KEY FOCUS 

Ski racers continue to refine their technical skiing skills, develop their overall athleticism, physical fitness capacity and begin to apply their technical skills in a competitive SX and FIS competition environments. Ski racers continue to develop their tactical strategy in ski cross starting with an individual qualification time trial leading up to the 4-up heats at this level of competition. SX ski racers in this stage continue to race FIS races as part of their SX development progression. 

Ski cross courses and terrain features are utilized to develop a ski racers athleticism and ability to move efficiently over terrain in competitive and non-competitive environments.

AGE RANGE

Dependent on skill skills, SX experience. 

The ski racer has passed their adolescent growth period. 

SKI CROSS PERFORMANCE BENCHMARK

SX ski racers will be consolidating and applying their technical skiing skills through participation in NorAm ski cross events while continuing to participate in FIS alpine ski racing giant slalom and super g events.  

SX competitions will occur on purpose-built, FIS legal courses meeting the minimum standards for safety. Terrain feature size will vary between medium-sized features to extra large features dependent on the level of competition. 

A formal training day before the day of the event is required. SX ski racers need the opportunity to sample a variety of lines, gain mileage on a ski cross course, and familiarity with the different features through several laps before the qualification rounds and heat-racing.

Initially, SX ski racers can perform at a high level in all events contested including:

• Consistently winning NorAm SX events for women and consistent top 4 finishes in NorAm SX events for men. 
• Winning National Junior Championship
• Top 8 at World Junior SX Championship
• Top 16  in Europa Cup SX competitions

By the end of this stage, SX ski racers are to perform and consistently finish in the top 4 in Europa Cup and National Championship SX competitions progressing into gaining SX racing exposure on the World Cup. 

SX ski racers continue to participate in FIS racing in the giant slalom and super g events, aiming to obtain sub 80 FIS point results consistently. 

SKI CROSS COURSE & TERRAIN PARK FEATURE RECOMMENDATIONS

Ski racers will continue to explore and discover medium to large features in terrain parks and ski cross course features including start features, bank turns, varying fall lines, rollers, spines, blind turns and jumps where skiers leave the ground for a varying amount of time and distance to develop their body awareness while skiing. SX ski racers are aiming to link wave track (roller) sections together in a variety of ways: single, double or triple.

Ski racers continue to practice their ski cross starts using an appropriately sized starting gate and increased ramp angles and more difficult start features. 

Ski cross drills include playing "cat and mouse" or "lead and follow" with another teammate to practice passing, overtaking and being passed by another skier.  Ski racers are encouraged to continue skiing arrhythmical open giant slalom courses on wide intermediate trails with 3-4 ski racers at a time to develop their ability to adjust line and ski with traffic and leading to an increased confidence with leading, following, drafting and passing on a ski cross course.

Course inspections skills continue to be developed.  SX ski racers can recognize a variety of features and the different strategies or "line" options available to them during an inspection. SX ski racers will test the various lines during training runs in preparation for finding the fastest line for qualification. Testing different lines and tactics will also increase an SX ski racers knowledge about the track and enhance their "on the fly" decision-making process that occurs when 4-up heat racing. 

SKI RACERS CONTINUE TO EXECUTE JUMP PROGRESSION AS LISTED:

• Rolling over small jumps while maintaining snow contact
• Learning how to "pop" a jump.
• Keep a tuck position over a jump.
• Performing fun tricks (i.e., spread eagle, 180° spins, 360° spins and tail grabs).
• Ski racers take off jumps with “kick style” take off ramps.