5 W's of Competitive Skiing

Major Provincial and National Events

CSS Calendar of Race Events 2005 - 2006

DATE	EVENT	LOCATION	HOST
December 12	N. Zone Sask Cup	La Ronge	La Ronge
January 8	Interzone Sask Cup	Blue Mountain	Saskatoon
January 14	NW Cup Race	Beauval	Beauval
January 15	Sprint Race	Saskatoon	Saskatoon
January 23	S. Zone Sask Cup	White Butte	Regina
January 30	Central Zone Sask Cup	Carlton Trail	Humboldt
February 4 - 6	Westerns	Hinton, AB
February 11	School Championships	La Ronge	La Ronge
February 12	Central Zone Sask Cup	Lloydminster	Lloydminster
February 27 – March 6	Nationals	Prince George
March 12 -13	Provincials	La Ronge	La Ronge

Why All the Forms?

Pre-Season
Race licenses
Divisional racing licenses should be purchased well in advance so that they receive all race notices and to insure processing. On urgent occasions a license may be purchased from the Race Secretary the evening before the race event. National and Divisional license applications are available in the CCS office.

Race notice
All competitors who have their licenses, should get a race notice for each race from the Host Club. If you do not, contact the CCS office.

Pre-Race
Entry deadline
All entry forms should be filled out and returned with payment of race fees to the proper host club Chief of Race. Regular Sask Cup Race Series entry forms for them will NOT BE ACCEPTED after 6 p.m. on the Friday preceding the race.

Late entry
Late registration is at the discretion of the Host Club. A late fee may be charged on top of the regular race fee.

Race fees
Sask Cup and Provincial Championships Race fees may vary from race to race but will never be less per day than:

$6.00 Jr Men/Women and above
$4.00 Jr Boys/Girls and below

Race fees will be refunded ONLY when an event is cancelled. Cancellation will occur three or more days prior to its scheduled date.

No entry will be accepted by the officials unless it is correctly and completely filled out, including the racing license number and signed waiver.

Waiver
The waiver on the entry form MUST be initialled and signed before you are allowed to race. The purpose of the waiver is to ensure that you, the competitor, understand there is some risk involved in participating in a cross-country ski event. The waiver protects the association, the club, and everyone involved in the race. You will not be allowed to race without a waiver that has been properly read, signed, and initialled as proof that you have read the waiver.

The draw
Only one person from each club is recognized at the Draw where the seeding is done and the start order is made. Mostly, it will be the designated club coach so it is to all self-coached racers' advantage to speak with their club coach about their seeding.

If your club doesn't have a coach, all of the skiers from your club may get together and designate someone to represent you at the Draw.

If there are only one or two skiers from a non-coached club, then it would be best to let the Race Committee seed you.

Official training time
Race organizers are obliged to have the race course prepared and marked by 6:00 p.m. on the Friday prior to the meet.

Most coaches make travel arrangements so you arrive sometime on Friday, enabling you to ski the course and check it out before it gets dark. This official training period can be of great benefit to you if you study the course and mentally picture yourself racing it.

Before you go out on the course, study the course map and get a mental impression of how it goes. Then go out on the trails and see how your course lies. Once around is good enough if you have been concentrating on how you will ski it the next day and have looked at the course maps.

REMEMBER it is your responsibility to know which course to ski so use this training time effectively.

Evening
The evening before the race should be spent relaxing. Check over your equipment, go over your race strategy again. Go to bed early. Even if you don't want to relax, others will, so take it easy on your fellow competitors.

Race Day
Arrival
Arrive at the race site early. As soon as you arrive, go to the registration desk to pick up your bib and look to see where you are on the Start List. Memorize you start-time.

Warm-up
About half an hour before your start time begin warming-up. Officials may give you access to a section of the course so you may warm-up and test wax on the course or on the warm-up track.

Some areas will be closed off, like the Start - Finish area. Watch for these and keep out of the way of the officials. You may be disqualified for skiing in a closed area or for disrupting the officials.

No matter where you are skiing, keep checking the start area to see which bib numbers are leaving the starting gate. You do not want to miss your start.

Ski marking
Ten minutes before your start, make your way over to the ski-marking area, which will be well designated.

Individual start
It is your responsibility to make sure that you arrive in good time at the ski-marking pen and that your skis are correctly marked.

Start officials will not allow you to start with unmarked skis.

From the ski-marking area proceed directly to the Start area. Listen to the official's instructions. When you are called to the starting gate make sure your boots are completely behind the line, and your pole baskets are in front of the line. This is the correct starting position.

Mass start
At mass starts you will most likely be given a lane and a position to start in, which may be forward or back in the field, depending on the size of the start. There will be a length of prepared track (100 metres or so ). You are forbidden to leave this track and skating is not allowed. (Of course, if the mass start occurs in a classic race, skating is not allowed anywhere except where designated).

This will be followed by a scramble area which will be clearly marked and has no tracks. The scramble area (50-100 metres) gives skiers time to converge on the proper race trail. In a freestyle race, skating is allowed in the scramble area.

Pursuit start
In a pursuit start race your time behind the winner on the first day of the race determines your start time on the second day. You line up behind the skier who finished ahead of you and in front of those who were slower than you (there will be several start lanes so you will likely be beside the racer who finished ahead of you the day before). The winner of the first day's race starts at time zero. Following racers start at the time they were behind the leader the previous day. The winner of the overall pursuit race is the first skier across the finish line. Sask Cup points will be awarded on the basis of each day?s time and on overall time, i.e., points for three races.

The start count
For an individual start, the starter will give you a ten second warning before you are to leave, and will count down the last five seconds; 5-4-3 2-1- go. For a mass start you will get a thirty second warning. The start may occur any time after that warning so be ready. Do not cross the start line until you hear the starter say "GO".

You MUST NOT return through the starting gate! Only once you have returned past the start line may you start out on the course.

Since it is your fault for committing the false start, your start-time will be the one that appears on the Start List.

Late start
If you do happen to arrive late for your start, you cannot head out directly onto the course by passing through the Start line. You must report to the registration area and get your bib, have your skis marked. Remember do not interfere with other skiers.

The Start Area officials have every right not to let you start until, in their opinion, you will not interfere with another starting skier.

Lap/finish lanes
You must ski through the proper lane when lapping or finishing a race. If the lap and finish lanes are separated by flagging and you mistakenly take the wrong lane you must go back around the end of the flagging to get back to the proper lane (you can't hop over).

Things You Need To Know Before you Start Racing Interprovincially

Markings and On the Course

Equipment
A competitor must complete the course on at least one of the skis which was correctly marked at the START. Complete means in its entirety. On skis means they must be on your feet - you are not allowed to take them off and run.

Only one ski may be exchanged and only when breaking a ski or damaging a binding or boot. Both poles may be exchanged in a race.

Waxing and equipment are part of a race. The above rules safeguard against someone with many pairs of skis all waxed differently from having an advantage. However, a competitor may still wax and scrape or repair his equipment during the race. An assistant may hand him the wax, scraper, or torch but may not help him wax or repair.

Assistance
Competitors can use no means of propulsion other than skis and poles. competitor can not be pushed along or helped up from a fall, etc., by someone else. Such Assistance will result in disqualification.

Technique
According to technical style, there are two types of cross country skiing: Classic Technique and Free Technique, in standard and sprint format.

Classic
Classic Technique includes: the diagonal stride, double poling, herringbone - without a gliding phase, downhill, and turning techniques.

For an individual start in classic races, a single track is set at the ideal skiing line of the course. The last 300 metres are double tracked.

The use of any skating technique in a classic race will result in disqualification with the following exceptions:

• turns that under normal classic conditions be taken using a skate turn.
• lane changes (one skate stride allowed to get out of old lane and across, one stride to get back into new lane).

Free technique
Free Technique means both classical and skating techniques can be used. The skating techniques include the 1-skate, 2-skate, offset skate, and marathon skate. For a free technique race, the course is packed and graded. A single track is usually set only on the downhills to provide the best line. It is the competitor's responsibility to find out where and how the trail has been groomed before the race.

Sprint races
In a mass start free technique race, skating is forbidden in the first 100 metres of the start. This distance may be shortened by officials but is always well marked.

Getting lost
It is your responsibility to know the course on which you are racing. Officials and controllers will not give competitors directions. Spectators do not know your course and will more than likely send you the wrong way, so DON'T ASK. Even if you receive directions from an official, it is still your responsibility if you go the wrong way. Therefore it is imperative that you know your course BEFORE you race.

Tracking
To overtake another competitor, the correct procedure is to call out "TRACK" immediately before you are going to pass. He/she will step out of the track or skate to the side of the trail and let you go by.

If you are being overtaken, when you hear "TRACK" step out of the track or skate to the side of the trail as quickly as you can but continue skiing. After the faster goes by, get back into the track or skate the best line.

In the heat of competition some competitors are too tired to say "TRACK". Sometimes a grunt is all they can muster. You must still give them the track.

If you fail to give way on demand, you may be disqualified.

The only place the track rule does not apply is during the last 200 metres of any race. During the last 200 metres before the finish, the competitor being overtaken is not obliged to give way. Remember that while the finish area will be clearly marked it may not actually be 200 metres long.

Falling
If you fall, get off the track as quickly as possible so you won't present a hazard to following skiers.

With-drawing
If you are forced to drop out of the race, inform the closest official and the officials at the Finish. If you do not inform the officials that you have dropped out, a search may be instituted, wasting the officials time and causing needless worry.

Post Race

Warm down
Once you have finished the race, get off the race track. To prevent shock to your system, put on a jacket and warm-up pants, and ski slowly on the warm-up track to warm-down. This warm-down is important so your body adapts back to a lower activity state.

Getting your time
Race officials are aware that every competitor wants his time as quickly as possible after he finishes the race. They do their utmost to get the times out fast. The times will be posted on a Results Board. Do not bother the timers and recorders for your time. If they give it to you, in fairness, they should give it to every competitor. Officials are told not to give ANY competitor his time. Warm-down and have a relaxing drink while you wait.

Bibs
If your bib is not a souvenir-type bib, please remember to return it to the organizers. In the Sask Races Services, individual bibs cost $20 and take several weeks to replace. Competitors are completely responsible for their bibs.

Failure to return bib
Should a competitor fail to return his bib after the race, he will be assessed a $20.00 replacement fee. The bib must be returned or the fee paid before the entry deadline of the next race or the competitor won?t be allowed to enter the race.

Disqualification
A competitor shall be disqualified by the competition jury if he:

• fails to comply with Rules and Regulations as in the CCS and CCC Rules and Regulations.
• does not conform to the age qualifications.
• is not qualified as a competitor with a current license.
• enters the race under false premises.
• trains on a course where and/or when forbidden.
• does not follow the marked course or does not pass all Controls.
• receives unauthorized assistance.
• uses a skating technique where not allowed.
• fails to give way to an overtaking competitor at the first demand.
• clearly obstructs/interferes with another competitor.
• runs part of the course without skis on his/her feet.
• fails to complete the course with at least one marked ski.
• is found positive in a doping test conducted according to FIS rules.

Protest Procedure

If something happened on the race course which you thought was not quite right or you think your time was incorrectly calculated, or you thought that you were disqualified unfairly, you have the right to lodge a protest.

1. Go to your coach immediately and explain the situation. Your coach will follow the correct procedure for you. Do not go to an official.
2. If you don't have a coach, approach an official and ask for a Protest Form. Every Chief of Race will have a supply. Do this as soon after the incident as possible.
3. Fill out the form according to the instructions. You should try to get at least two witnesses to corroborate your viewpoint. If it comes down to your word against an official's word, the jury is going to have a very hard time making a decision and will be inclined to favour the word of the trained official.
4. Hand the protest in to the Chief of Race or Technical Delegate. If neither is available, hand the form into the nearest official and make sure that the official fills out his name, the date, and the time that you are lodging the protest. All protests must be lodged within one hour after the times have been posted, so it is very important that the time be written on the form and signed by the official who receives it.
5. Your protest, if correctly filled out and received in time will be given fair consideration by the Competition Jury. You may be required along with your witness to tell the Jury what happened. Be as accurate and factual as possible. Do not get angry at the officials. They are doing their best and as human beings, they know that mistakes can be made. Give them time to verify the truth. If you are correct and you have witnesses, the Jury will decide in your favour.
6. The decision of the Competition Jury is final and binding. If the Jury does not decide in your favour all you can do is live with that decision and learn from the incident. The Jury is made up of experienced and knowledgeable officials who make the best decision possible based on the facts and evidence. Even though you may feel that they have made a mistake you must accept their decision. Thank them for the time they have spent considering your protest and put your sights on the next race.
7. If a competitor or a coach continues to harass competition jury members after the decision has been made, the coach and the athlete in question may be prevented from attending or competing in any further CCS sanctioned competitions for the remainder of the season.

Summary of Skiers' Obligations

1. Competitors must make themselves familiar with the rules and comply with the special instructions of the Race Committee.
2. Competitors are responsible for completing entry and waiver forms properly and registering by the deadline.
3. Competitors are responsible for knowing the race course.

Cross Country Saskatchewan
1860 Lorne Street, Regina, Saskatchewan S4P 2L7
Phone: (306) 780-9240 • Fax: (306) 781-6021
Email: ccs@sasktel.net
 
 

Copyright © 2006 Cross Country Saskatchewan