Topic - Races: Masters Skiing
Date first posted on eCommunity - 14
September 2008
Last week's posting looked at age and fitness, and suggested that
growing older needn't be a reason for slowing down. In fact we saw
that there are skiers who, as they get older, want to speed up, and
for that reason they get involved in Masters skiing races. This week
we look more closely at the world of Masters racing.
Broadly speaking "Master" is another way of saying "veteran". In
Europe cross-country ski Masters are people aged 30 or over. In the
USA they are 25 or over.
Although there are some races that are organised exclusively for
Masters, there are not so many. It is more common for Masters to
enter all-comers events and then have their results recorded
separately. Many race organisers will therefore publish their
event's results in age-categories so that you can see, for example,
who was the fastest finisher in the 30-39 years category or the 40-49 years category.
A good starting point for UK skiers wanting to
know more about
Masters skiing is the website of The British Masters Cross-Country
Ski Association. It is at:
http://www.bmccsa.org.uk.
The site's homepage states that:
"The British Masters Cross-Country Ski Association (BMCCSA) was
formed in 1986, initially to allow British skiers to take part in
the annual Masters World Cup. Since then, the work of the BMCCSA has
expanded to include organising roller ski racing and training
events, providing advice (through its Newsletter) on skiing
technique and fitness, and providing links to other clubs in Britain.
The BMCCSA is aimed predominantly at people wanting to race, but
this covers anyone from complete beginner to potential World
Champion. Most members come from Britain but membership is open to
people from any other country. Although masters racing starts at 30
(or 40 in some events), membership is open to anyone of any age who
has an interest in cross-country ski or roller ski racing.
Membership costs just ₤5 per year and this included three
Newsletters per year, and if you want to race for Britain in the
Masters World Championships, you need to be a BMCCSA member."
Different sections of the BMCCSA site are devoted to:
- Masters World Cup
- This year's World Championships
- Photo gallery
- Calendar
- Race results
- Training (technique and fitness)
- History of the BMCCSA
- Insurance
Some of these sections contain articles from previous BMCCSA
newsletters. The section on Training, for example, consists of six
such articles focussing on:
- General training programmes
- Strength and balance
- Pilates
- Tapering
- Fitness tests
- Balance
For many veteran ski racers the highlight of the season is the
Masters World Cup (MWC) an annual event that changes location every
year. In 2008 the venue was Idaho. In 2009 the venue will be Autrans
in the French Vercors and the event will take place between January
30 and February 6.
Autrans is no stranger to high-level ski events. The Winter Olympic
Games were held there in 1968 and the Nordic Combined World Cup in
1987. It has also hosted, for the last 30 years, France's biggest
citizen ski race, La Foulee Blanche.
The MWC organisers are expecting 1,200 racers to come to Autrans,
representing a total of 28 countries. A very large number of races
will be run during the week of competition.
These will include:
- Ladies' races over 10km, 15km and 30km (for ages 30-69 years)
- Men's races over 10km, 30km and 45km (for ages 30-59 years)
- Ladies' races over 5km, 10km and 15km (for ages 70-99 years)
- Men's races over 10km, 15km and 30km (for ages 60-74 years)
- Men's races over 5km, 10km and 15km (for ages 75-99 years)
All distances will be run, separately, in both classic and freestyle
techniques. There will also be a relay race.
As the organisers say, "This is a huge event that will require a
faultless organization". And they are calling for volunteers to
help. They say: "Volunteers are needed in 4 different sectors:
competitions, logistics, communication/accommodations and
Animation/Volunteers. We are looking for both long term and short
term volunteers . . . If you speak German, English or Russian - we
need your help. If you can carry tables - we need your help. If you
can staple result lists - we need your help. If you can house
volunteers, interpreters - we need your help."
For more details of the Autrans event go to:
http://wma.autrans-sports.com/page4.html
The BMCCSA website says that usually between 5 and 15 people from
Britain take part in the competitive events at the MWC. If you would
like to join them at Autrans you should be "a reasonably competent
skier able to race at 12-15 km/h or above". You also need either to
hold a British passport or to live in Britain. And you need to be a
member of the BMCCSA.
For more details of Masters skiing in general, go to
http://www.masterskier.com. This is the online version of the
American magazine Master Skier. The site contains a very large
number of articles about all aspects of cross-country skiing. Most
of them are suitable for a general audience and you should find them
useful even if you have no interest in racing
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