Practice Time and Location This group will ski from 9:00 am to 2:30 pm with a coach. U12's must have skied a minimum of three full seasons and be able to comfortably ski intermediate and advanced terrain. Athletes will participate in 45 - 60% free skiing, 20% coached drills and 25% coached gate drills. The approximate ratio of race days to training days is 1:6. It is important that athletes engage in a variety of off-snow physical activities as often as possible. Our goal for each athlete is to learn and develop strong skiing abilities on the entire mountain, mastering all snow conditions. U12 athletes will ski both slalom and giant slalom with the opportunity to compete in 4-6 races. The early races will be used to qualify for the state finals and state championships which are scheduled in March. Athletes are encouraged to ski with friends and family after the program ends each day. Having fun is an important element in the engagement of young athletes.
Equipment
CMCC and US Ski & Snowboard require that all athletes wear helmets with hard ears. If you purchase a helmet, please make sure that it is FIS approved (look for the FIS official sticker on the helmet). Athletes should also have one pair of SL, one pair of GS, and one pair of or all-mountain skis which are tuned and boots that the athlete is able to flex/crush.
Memberships
All athletes are required to be members of both U.S. Ski & Snowboard and NHARA.
Lift access is required and not included in the program cost. A season pass or daily lift tickets will be required. https://www.crotchedmtn.com/
Competitions
U12 non-scored competition (10 and 11 year-olds) is organized at close to home areas for most of the season. The U12 program consists of non-scored Open GS & SL races throughout the season and with division qualifiers in February for selection to the NHARA U12 Finals and NHARA U12 Championships in early March. Competitors must hold a valid USSA Competitor U12 r membership and current NHARA membership for all sanctioned programs.
All U12s (10 & 11 year olds) and U14s (12 & 13 year olds) who did not qualify for the U12/U14 Championships may compete at the U12/U14 State Finals. The quotas for these two events will be calculated so there will be two equal sized fields. Those competing at the State Finals can qualify for the Championships by finishing in the top 5 in the overall final standings. The best 2 of 4 runs are used to determine these standings. For further information on the qualification of racers, the points system and quotas please see the NHARA Handbook located on the NHARA website. http://www.nhara.org/
Coaches
Laura Kimball
Anna Sommer-Cutts