Question about beginning racing

[Guest dragonsword5]

I really want to get into racing and I've been reading up stuff on NASTAR's site and I just have a few questions.

1. Clothing. If I can get into NASTAR should I get a race suit or should I just wear my regular boarding clothes?

2. With NASTAR gates are they snowboard racing gates are the ski poles? Does it matter what the gates are even?

3. Does the board matter: length, soft/stiff?

Just a few questions. Oh, and does anyone know any training tips that can be done without having a course? :)

[patmoore]

By all means try NASTAR racing for an introduction to the sport. Snowboard racing with NASTAR isn't nearly as advanced as the USASA program but it's a good place to get a feel for running gates.

I've attended the NASTAR Nationals at Park City the last two years and plan to race again this year (in Steamboat). Snowboarders still comprise a small percentage of the 1000+ racers at the nationals but our numbers are growing. Billy Madsen (NASTAR's National Director) told me he will provide snowboard-specific gates if we get better participation.

You might also want to try Mountain Dew Vertical Challenge races. Click on this link for an East Coast Schedule. I raced as a boarder and skier last Saturday at the season opener at Okemo. I was the only boarder in the 56-65 group but there were fourteen skiers and I eked out the Gold by 0.05 seconds.

Speed suits are unnecessary when starting out but if you're only getting beat by a couple of tenths of a second than give them a try.

Regarding the length/stiffness of the board, I'll defer to others more knowledgable on this forum. At age 59, 5'8" 170 lb, I race GS on a 168 cm Volkl RT GS board and have had decent luck with it.

[philfell]

Don't bother getting a suit for Nastar, the amount of heckling you'll get isn't worth it. Nastar uses ski type G.S. gates, these are somewhat sketchey for snowboarding, but will work at an entry level.

If you want to get into snowboard racing do a few laps in Nastar to see if you like turning around set points in the snow. If you like it find a USASA snowboard series near home and start there. You can find various series at www.usasa.org, form there if you do well at USASA races and want to go further find some FIS events to go to. By the time you get this far you'll know where to look for these events.

[Guest Randy S.]

How old are you? Are you thinking of getting into this with an aim on competing at a national/international level eventually, or are you just doing it for weekend warrior fun like I do (I'm old). USASA is fun and geared to snowbaorders. You can compete in your age group and yet still see how you stack up against the upper level folks.

If you race with ski gates, you'll want forearm protection and upper arm protection. Otherwise you'll have to take the gates really wide and you'll be very slow compared to skiers. In the weekend league I race in, we use snowboard gates for SL and skier gates for GS. Its sub-optimal, but it works. I lose to the top skiers in the same course by 10-20%, depending on the course.

You definitely don't need a race suit unless you want to really compete at a national level and in speed events. I have one and have worn it twice in races. One was a Super G and the other was a pro race I was trying to qualify for (I didn't).

If you are looking for a way to practice there are a few options. One is to enter the pay-per-run or Nastar courses that are often set up at ski areas. The other is to get some dark colored jell-o mix and put small piles of it on the snow on an uncrowded slope where gates would normally be. This doesn't affect other skiers, doesn't harm the environment and gives you good visual reference for gates. Plus it doesn't hurt when you shin them off or miss them and run over them. If you want to spend money, you can buy a drill and small brush gates from Reliable Racing. My hesitation is that I then have to buy a big drill bit and carry around a drill and the brush gates.

Small children or good friends also make good practice gates (I do this to John K on occassion).

Randy

[Guest dragonsword5]

Wow thanks for all the information. :)

How old are you? Are you thinking of getting into this with an aim on competing at a national/international level eventually, or are you just doing it for weekend warrior fun like I do (I'm old). USASA is fun and geared to snowbaorders. You can compete in your age group and yet still see how you stack up against the upper level folks.

I'm 16. For now I guess it would be a weekend thing since I have school XD but I would like to find a team or club (or start one if need be) at college.