THE CASE TO RACE
with Phil Brown
Race training can be a great way to improve your skiing, but it’s not always easy to find out how to get involved. Phil Brown has the answers…
Many dry slopes offer ski race training and run clubs
JOIN A CLUB
As an adult wanting to improve their technique and/or try some ski racing, there are a plethora of clubs around the UK, both at dry ski slopes and indoor snow venues. These are usually the best way to find a pathway into racing, whether to compete – there is a great competitive senior and masters circuit – or just become a better skier.
Finding clubs is not always easy, but Snowsport England, Snowsport Scotland and Snowsport Wales can help with this. They have lists of clubs currently operational on their websites, and many of these are now ramping up after the disruption of the pandemic.
Some people are not so keen on dry ski slopes, but you may have one closer to you than your nearest indoor snow centre (meaning you can attend more regular sessions), and there are a bunch of good reasons to try it. While artificial ski surfaces are not always as easy to ski as snow, they promote more precise technique, and there are several new surfaces available now that are a vast improvement on the commonly used Dendix.
The UK’s number one ski racer, Dave Ryding, started on a dry slope, and so have many high-level GB instructors, coaches and athletes. So don’t be put off and instead embrace them!
You may also have more luck getting into a dry slope club: there’s often a waiting list for clubs at indoor snow venues as they’re in high demand.
AD HOC TRAINING
There are a number of other organisations that run training at centres throughout the UK on a more ad hoc basis, with sessions running at dry slopes and indoor snow centres. Our coaches at Impulse Racing are used to working with adults to improve their performance and their technical skiing. Most of the training takes place outside the gates before moving it onto the courses.
LEARN AT SCHOOL
School ski programmes are a great way for kids to get involved with their friends from school. There are numerous events that schools can take part in, and organisations that can deliver training.
The National Schools Snowsports Association (NSSA) runs five annual national indoor races and numerous outdoor events. The National Schools Leagues are designed as a starting point, at local slopes, for many kids to join the sport via the schools pathway. Children can take part individually or as part of a school team. Some school ski programmes are run by teachers, but many have a parent running the operation, with support from the school.
There are plenty of options for training, from schools running the odd ad hoc session, to schools with a full programme of regular training and attendance at races in the UK and abroad. Anyone interested in getting their school involved should contact the NSSA.
THE ‘STORK DRILL’
ILLUSTRAION AMANDA BARKS
This month takes us onto our skis for a versatile drill that I use a lot when teaching, but with a different focus depending on what we’re working on with trainees or clients. We call this exercise the ‘stork drill’, due to the fact that it involves the skier standing on only one ski throughout the turn.
Choose a piste that you consider easy to ski. Start
the turn by lifting the ski that will become the inside ski of the turn. Lift the tail of the ski more than the tip to maintain a centred stance. Try to hold the ski up throughout the entire turn.
As you complete the turn (when you are coming across the hill) put the inside ski down and immediately lift the other ski – the inside ski of the new turn – to repeat the exercise on the other side.
Try to slow your speed down as much as you can when performing this drill. Strive for a series of smooth turns, paying attention to your weight shift and timing of each new turn.
This drill is designed to help you work on your stance on the outside ski, as well as your balance and coordination. Once you master it, you can challenge yourself by doing it without poles, or move onto more challenging terrain.
MY STORY: BUILDING A SCHOOL SKI RACE TEAM
Rosie Caulfield is the Assistant Head of Outdoor Education at a school just outside London. Here she explains how she took her love of skiing and used it to build a school’s fledgling ski programme…
I got into ski racing while I was at Southampton University Officer Training Corps – it was fantastic opportunity to improve my skiing, building on my technique, control and precision. So, when joining Hurst College back in 2013, as part of the Outdoor Education Team, I was delighted to discover that the school had a ski race team.
We entered into both the indoor events held at Hemel Hempstead, as well as the annual ISC event in Les Deux Alpes, held before Christmas each year. Having the opportunity to take our students to these events for the four consecutive years I worked at Hurst, I saw the huge benefits it offered; they became more confident each day/year, with some going on to choose skiing as a GCSE/A Level option as part of PE.
In 2017 I was offered a job at Merchant Taylors’ School to help start the Outdoor Education department. I was sad at the thought of no longer being involved with ski racing, but little did I know what was in store! When discussing the joys of ski racing with one of my colleagues, Kev Sharrock, who is an ex-army racer, we decided to ask the school if we could set up a ski race team. After a nail-biting wait, it was finally approved and we quickly learnt how popular the idea was with the students – over 100 students signed up and came to our first presentation. We then spoke to the year 7/8s at MTS prep and they were delighted to be included, too.
Since then we have worked closely with a professional training organisation (Impulse Racing) and they have provided numerous full days of training for 60 boys at Hemel. These sessions have been highly successful, with all the boys showing great improvement under the tutelage of the expert coaches. We entered three teams into the ISA National Indoor Championships at Hemel pre-Covid, where, despite the team having never competed before, we came away with some good results, including taking third in the Under 21s.
This year we will be running a school ski club on Tuesday afternoons with the Impulse team to help prepare our development squad for future events. We are lucky to have the access to a great indoor facility at Hemel and a good training team who are able to provide excellent instruction for the MTS boys, and we look forward to working with them in the years to come.