year on your career. the reason why u guys get hated on is because for the most part you are rich little shits who think you can ski better than everyone else on the hill. sure maybe u like to hit gates fast, thats cool there are a ton of people who can rip down the hill and maybe not beat your time by 1 tenth of a second but they are still fast. i dont see why the hate should end tho ill never respect ski racing because its not an accessible sport your parents have to be in a certain tax bracket to progress and work your way up. thats why the europeans dominate the north american kids. skiing in europe is accessible, lots of kids do it and its the ones that are the best and fastest are the ones who make it to the top, not the ones whos parents have the most money so they can send them to every competition and make the teams they need to make to move up in the ranks and have better coaching to become that one tenth faster than the kid whos parents can barley afford skis.

North american ski racing is about politics and money, thats why i had to free ski, if skiing happens to be the sport u chose to do. but yeah basically have fun ski racing if thats what ur into.
 
Freestyle isn't cheap either. You have terrible logic as to why you disrespect ski racers.

Racing is cool and I'm too lame to do it

Freestyle is cool and I'm still too lame to do it

Skiing is skiing
 
Racing IS goddamn expensive. Much to your delight, my parents don't fund my gate bashing adventures so that means I spend the summer working to get money.

PS It's not 20k lol. It's more like 5-6k to start and then several hundred a year for maintenance. God I would kill myself if it were that expensive. jesus. Haha

USA racing is pretty political, but not as bad as FIS. FIS is global, but they set standards for everyone. We're in a battle right now to get rid of godawful 30m GS skis. They're even considering bumping it to 40m for "safety" concerns. Have you ever skied a 30m ski? That's like trying to race on a powder ski(which I've done, and as much fun as it is to see the horror on all the other racer's faces, it still sucks haha).

Everybody just have fun with what they do. :D
 
ok if u just want to do it as a recreation then thats still expensive. trust me when u race at a high level and your travelling around the continent to compete its gonna cost well over 20k a year cause i had friends who did it in high school and thats what then would spend minimum.
 
20K is a stretch. 15k MAX is what most spend who stay on the US continent. 5k for gear (assuming thyre not sponsored) and training supplies (tuning supplies, gates, wax), 3-4k for travel fees(airfare/gas/hotels), and then 1-1.5k at most for race entries. Throw in a summer camp and maybe you will reach 15k. MAYBE.

Most of the kids who travel over to Europe go with Academies and have a reduced (still expensive) rate. But then skiing is about 40k minimum just for tuition without racing. But were not discussing those kids.

If youre not in an academy and going over on your own, you have sponsors who help foot travel bills or you fund raise. Personal friend of mine raced some WCs footing his own bill and thats when it got expensive

Sparknotes-Its not 20k. I raced 4 of FIS and USSA in HS traveling all over the East Coast and camps out west/Europe.
 
Plus...people in USSA get like a 30% discount rate(which rocks btw), so that shaves off a big chunk.

I don't travel much because it IS so expensive. :(
 
i race, it's dece, there are some buttfucks but mostly it's pretty chill. The thing that gets me the most is that there are quite a few (90%) people on my race team that know nothing about skiing in general, this is just another school sport they do. Sure they go out west once or twice a year, but they don't really ski , and that's what makes me mad. Their rich parents pay for their skis and team and then they ski all the practices and races, then put their skis away for the season. bums me out.
 
To be fair, i know a guy who lives in England and was part of the national racing squad, who ended up having to quit racing because it was too expensive for him to carry on doing it around the world. And he is one of the best freeskiers i know now due to his racing.
 
Nah man, boners all the way. It shows them you're interested and it's a great conversation starter. Also, tighter the clothes the better.
 
The problem isn't the racing, the problem is the people. Putting skis on didn't make them assholes. Being assholes is why they're assholes. The racing is simply a medium for them to project their asshole scent. It would be the same way if you took those kids and put them in the crew game and you owned a river kayak. They'd constantly as if you "drop cliffs" or how long you can hold your breath. Don't hate the game, hate the player.
 
I think that the culture you speak of isn't derived from racing as much as it is from purely competing. It'll be interesting to see how park skiing changes as it gets more competitive. True free skiing has no prize.

But I did like racing. It made me fast as fuck on skis. And now I'm the best damn skier on the mountain.
 
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