What is Action Racing?
Action Ski & Snowboard Club is part of the San Diego Alpine League (SDAL), which is a part of the Far West Racing Association (FWRA). These are recreational race leagues, and unlike other 'recreational' fun, you don't need a prescription to participate!
Racers get handicapped, just like horses. OK, maybe not. But, each race has a 'pace setter' who goes first. These pace setters have racing handicaps from Far West. The handicap is a percentage of how they compare to a FIS (world cup) racer. If a FIS racer got a time of 100 seconds, and the pace setter got a time of 120 seconds, the pace setter handicap would be 20 (handicaps go from 0 and up), for 20% slower. When you race, your time is compared against the pace setter. Since we know (in theory) how the pace setter compares to a FIS racer, we know how you compare, and from that, your handicap rating is determined. All racers are then put into a group, based on handicap. This is like having all the people who bowl 250-300 in one group, 200-249 in another group, and so on. The end result is you race against people who ski like you do, even if you can only bowl a 95.
Like bowling, you can get a strike in racing. But, this does not mean you fall down and try to take out 10 gates. If your handicap puts you into the C class, and you race and get a B class handicap, then you have a strike against you. This is good! If you get a second strike, you get moved up a class. Many people start out in the lowest class, then continuously work their way upward. It's great fun!
A final note on classes. There are 10 classes, S-1 through S-10. There are classes for both men and women, and women and men do not race against each other. Classes 1-5 race on the upper course, and 6-10 on the lower course. The lower course, as you may guess from the name, starts lower on the hill, and is not as technical as the upper course to make it less intimidating for beginning racers.
In the SDAL, there are other ski clubs, such as North Island/Snowdrifters, San Diego, Torrey Pines, Don Diego, and a couple of other small ski clubs. Each racer that places in the top of their class scores points for their team. All the points are added up, and the SDAL Ski Club Championship Cup (trophy!) is awarded to the ski club with the most points at the end of the racing season. Last year, North Island won the cup. This year, Action HAS WON it back!
Come join the Action team in their mighty holy grail quest!
What is your name? "Action SKI Club!"
What is your favorite color? "The color of a shot of Fire Water!"
What is your quest? "To win the holy grail of SDAL!"
OK, you may pass.
The most important thing about Action ski club racing is to have fun! One of our racers was seen to ski the course in a Chargers cape on the Sunday the Chargers played in the Super Bowl. While this may be unlikely to occur again for quite a while, we can only hope for another sighting.
Any questions? Email the race director at racing@actionski.org!
Thank you, and remember: ski fast, take risks! (note: not endorsed by Action ski club. Don't ski fast if you're blind folded, skiing in bumps after one ski has fallen off, or you're heading into the top of Hangman's Hollow).
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