How can I shave time off my ski start?

Question

I race NASTAR with its short courses and I realize that the start is quite important, as it makes up a huge portion of the time on a 25 second course, and I also realize that my starts aren't that great. Any tips?

Answer 1

you're right to realize that where you're losing time is in your start. learn to do a kickstart. work on hard skates. on your ski hill, see if you can find a hill with a drop off section similar to a start house gate. or just use the race hill one if its available. work on rocking back, then exploding forward and skating down the incline. idk how good you are but typically, you can tuck a full nastar course, or almost every gate. so do a few hard skates out of the gate and then get LOW!

also, race in as few layers as possible. full body spandex is always sexy ;) lol

Answer 2

when i use to race i found that popping yourself out of the gate was a good way to start, have your poles over the gate when its time to go use your poles to push yourself forward and pop the tail end of your skis off the snow and to the same angle as the course this will make a smooth transition after that tuck for the straits