Racing around ski gates

[Call me jack]

So i tend to race at my local hill which only has ski gates.... Any body got any tips to help with how to run ski gates?

also, any one know where i can get a cheap pair of **** guards i could put on my forearms?

[scrutton]

So i tend to race at my local hill which only has ski gates.... Any body got any tips to help with how to run ski gates?

also, any one know where i can get a cheap pair of **** guards i could put on my forearms?

I wouldn't call them cheap, but I'm using these. They are superbly built.

http://ski-tuning.com/shin_kekaarmguard.html

[lonbordin]

Since I'm not attempting to get on the podium I just go wide ... Gets me out of the skiers ruts as well.

I guess you could use a pair of soccer shin guards if you must.

[Call me jack]

Since I'm not attempting to get on the podium I just go wide ... Gets me out of the skiers ruts as well.

I guess you could use a pair os soccer shin guards if you must.

i thought about the soccer shin guard thing, right after i wrote this.

but yeah, i'm just gooding wide right now any way. but i saw a few snowboarders, last year, who could ride right up next to the gates... i was never really able to ask how they did it...

[Call me jack]

I wouldn't call them cheap, but I'm using these. They are superbly built.

http://ski-tuning.com/shin_kekaarmguard.html

oh wow, i didn't even see this post. thanks man. i'll think about them, but at that price....

any advice on technique?

[inkaholic]

feet go around the gate. shins go through the gate. body goes inside the gate.

Ink

[Call me jack]

feet go around the gate. shins go through the gate. body goes inside the gate.

Ink

Trust me, nothing goes through these gates. They are very very thick.

[Scuff]

Are you doing a Slalom course or GS?

I've yet to see a course with ski gates where I would be comfortable knocking them down.

The NASTAR courses at Buck Hill are usually set pretty straight and narrow, favoring

big downhill speed and little need for the carved turns you would normally see in a Snowboard course.

Each GS gate is also made up of two poles with a panel across the top.. opposed to the

pole seen in SL skiing events.

Guess my "technique" would be to basically bomb the hill, turning with minimal edge pressure - going just

wide-enough and standing upright just-enough to stay away from a collision with a pole.

(At that speed plastic poles really hurt when you hit them, (and potentially getting your arm/head/clothing caught-up in the panel could really jack-up your rhythm.))

Guards: I've also got a pair of the KEKA shin guards which work really well bashing snowboard

,

though I've never tried strapping them to my arms...

Did you know those guards are made right here in the Twin Cities?

Their carbon fiber model is a bit less expensive than the Kevlar model and can be found at many of our local shops..

Pierce, Hoigaards.. etc.. (ya might even be lucky finding some plastic guards at a local Play it Again sports...)

Hope that helps..

FYI - Doing a simple forum "Search" will provide some other threads discussing racing with ski poles:

Check 'em out Here

and Here and Here

[Call me jack]

hey thanks man! i actually race at afton, which depending on the hill, is a little bit curvier. and yeah it's a nastar GS course. But i'll see if i can stay more up right. So far though, some of my most laid out, high G turns have come a the race course, while trying to maintain a conservative line.

[patmoore]

Personally I'd give ski gates a wide berth. I caught one across the chest a couple years ago I don't want to repeat that experience.

While ski racing I've incurred two broken ribs (and subsequent pneumonia) and a fractured ankle in other collisions with gates.

I'm the NASTAR coordinator/pacesetter at Okemo and set dual courses on most weekends, snowboard panels on the left and ski gates on the right.

We do sell Slytech's ArmGuards Destroyer but they're pricey.

[MUD]

Support the maker. He sells them direct.

http://www.kekadesign.com/

[scrutton]

Technique...not sure..I'm still learning...

I'm hitting the poles with my arms and back, trying to get my turn started way before the gate, and most recently looking at the following gate before setting my angle for the upcoming gate. Not shinning them yet.

Watch some of the fast ski racers - pace-setters, and watch what they do. Everyone who is fast is heavily angulating their ski's nowadays, and the style doesn't look much different from snowboarding.

I got way off line last Sat and ran over one of the poles, went flying....no damages though.