How Kids Improve Fast when they join a racing team? For parents...

This is a compilation of my son's first ski season on our local mountain's racing team in upstate New York. He is actually a very good big-mountain skier, superb balance and calm negotiation of varied terrain, powder, serious steeps and the like. And does he have the "need for speed" when free-skiing but fully aware of controlled speed, has taken some serious spills in his career but thankfully (a) mom was not on the mountain to see them transpire (Dad saw a few of them (b) well, he got up, shook them off and continued as if nothing had happened, but funnily, he was smarter every time thereafter, a lesson to be had from every impact, it appears.

Anyway, his goal when racing was "I do not want to DNF", and he did not DNF once in his first season. He actually ran into kids in their second season of racing who were definitely faster in racing, great motivation and he showed maturity beyond his years as he progressed, quite surely without "losing control".

Anyway, the video is 10mins long and has some parts which are kind of family asides, so scroll through if interested, some bad filming, thankfully very little of that I hope, Dad takes full responsibility for editing, no creative talent here, but it shows how he gets the hang of GS over time and begins to increase his aggression. He was the fastest of the new skiers on the team, improved every time he did a race and the progression I hope encourages other parents of aspiring skiers to encourage their kids to race. Its great for competitive spirit, improving technique and builds mental character and physical endurance.

Here in the N-East, its freezing cold, the courses are pretty much ice, and kids and their parents freeze when training, or racing, especially the waiting for your run part! I should add, waking up before dawn, every weekend, Sat and Sunday, then driving to training slopes (round trip 60+miles) and then race days, driving to race locations, general round-trip distance 130miles. Its pretty tiring, and then driving back to the city on Sunday evenings (Manhattan that is), another 120 miles ! And generally races are on Sundays ! On his first race day, the ground temperature was -5deg F, on the mountain it was -15deg F, and wind chill forget it, probably -30deg F or so, could'nt feel my fingers, they went totally numb, he has hand-warmers in his gloves but kids were streaming into the lodge to get warm after their runs, same thing happened at other races and also during practice sessions. Great part, he was up as soon as I reminded him it was to go skiing, not one complaint ''cause putting on blades was at the end of each wake-up, breakfast and then drive road trip, made it very easy for this parent, since he loves to ski! Its a labor of passion, drive, determination and love for the sport...enjoy..(warning it is 10mins long so scroll through as you desire)..do not know how to embed the video directly from vimeo so here is the link:

http://www.vimeo.com/10148659

Nice skiing.

Coping with the ice sounds horrible. Maybe you should move near a resort with good conditions and lots of sun

It is strange for me, in my third season having started aged 48. I can sit in a bar in London and hear young English guys making a big deal about hard black runs they skiied in Chamonix. Thinking how proud I would be if I could keep up with the game of one-up-man-ship. I suppose I can now. But it all seems ridiculous when I go out to a small family resort in Tirol, and see the local kids, even young ones, jumping around in steep powder, and nipping effortlessly down every slope, with a level of confidence and skill so far ahead...

Anyway you are entitled to be proud parents!

Sometimes Vimeo is not accessible to folks, no idea why, so here is YouTube version (its been edited to be shorter 7mins now).


and yes, would be nice to live close to a big mountain...!

Dustyfog,
I'm not having much luck with your video I'm afraid. All I get is a message saying this a private video, and I need your permission to see it, even though I did sign in to YouTube.

Sorry

Ally

dustyfog wrote:Sometimes Vimeo is not accessible to folks, no idea why, so here is YouTube version (its been edited to be shorter 7mins now).


and yes, would be nice to live close to a big mountain...!

Great skiing and I do recognise editing by imovie

Hi Dustyfog,
For some reason, I can see it now. I hate to admit it, but I think your 6 year old was better than me even at the beginning

It's marvellous to see how he improves as the video progresses. Well done to everyone - him, parents, coaches, whoever.

Ally

Thanks much, the irony is when he is "big-mountain skiing" his skills are unusually high, my boy was born with a gift (and it aint from Dad, though mom is from parts north of new york and italian origins, dad is from parts where rain is the answer to the prayers of the population, snow is where the fighting is

While racing, he actually took it easy, did not fire up those engines and the first two races, it was deadly cold, he just kind of whistled dixie on his way down. He is a "smart" skier, had his share of serious wipeouts, and fully aware of what happens when he "bombs it" His coaches and some of the other parents were great and some of the older faster kids, as one of the parents told me, "the older girls really like your son ! " He is a good boy, nothing like having a kid who is ready to go, ..Well, our season is not over..Utah on the cards, leaving Fri - "the greatest snow on Earth" - taking him to Deer Valley, Solitude and Alta..

would post a picture but cannot how to upload one..just weblinking seems possible

have a good spring and summer..

Imovie is amazing, lets this seriously klutzy individual actually make movies !