Practice Details
This group will ski from 9:00 am to 2:30 pm with a coach with occasional 8:30 starts to allow for GS training. The athlete to coach ratio is 8:1 giving the coaches opportunities to work with each athlete individually. U16s will concentrate on refining and expanding their technical and fine motor skills on skis using Skill Quest drills to measure improvement. The ratio of race days to training days is 1:4. Athletes will participate in 30% free skiing, 20% coached drills, 35% coached gate training and 15% competitive skiing. It is crucial that athletes attend as often as possible allowing them to accumulate miles, participate in more race starts, and work on skill development. Mileage is important to skill development so we encourage athletes to ski with their teammates after the program ends each day and with family and friends as often as possible.
The competition schedule will be determined by the coaching staff. U16 qualifiers are held in February with Men and Women competing separately. Qualifier results will determine which athletes move onto Eastern Finals, Eastern Junior Championships, and NH State Finals. All race registrations will be completed online.
Equipment
CMCC and U.S. Ski & Snowboard require that all athletes wear FIS approved 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).
Memberships
All athletes are required to be members of both U.S. Ski & Snowboard (https://usskiandsnowboard.org/membership) and NHARA (https://www.nhalpine.org/page/show/3406888-nhara-membership-and-race-registration-information).
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
The Eastern U16 Finals and the Eastern U16 Championships are major season long goals. U16 competitors (14 and 15 year olds) compete at the state level in a qualifying series for selection to regional events. The qualifying series (SL/GS/SG) will consist of scored events, with each individual's results scored to the USSA points list. A scored State Finals will be held in mid-March for athletes not qualifying for the regional championship events. The top 3M/3W will qualify for the Eastern Region U16 Finals from the NHARA U16 State Finals. Competitors must hold a valid USSA competitor membership and a valid NHARA membership for all programs.
Coaches
Ed Dishong
Jared Gilman