Racing

2011 CSSC Sugar Race Team

CSSC racing provides a great opportunity to get out and ski in the NC mountains twice a month throughout the winter.  Even if you don’t race, you can still sign up for the up-to-30% discounted lift tickets.  And if you do sign up, you’ll learn how practicing in the gates can help improve your skiing in general so you can get more out of our big mountain trips.

Everyone competing at the races is friendly and so is the atmosphere.  Regardless of your skill, you only race against people of similar ability and there is opportunity for instruction at each weekend as well as during several race camp opportunities throughout the year. See below for our upcoming 2011-2012 schedule as well as sign-up and waiver forms.  Feel free to contact us if you have questions or come to a meeting to learn more.

In recent years, racing has become a highly visible outgrowth of recreational skiing in the South.  The development of the Crescent Race Series had made competition available to skiers of all abilities.  A typical winter weekend will find the Ski Bees team racing against more than 24 clubs from the Crescent Ski Council Racers are divided into two divisions with 10 flights per division.  New competitors entering the program establish a handicap in the Development Race Series or a NASTAR handicap can be used. Then, in following races, they will be placed in flights with those of similar handicaps. This system provides fair competition that gets more difficult as you improve. Most find that racing sharpens their overall skiing abilities.

Additional races are announced throughout the season and are sponsored by ski areas and various product promoters. The Silver Creek Club Challenge (held in Silver Creek, West Virginia) is one of these races.  On the individual level, NASTAR provides competition and award recognition (medals) for levels of achievement within its handicap system.  NASTAR is available at some local areas as well as nationally.

In 1985, Crescent Racing affiliated with the U.S. Recreational Ski Association and became the Southeastern Region of its Chrysler All-American Racing Series.  In the National Finals of the Chrysler Series, the team representing Crescent‘s racers demonstrated how far the Crescent Ski Council‘s racing program had come by winning the National Championship of Recreational Racing over teams representing the five other regions of the country.

During the 1997-98 seasons, the Charlotte Ski Bees participated in all Crescent Ski races with as many as 32 racers. Final club placement in the standings was THIRD in the Crescent Council Northern Division, and finished SECOND out of the 22 teams who participated in the Crescent Cup Finals!

Mike Dunn |Charlotte Racing Director | Mdunn1@bellsouth.net