 Poster: A snowHead
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I have always been rather intrigued about the technique ski racer use to hit gates during racing, having seen the Chamonix downhill recently people seem to be doing it even on the downhill. I guess the advantage is that is straightens out the corners, a bit like hitting the apex in F1.
I'm not a racer, I have vague memories of doing 'Fleche' style giant slalom competitions though when younger in lessons with the ESF- I was quick enough to get the Fleche de Vermeil (platinum) but not the Fleche d'Or, the highest level, probably because I didn't know how to hit the gates like the faster guys were doing. I tried it once with my shoulder but the gate just stayed upright and my shoulder got rather bruised!
As far as I can see in the slalom competitions they seem to be hitting it with the guard at the front of their ski poles (and also shin pads?) but what happens if they miss? Do they get the pole in their face? Would there be quite a lot of vibration trasmitted through the pole?
With the giant slalom and downhill it seems more with the shoulders or maybe even half of their body- doesn't it hurt though? Have they got bionic shoulders?  And doesn't the act of hitting a solid object at 60 mph slow them down?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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It does slow them down, but that is offset by the fact that they're taking a shorter line on the course. The racers wear body armour under their suits, in the case of the US & Canadian ski teams, it's either vests & shorts or the entire race suits integrated with D3o armour. If you miss the armoured bits, it still hurts.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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In Slalom you are completely across the gate with your legs (hence the shin guards) so you are cross blocking and the gate is in front of your face (hence the face guard and extra armour on the poles and forearms). Slalom poles have jointed bases so they knock completely out the way - does hurt if they bounce back up and smack you in the face though!!
In GS you kind of hit/brush the gate (not too full on!!) with the top to back of the shoulder it doesn't hurt that much if you hit it right (though I guess I'm not going quite so quickly!) and it bends quite a lot - it does teach you very quickly if your inside hand is dropping as then your arm or hand smacks the gate which does hurt!! 
AS you can probably tell, I am not a proper racer and a bit of a wuss so I wear padding though it's not proper race armour, more off piste armour so doesn't quite have the shoulder protection in the right place.
Not sure I'd want to be getting so close to the gates on a downhill or even super-G - Shows how much precision and determination the racers must have to have the confidence to get so close at such speed.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I did a week's slalom training earlier this season. As a beginner you get clattered really hard by the gates: arms, thumbs, thighs, face (on the chinguard), etc. Finished the week with lots of little bruises. It surprised me just how violent slalom was! With GS my bruises are more localised (upper arms) and can be avoided more easily by wearing appropriate protection, although it still hurts ( I think I knocked one clean out of the snow at last season's EOSB race - that smarted a bit). The DH guys seem to bash the hell out of the gates and at that speed with unsprung gates it must hurt!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I used my thigh to snap off at surface level, a pole screwed into the ice at L2A in October 07 and NO not the soft (in relative terms) coloured bendy bit, but the solid plastic boss that's in the ice . . . it ****in'urt and I've still got a thick lumpy ridge across my leg where I hit 
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I was part of a race training club for quite some time two years back. To avoid injury it'ss just a case of correct positioning of the poles in front of you to make sure that you a) hit them to begin with and b) They deflect the right way and not straight into your face.
Once you get is sussed its fine, but as has been said - its finding that spot that hurts >.<
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Interesting replies, thanks guys. With regards to shoulder protection etc. when people were doing GS 30 years ago before use of carbon fibre/kevlar were they having to hit the gates with unprotected shoulders? Or were they still protected underneath their racing suit? They seem to wear such a tight fitting racing suit that there doesn't appear to be much room for protection.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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It might be worth saying that you should not be trying to hit the gate, this just follows naturally if you take a tight line.
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Dr. Will, GS suits have foam padding in the arms. They have been like that for a fairly long time.
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