ParalyticSkiCrazie wrote:Wickers - are you talking about your good self?
TheoBane - You need to sign up with a club and start to get some FIS competitions under your belt. You will also need lots of money as well as determination. UK comps are usually held on plastic and this wrecks your expensive race skis. Have a look at the Snowsport GB website for lots of info.
FIS racing is great, if your aim is to compete on the WC circuit. It would be a pain, if you want to race for fun. Is there no non FIS racing in the UK ?
I had read that France has amateur racing, where you race against pace setters. This was the inspiration for the Nastar racing in the US and Canada. You pay a small fee, and make timed runs on a course. Your times are compared to a pace setters time. The ability of the pace setter, will have been established against a national pace setter (normally one of the US ski team). You get to see how much slower you are than a national team member. Age and sex are factored in, so everyone competes on a level playing field. Local teams can compete in leagues based on this formula, and with all ages and both sexes forming teams, it's a lot of fun.
Putting people who want some fun racing, on FIS conforming sticks to race, would kill the fun for most people. If you hadn't noticed, most of the GS race skis sold by ski companies are not FIS compliant. Racing should be available for everyone who wants to try it, not so regulated that it's impractical for most people.
Here's the team I race with. A real mixed bunch, but all having fun racing.
Trencher