U14 Racing Team Recommendations

[JJcat]

A few years ago had kids in Killington program was happy with it when kids were young. When they reached 13 the focus of coaches moved to those at KMS. We wanted to continue with just weekends. After a year we saw that it would be best to move the kids to Pico. Was very happy with that program and still support it when I can, even though I don't have kids in it any longer. Great coaches and they are dedicated to all kids in the program. If you are looking at larger programs where an academy is also present make sure you evaluate that the weekend program kids get their fair share of attention

Great point! I also heard some program is very competitive and the focus is all on the best kids .... I heard good things about Pico - thanks for sharing the information!

 

[JJcat]

If you have the option for Cannon, that's where I would go. The northern VT/NH kids always have a leg up over mid/south kids. Look at where Burke/Cannon/Stowe kids train vs. Mount Snow/Okemo/Sunapee. Its night and day....

Really appreciated your input! This is exactly the part of the puzzle I'm trying to figure out - the training quality of the program. Thanks for sharing the honest opinion!

 

[JJcat]

Thank you so much for everyone who shared their experiences about kids racing programs!

There are some discussion about costs. I did my research in the past couple of days and put together below chart for costs. I'm sure it's not very accurate, some are found online, and some are heard from friends. The season pass prices are for next season; tuition is for current season. I put it here to share with everyone and hope it can be somehow useful for parents like me.



Mt snow has clear advantage with big racing program and also under Epic (access to other Epic mountains for free)
Gunstock has great program with very reasonable costs for both season pass and tuition
Cannon / BBTS has top training programs but more expensive with intensive volunteer requirements

One last thing I'm still trying to figure out is lodging. I know most of the racing families own vacation house / condo that are close to the training mountain. We don't .... this gave us flexibility to choose the mountains without bonding to a certain team. But staying at hotels each Fri/Sat is big logistic to handle, and also adding on the costs. Any suggestions or tips? Any alternatives other than hotels/ airB&B? All those mountains above are over two hours drive one way therefore we have to stay overnight.

Thanks again everyone!!

 

[drjeff]

Wow, that is a great benefit to have 50% off for Ikon. I had no idea Ikon offers that to certain mountains. We don't get any discount at our home mountain (not mega pass mountain). But we do have the privilege to buy pass for racer and family members at registration even the season pass is sold out.

I think you may have misunderstood what I was referring to.

I wasn't talking about season passes for the athletes. What I was referring to is on race days, parents of athletes from the non host mountain, being able to purchase a lift ticket for that race day, at a discounted price instead of the full day rate, since racer parents often spend more time standing around watching their athlete kids verses skiing/riding all day.

Stratton used to offer the parents of racers a discounted rate of roughly 50% off the day ticket rate, now it's only about 10% off the day rate

 

[JJcat]

I think you may have misunderstood what I was referring to.

I wasn't talking about season passes for the athletes. What I was referring to is on race days, parents of athletes from the non host mountain, being able to purchase a lift ticket for that race day, at a discounted price instead of the full day rate, since racer parents often spend more time standing around watching their athlete kids verses skiing/riding all day.

Stratton used to offer the parents of racers a discounted rate of roughly 50% off the day ticket rate, now it's only about 10% off the day rate

Oh I see! Thanks!

 

[Mum skier]

Thank you so much for everyone who shared their experiences about kids racing programs!

There are some discussion about costs. I did my research in the past couple of days and put together below chart for costs. I'm sure it's not very accurate, some are found online, and some are heard from friends. The season pass prices are for next season; tuition is for current season. I put it here to share with everyone and hope it can be somehow useful for parents like me.

View attachment 57922

Mt snow has clear advantage with big racing program and also under Epic (access to other Epic mountains for free)
Gunstock has great program with very reasonable costs for both season pass and tuition
Cannon / BBTS has top training programs but more expensive with intensive volunteer requirements

One last thing I'm still trying to figure out is lodging. I know most of the racing families own vacation house / condo that are close to the training mountain. We don't .... this gave us flexibility to choose the mountains without bonding to a certain team. But staying at hotels each Fri/Sat is big logistic to handle, and also adding on the costs. Any suggestions or tips? Any alternatives other than hotels/ airB&B? All those mountains above are over two hours drive one way therefore we have to stay overnight.

Thanks again everyone!!

Our kids did development at Sunapee last year and parents had to do volunteer days even though that was a non race program. I thought it was one per kid for the development group and 2 per kid for the race teams. So not sure the “no volunteer days” for Sunapee is correct.

 

[JJcat]

Our kids did development at Sunapee last year and parents had to do volunteer days even though that was a non race program. I thought it was one per kid for the development group and 2 per kid for the race teams. So not sure the “no volunteer days” for Sunapee is correct.

Thank you for the information! I will update the chart on my post.

 

[thebigo]

Thank you so much for everyone who shared their experiences about kids racing programs!

There are some discussion about costs. I did my research in the past couple of days and put together below chart for costs. I'm sure it's not very accurate, some are found online, and some are heard from friends. The season pass prices are for next season; tuition is for current season. I put it here to share with everyone and hope it can be somehow useful for parents like me.

View attachment 57933

Mt snow has clear advantage with big racing program and also under Epic (access to other Epic mountains for free)
Gunstock has great program with very reasonable costs for both season pass and tuition
Cannon / BBTS has top training programs but more expensive with intensive volunteer requirements

One last thing I'm still trying to figure out is lodging. I know most of the racing families own vacation house / condo that are close to the training mountain. We don't .... this gave us flexibility to choose the mountains without bonding to a certain team. But staying at hotels each Fri/Sat is big logistic to handle, and also adding on the costs. Any suggestions or tips? Any alternatives other than hotels/ airB&B? All those mountains above are over two hours drive one way therefore we have to stay overnight.

Thanks again everyone!!

It is not feasible to participate in a seasonal competitive program without lodging <15 minutes from your home mountain. Personally, I would work on a seasonal rental before choosing program. You can try local realtors but I have had more success with VRBO. Find properties that work then message the owner, ask whether they would consider a seasonal rental for the winter. Let the owner know you are a race family along with frequency of use; forewarning: it will be much more difficult if you have a dog. Of the options you listed, I suspect Gunstock will be easiest to find a seasonal rental simply because the NH lakes are busier during the summer.

 

[thebigo]

Stratton used to offer the parents of racers a discounted rate of roughly 50% off the day ticket rate, now it's only about 10% off the day rate

Only family discount I have ever seen was champs, $65 at Attitash and it wasn't in the race announcement, word of mouth only. Even worse than standing around on race day is skills day. NHARA runs a handful of skills days around the state, great day for the kids; Fred Turton designs drills and courses, the kids then mix with coaches from other programs. The skills days are everything that is good about organized youth skiing but it is either a full priced ticket or 8 hours of lodge time for parents.

 

[Newpylong]

Waterville is over a grand for a pass... for Waterville. Wow.

 

[JJcat]

It is not feasible to participate in a seasonal competitive program without lodging <15 minutes from your home mountain. Personally, I would work on a seasonal rental before choosing program. You can try local realtors but I have had more success with VRBO. Find properties that work then message the owner, ask whether they would consider a seasonal rental for the winter. Let the owner know you are a race family along with frequency of use; forewarning: it will be much more difficult if you have a dog. Of the options you listed, I suspect Gunstock will be easiest to find a seasonal rental simply because the NH lakes are busier during the summer.

it is a great idea to contact VRBO owner for a long term rental - will try that, thank you so much!

 

[JJcat]

Only family discount I have ever seen was champs, $65 at Attitash and it wasn't in the race announcement, word of mouth only. Even worse than standing around on race day is skills day. NHARA runs a handful of skills days around the state, great day for the kids; Fred Turton designs drills and courses, the kids then mix with coaches from other programs. The skills days are everything that is good about organized youth skiing but it is either a full priced ticket or 8 hours of lodge time for parents.

mixing kids and coaches sounds fun!

 

[Mailman]

Only family discount I have ever seen was champs, $65 at Attitash and it wasn't in the race announcement, word of mouth only. Even worse than standing around on race day is skills day. NHARA runs a handful of skills days around the state, great day for the kids; Fred Turton designs drills and courses, the kids then mix with coaches from other programs. The skills days are everything that is good about organized youth skiing but it is either a full priced ticket or 8 hours of lodge time for parents.

That seems weird it works that way for racing. My son skis freestyle and all of the mountains he competed at this year (Stratton, Snow, Killington, Willard, Sugarbush, Bristol) offered heavily discounted parent tickets for completion days - most were around $50 per day. Advertised on the event information page with clear instructions on how to purchase the discounted ticket.

 

[drjeff]

That seems weird it works that way for racing. My son skis freestyle and all of the mountains he competed at this year (Stratton, Snow, Killington, Willard, Sugarbush, Bristol) offered heavily discounted parent tickets for completion days - most were around $50 per day. Advertised on the event information page with clear instructions on how to purchase the discounted ticket.

Hope your son (and you) enjoyed the B mogul comp at Mount Snow this year. A number of my friends are both coaches and part of the crew that put the event on, and they were happy with the result, the visibility of the course to the general public, and are already planning to make next year's event even better!