College club race GS ski choice

[ted]

My daughter will be racing college club. Good skier for growing up in mid Atlantic,
But hasn’t run gates since she was 12. 140 lbs 5’7” strong.
I have no idea how courses are set. My guess would be a newer tweener 183/25 or 177/23
would be the best choice, but that’s it, a guess.
Input appreciated.

 

[Snuckerpooks]

Here in Japan, even the simple racing clubs for universities tend to set for 30m. Just for the odd instance there is someone on 30m's. But for those not comfortable with 30m (either beginners or returnee's) 23m skis tend to be the most common for women and 25m for men. This is just anecdotal from what I've seen across the pond.

 

[CascadeConcrete]

Is her school in the Mid-Atlantic or in actual ski country? Is this just an intramural club or a serious team? College racing is a really broad spectrum ranging from kids who have never raced before screwing around for fun to skiers who barely missed the national teams and are very competitive. And the course sets and ski selection will likewise differ.

 

[ted]

She’s going to Worcester polytechnic an hour west of Boston.
Don’t know who they race against yet.
I would guess not super competitive.

 

[bbbradley]

Is her school in the Mid-Atlantic or in actual ski country? Is this just an intramural club or a serious team? College racing is a really broad spectrum ranging from kids who have never raced before screwing around for fun to skiers who barely missed the national teams and are very competitive. And the course sets and ski selection will likewise differ.

My senior year in college a few of the skiers left from NCAA finals...to go to the Olympics to compete.

Here's a pic from the WPI IG page to let you decide the type of skis:

 

[S.H.]

WPI is in the USCSA Thompson Division. Courses should be essentially regular USSA sets. Racers will be on a mix of 30m FIS skis, older 23m/27m FIS skis, tweeners, and ... slalom skis, etc. Nobody enforces equipment rules.

Tweeners will work well.

USCSA is a blast. Have fun.

 

[ted]

WPI is in the USCSA Thompson Division. Courses should be essentially regular USSA sets. Racers will be on a mix of 30m FIS skis, older 23m/27m FIS skis, tweeners, and ... slalom skis, etc. Nobody enforces equipment rules.

Tweeners will work well.

USCSA is a blast. Have fun.

 

[ted]

Thanks all

 

[Burton]

I raced for a school in Thompson (same as WPI) ages ago. Unless things have changed significantly, in each school's race day roster, there will be a vast range of experience from very strong academy kids to people who've never been part of a race program before. The Eastern Conference has four divisions--McConnell is the strongest with a few varsity programs, and McConnell a step below that with all club teams. My team generally had about 6-7 spots on the roster for each gender more or less set for the season, filled with the more experienced racers, and then rotated people who were newer to racing through the bottom of the roster. Course sets were no different than the USSA sets I was coming from. This was before the age of tweeners (and helmets in tech!) but I think those would be perfect for someone who hasn't been racing for a while. One thing your daughter likely won't see a lot of is training time, so I'd recommend she get out there and free ski on the tweeners as much as she can.

USCSA is ridiculously fun. We occasionally drank beer.

 

[newboots]

Interesting. Where I work they have a general cutoff of 120 lbs. for tweener skis; I've seen 130 in other places. At 5'7", 140 lbs, and strong, is there a reason not to go to an adult ski? Just curious.

 

[Swede]

Interesting. Where I work they have a general cutoff of 120 lbs. for tweener skis; I've seen 130 in other places. At 5'7", 140 lbs, and strong, is there a reason not to go to an adult ski? Just curious.

It's not really a weight thing. Ability (technique+strength) and speed--much more deciding for how burly a ski you need (and hill/set). I'd say most fully grown men that race in beer legaues etc. don't put as much power into a ski as the average strong U16 girl. Marta Bassino weigh 123 lbs and her GS skis would be too stiff for most 180 lbs men that are into hobby racing (and she would of course fold a tweener). Tweener FIS GS race skis are proper race construntions and the big ones (180+ cm radie 23+) only a little shorter length and radie and flexier than the standard adult FIS models. Burly-wise (from what I have seen re "cheaters" and recreational race skis), on par with adult cheaters but more suitable for gate use with longer radie, faster edge to edge (65 mm waist) and proper race build. For the OP:s daughter, a FIS GS tweener in the 180-185 cm length and 25ish radie sounds like the right place to start. For SL a soft FIS 155 cm womans SL.

 

[newboots]

It's not really a weight thing. Ability (technique+strength) and speed--much more deciding for how burly a ski you need (and hill/set).

Ahh, I think I get it! This is a race-specific thing. I'm completely new in the ski shop, and not at all familiar with racing. My experience is from a big season-rental sale, obviously for rec skiers, most of them very casual.

 

[Swede]

Ahh, I think I get it! This is a race-specific thing. I'm completely new in the ski shop, and not at all familiar with racing. My experience is from a big season-rental sale, obviously for rec skiers, most of them very casual.

Yup, you are in the race section. Normal rules might not apply.

 

[ted]

After watching Michaela and Lara at Soeld witth the needed massive stivots, I went with a 178/23 tweener for her.

In these club GS races do they have to stivot like that to stay on line?

 

[ScotsSkier]

After watching Michaela and Lara at Soeld witth the needed massive stivots, I went with a 178/23 tweener for her.

In these club GS races do they have to stivot like that to stay on line?

Depends how late they are.....

Watch Mikaela's second run again compared to most of the field. You will see that she gets off the old ski and onto the new skimuch earlier than any of the others as she comes through the gate and as a result she gets a much cleaner (and faster) ski and arc with a lot less stivot required

 

[Burton]

I went with a 178/23 tweener for her.

Good choice! And hopefully she won't be encountering any sets with as much swing as Soelden has on the pitch. I got tired just watching.

 

[S.H.]

After watching Michaela and Lara at Soeld witth the needed massive stivots, I went with a 178/23 tweener for her.

In these club GS races do they have to stivot like that to stay on line?

Depends on the quality of athlete, the set, the hill, snow conditions, etc ...

But mostly, no. If you get really late, yes. If you're super aggressive and cutting off a lot of line, yes.

Soelden is steeper than almost any race hill in the US, so ... there's that.

 

[ted]

Good choice! And hopefully she won't be encountering any sets with as much swing as Soelden has on the pitch. I got tired just watching.

Looked miserable to me. Made me think that the shorter radius would be a lot friendlier.

 

[ted]

Depends on the quality of athlete, the set, the hill, snow conditions, etc ...

But mostly, no. If you get really late, yes. If you're super aggressive and cutting off a lot of line, yes.

Soelden is steeper than almost any race hill in the US, so ... there's that.

That’s good to know

 

[bbbradley]

Eliminate the 30m regulation, what would be the fastest ski for WCers?