Ski racing in US colleges as a foreigner (Canadian, so US lite)

[waxman]

The heir to the waxman throne will be university bound next year. Any hints or hacks on ski team eligibility/costs/pitfalls etc.
Only one uni in Canada has a "team" but it isn't NCAA and competes in FIS or Noram races as athletes goals are laid out.

[Mofro261]

The FIS point cut-offs to make an NCAA team typically are below 30. Lots of Euro racers grabbing those spots too, esp since a few made the leap from NCAA to WC. I know a couple kids who had points in 40-50 range take gap years to try to improve for NCAA racing... mostly without success.

[neufox47]

There are a lot of “club” teams at colleges in the northeast and west. Only a few NCAA teams; I want to say 11? What school are they going to?

I raced on a club team and it was super fun. Student led and a shit show of shenanigans and debauchery but some of the best times and I still have many close friends from the team.


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[Dexter Rutecki]

What are young Waxman's points like? You might be hearing from coaches if the points work (maybe they don't pursue Canucks), but at least some schools (maybe all, I don't know) have recruiting forms to fill out to let them know about you. And DI/II/III isn't necessarily that big a difference, although in DI schools like Dartmouth and UVM are most competitive--there are some DIII schools with pretty serious programs (even Middlebury, which has always been among the top ski racing schools, is DIII, and there are some other schools in that category).

If you have really specific questions I can pass them on to a former Czech racer I'm coaching with who was recruited to race DI in the U.S.

As far as lower level club racing goes, you can find almost whatever you want--the higher divisions in USCSA have some pretty fast guys, at the low end you might only have 10-15 decent racers in a field of 100. But as Neufox mentioned, it can definitely be a lot of fun (and you get to be a student instead of devoting 40 hours/week to ski racing, weights, etc.).

[VTeton]

I raced in college and had a blast. We had a girl in our division doing olympics/FIS. Talent did drop quick though.

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[Dexter Rutecki]

I raced in college and had a blast. We had a girl in our division doing olympics/FIS. Talent did drop quick though.

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Exactly. From what I've seen and experienced (which was long ago, now), at the lower club level you're going to have a massive range going from skiers with low points to people who may have never raced before. But that's part of the appeal, in a way--if you were on a serious team you might never get to hang with fun, JONGy types. And if you want to be serious about it for yourself no one is stopping you, you're just going to have to be pretty self-motivated.

I was always very amused at the fact that in our division URI just stopped showing up to races halfway through one season. After the third or fourth race with no sign of URI I asked what had happened to them, and apparently whoever had been in charge of the team money blew it all on a campus party (supposedly some portion went to buying a good quantity of mari-ju-wana). Good times, for sure.

[altasnob]

I went to grad school at Utah with Ryan Forsyth, brother of Canadian ski racer great Alison Forsyth (Nanaimo/Whistler). Ryan was also a bad ass racer and competed for Utah D1 in undegrand and then became the head coach. He also married the athletic director's daughter (so he is well connected in the sport). Haven't stayed in touch so not sure what he's up to now but he is a super nice guy and an I am sure would love to help out a Canadian looking to ski D1 in the states.

Back in the day, Whitman had a good club, non D1, team (best in the PNW, no D1 in the PNW). USWT member Libby Ludlow's brothers raced there as did Ingrid Backstrum.

I raced club for a small college in CO and it was just for kicks. The teams that had D1 teams (CU and DU) had B (club) teams that were the most competitive, and would beat up on all the small CO schools that they were competing against. The idea being if you perform well for the B team you may get called up to the A (D1-scholarship) team which, as Mofro points out, is nearly WC level racing. The Euros hog all the D1 scholarship spots in the US schools. Great deal for them. Get the US taxpayers (at public schools) to pay your tuition while they don't have to give up on their dream of racing in the Olympics for Austria, Czech, ect. Sucks for us shitty American racers though.

[mntlion]

U of C Dinos has a team? I know a few ex-BAR racers that are going that way.

[waxman]

U of C Dinos has a team? I know a few ex-BAR racers that are going that way.

Yeah, we are in that stream at the moment. It is probably the most logical.
Points are a mess because of the covid year and weird race schedule last year, hopefully they get on track as FIS starts happening again now. Supposedly in his birth year he was ranked top 3 in Kanuckistan after least season in SL/GS but again the results are skewed due to actual race results.

[detrusor]

I need a sit down on points, development programs, invite races etc. both kids insist they want to try and go the distance and I haven’t a clue!


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[fatnslow]

I need a sit down on points, development programs, invite races etc. both kids insist they want to try and go the distance and I haven’t a clue!


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You better get a second/third job doing house calls for the rich and famous.

[waxman]

I need a sit down on points, development programs, invite races etc. both kids insist they want to try and go the distance and I haven’t a clue!


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yeah, I agree the whole "points" system is messed up and confusing for parents (and I've been around racers since the mid 80s) my kids know it inside and out though I just smile and wave.

[detrusor]

You better get a second/third job doing house calls for the rich and famous.

My plan was to pimp myself out


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[Mofro261]

My plan was to pimp myself out


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The good news is, after racing FIS and traveling around the country every week to do so, College is down right affordable!

My girl is still racing Club at UofU and having a blast. All the fun, none of the pressure.

[fatnslow]

My plan was to pimp myself out


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how much for a truck stop rob and tug ? Need top make sure I have cash on hand for drive through Utah

[RootSkier]

My plan was to pimp myself out


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You got a 24" FS bike for my kid that you want to sell? That will get you like 0.0001% of the way there (but I am serious).

[basinbeater]

Another vote for club racing, i raced in new England for a club team. It was more like a drinking team with a skiing problem, but man was it fun.

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[neufox47]

I raced in college and had a blast. We had a girl in our division doing olympics/FIS. Talent did drop quick though.

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Wait, did you race in the Thompson Division in the 00’s?

[basinbeater]

I raced Thompson division 97-01 I think the dates were. We had 80 kids get arrested at our condo one time. Was ragin til the cops showed up in Lincoln NH. Wasn't the best type of building (tough escape routes) for that big a party, but hey, we were young and dumb.

I had never raced before college, but was Utah kid grew up skiing. I managed a couple top 10 finishes in slalom.

I also met my wife doing ski team.

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[detrusor]

You got a 24" FS bike for my kid that you want to sell? That will get you like 0.0001% of the way there (but I am serious).

Have a 13” giant FS bike that fits a kid 4’7” or so. 1x11sram xo1 xt brakes did etc. 24 pounds…..




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[mooseknuckles]

The SeeMeSki Eagles have continuously fielded a team that have included foreigners. In addition, their home training hill and the resort have hosted many a collegiate races along with multiple NCAA National Championships.

The good news is, after racing FIS and traveling around the country every week to do so, College is down right affordable!

THIS. Stoked for your lil girl, hope you are still able to make many of her starts.

Not sure the cost of chasing FIS points in the Southern Hemisphere but the first heli lap at Portillo appears to be $360 usd.

Have fun jr.waxmen

[neufox47]

I raced Thompson division 97-01 I think the dates were. We had 80 kids get arrested at our condo one time. Was ragin til the cops showed up in Lincoln NH. Wasn't the best type of building (tough escape routes) for that big a party, but hey, we were young and dumb.

I had never raced before college, but was Utah kid grew up skiing. I managed a couple top 10 finishes in slalom.

I also met my wife doing ski team.

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No shit! We’re you there when the Northeastern team flooded the Super 8? That was before my time. You may know my brother, he was on BU from 99-03. You raced against the Swedes on GMC right?

[JimmyCarter]

I raced Thompson division 97-01 I think the dates were. We had 80 kids get arrested at our condo one time. Was ragin til the cops showed up in Lincoln NH. Wasn't the best type of building (tough escape routes) for that big a party, but hey, we were young and dumb.

I had never raced before college, but was Utah kid grew up skiing. I managed a couple top 10 finishes in slalom.

I also met my wife doing ski team.

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I think I was booked by the same fish and game warden as you that night.

[basinbeater]

Haha hell yeah, there was that chick on green mountain we called her the swedish meatball. I was friends with another girl on GMC who had been a rowmarker.
I was not at the super 8 when it flooded, but so many parties. It was awesome, each school would host a rager on different weekends. We also always did a week before school started up at smuggs, uh, "training", and that was always debauchery.
Who used to throw those red rose parties? Good times.
When we all got arrested, a buddy of mine was on probation and he literally shimmied down the drain pipe and took off into the woods in his t shirt and froze his ass off. Luckily, after they let us back to the condo, there were still like 4 30 packs hidden under a fold out bed, so we were able to get back to work. I got in trouble back at school for the kegs though and supplying minors with alcohol.

My best finishes were always after a big fat joint. Same with my best crashes.

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[basinbeater]

My Google Fu is strong tonight.
Archived race results for Thompson division hosted at wpi. I did not go to wpi.

https://users.wpi.edu/~skiteam/WPIWe...NUresults.html

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