 Poster: A snowHead
|
Hi,
A few quick questions, as its my first post over here.
At what age can children start racing with a dry slope club?
Can anyone reccomend some good websites for info?
Do the children need special insurance for this or are they covered by joining a club?
Any other useful info would be greatly recieved.
Denise
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
Some clubs seem to take children from about age five, but age seven seems more usual. I have always assumed they ski on training nights at their own risk, with annual membership covering the third party risks.
For races, insurance usually comes from registration with Snowsport England /Wales /Scotland or the entrance fee. Suffolk Vikings, Norwich and Hemel or Welwyn are in your area, all active clubs within ERSA http://www.ersa.co.uk .
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
fizz, welcome.
1) It depends on the club. Our junior club doesn't let anyone in under 8, although there is some disagreement about that policy. There are some racers in our regions (Southern and London and South-East) who are 6. From the beams of triumph when they cross the line, they clearly enjoy it hugely. IIRC Okanagan junior is 6, in the Midlands Ski Club, and races in the Minis section of Club National races. NickW may know more about what applies in your region (Eastern).
2) For you, www.ersa.co.uk for your regional organisation - the "New Racer Information" page seems to have a lot of stuff on it. And www.suffolkvikings.org.uk is the race club at Ipswich dry slope. They're a very friendly bunch from what I've seen of them.
3) It depends what insurance you're looking for. Third-party/public liability will come as part of membership of a SSE-affiliated club (i.e. all those mentioned on the ERSA site). Personal injury is probably not provided - I know our club doesn't - so that's up to you. I guess it's possible that a large club may have some arrangement for good deals.
Other advice - if fizz junior gets the bug, expect to never have a free weekend again from April to September. So you may wish to take up the sport yourself, as you're going to be spending a huge amount of time at dry slopes around the country. The Masters category is highly competitive between the males, although there aren't many women doing it. Bev Anderson at Ipswich would be the one to talk to about that  .
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
Never mind April to September, If they really get the bug, it will be year round on artificial (snow and plastic) and real snow!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
Thanks for the advice, unfortunately I am not really a very good skier so racing would definately be out for me.
Please fill me in what is BSA and BARA are they some kind of ski school/camp?
What other expens es are involved if fizz junior takes to it? equipment? travelling? lessons?
Presumably they have to be selected for such things? We are actually on the suffolk/essex/cambs border so the closest dry slopes to us would be bassingbourne followed by ipswich but norwich would take same amount of time to get to as ipswich. Are all these clubs fairly active?
Do All clubs have these junior clubs and if so is the assessment pretty much standard ?
Thanks Again
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
fizz, sorry about the BSA/BARA references - I was being a bit playful there. They are the British Ski Academy, based in Chamonix, and the British Alpine Racing Academy, based IIRC somewhere in Norway. These are essentially boarding schools where the apple of your eye can get full season training + schooling. I guess really for potential British team members, so quite a way off yet - but Philbo will know way more about those than I.
Being more serious, the expenses are not too great to start with: club fees, boots and skis, maybe £3-400 pa all in, but I'm really guessing there. I believe there's an active second hand market for kids boots and skis, which are in any case significantly cheaper than adults' anyway. When you get into an active club they'll be able to point you in the right direction (more than can I anyway - I have no kids of my own). It's only once they start getting really good and competing seriously at the national level that you will find yourself ferrying them the length and breadth of the country - e.g. as does gsb. And at that point you also probably get several training camps away per year, mostly on snow but sometimes on dry-slopes. There's actually a camp being run by the most illustrious snowhead, Martin Bell, this week at Southampton dry-slope, and as you can see from his sig, Philbo runs summer weekend camps at Landgraaf, in addition to a load of winter stuff.
I don't really know much about Bassingbourne, although one of our club members is ex-them, so I can ask her tonight. From what I see, Norfolk is probably the biggest club in the region, with Hemel, Brentwood and Ipswich probably the most active after them. Again, NickW and Philbo should know more accurately whether that perception is correct.
The dry-slope racing scene is primarily kids - I would say mostly from 9-16 - so all clubs will be mostly juniors. Actually there are some that don't have any adults at all (e.g. Sandown Park). I think we're probably unique in actually having a separate adults and kids clubs. After about 16 the cream keep going, and those that are floundering find other more interesting things to do.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
fizz, This is the web address of the Norwich club http://www.norfolkskiclub.com/?q=junior_club I don't have small children, but I do know they have loads of them there on Saturdays, and quite a few become quite high standard racers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
fizz, I help run the Junior Club at Norwich. We run regular assessments for children who want to join standard is confident linked snowplough turns and being able to get on poma lift by themselves. The club also runs a regular Friday night introduction to racing session again an assessment has to be arranged but standard needs to be flying wedge/ basic parallel.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks kevinrhead, but we are going to join bassingbourne this season and see what happens as it is the closest to where we live. Fizz junior has been assessed as ok to join junior club despite his age, and we will see how we go.
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
|
Thanks, I am sure we will at some point!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
s
