Dear U16 Parents and Athletes,

Your coaches, Sonia, Charles, Greg are revving up for an exciting new season and looking forward to working with you.

We’ll be using email posts and the Remind app to keep you updated. At this level, we encourage all athletes to also be on Remind as this is where we’ll be sending reminders about equipment or last-minute changes and updates. Athletes are responsible to make sure they have what they need every day and that their skis are sharp.

• Visit https://remind.com/join/b97kd from your smartphone to receive push notifications (sign-in and app required)
• or text @b97kd to the number 81010 to receive text messages

USSA Points System: 

If you missed the meeting on Sunday, here are some highlights. Starting at U16s, we no longer use “place finish” but rather a National USSS points systems for ranking. All first-year U16 racers start with a 999 for GS and SL. After two race finishes (a full finish, with two runs), the points get recalculated for each discipline and lowered. These points are used to determine year-end Eastern Finals and Championships selections. Race starts are also seeded using the same points. Please note that the Jiminy Peak races are not really championships as they do not determine year-end selections for Easterns, they are simply the last two races. If you don’t have any experience with this system or would like clarification on how it works, we would be happy to meet with athletes and parents to answer any questions. Please let us know!

Ski Tuning: 

We hope to have a tuning clinic during the camp, so stay tuned (no pun intended)! Meanwhile, please check out this information that Coach Charles put together to help athletes and parents understand some of the concepts and tools required. Please note that ski tuning takes time to learn, there is no easy solution!! To learn, you must start somewhere and practice, just like anything else. https://www.notion.so/unixrealm/Ski-Tuning-feef8bd3833a40ec9be22d8cec7c54af

GS Skis: 1 on the base, 3 on side bevel
SL Skis: 0.5 or 0.75 on the base, 3 on side bevel

Professional shops: Please always make sure to specify your needs as racers. Give them the angles you want and indicate you want skis tuned “tip to tail”. Some shops will detune skis at the tips and tails.

We recommend Black Diamond or Steiner’s locally.
In Westchester, Hickory and Tweed and Pedigree ski shop.

Video Analysis:

We will be taking video of your racers on a regular basis and giving them feedback either during lunch or after practice. When possible, we’ll upload on Sprongo.

Race Registrations:

Please register for all races well in advance, do NOT WAIT for the deadline!! It is logistically very difficult for venues to prepare for a race and the dates given are meant to be respected. Some venues will charge a late fee, others are very strict and will not allow, under any circumstances, late registrations. Best to avoid any issues and register early. All registrations are done on https://www.adminskiracing.com.

Coming up – December 26th to December 30th – Race Camp

• 26th: Full SL gear needed. U16s coaches away. Please have U16 athletes meet U19 coaches outside of Taconic lodge for warm-up at 8:30.
• 27th: Full SL gear needed. U16s/U19 coaches will set SL full course.
• 28th: GS skis. U16/U19 coaches will set GS drills.
• 29th: GS skis. U16/U19 coaches will set full GS course.
• 30th: GS skis. U19s away, Coach Charles away with some U16s. Coach Greg/Sonia will be there to work on GS.

December 30th (GS) and 31st (SL) – Schaefer Cup for U16/U19s at Berkshire East. Speak to your coaches if you have any questions as to whether or not your racer would benefit from attending these races. They will not count towards season standings but are a great experience and can help reduce their points. If interested, REGISTER NOW – Deadline for registration is December 28 at 11:59pm. https://adminskiracing.com/node/244596

January 4th – GS Berkshire East, please register here https://adminskiracing.com/node/244606
January 5th – SL Bousquet, please register here:https://adminskiracing.com/node/245076
January 25th – Southington SL, please register here: https://adminskiracing.com/node/244470
January 26th – Wachusetts GS, please register here: https://adminskiracing.com/node/250737

February 3 and/or 4th – Speed Camp at Killington. The speed camp at Killington, hosted by KMS and organized by Ed Bassett (also known as Animal), is a fantastic opportunity for our athletes to train SG. Please note that as U16s there are USSA equipment requirements. Racers must have 183, 30m skis to be compliant and wear back protectors and FIS approved helmets. You can rent or borrow skis (if you do, make sure a professional checks the DIN setting on the bindings and makes proper adjustments). For details, please refer to the attachment. To register for this event please visit https://adminskiracing.com/racereg/event_listing/viewevents and scroll to Wachusett Mountain.

If you have any questions, feel free to ping us on Remind. See you at race camp!

Your U16 Coaches!