Club Racing

British club ski racing is older, larger, and better-organised than most outsiders realise. It exists in parallel with the recreational holiday market, invisible to the average skier, but it runs year-round through a network of dry slopes, indoor centres, and Alpine training camps. This section is the introduction to that world: what it is, how to get involved, and what the racing calendar actually looks like.

How British club racing is organised

The structure runs from individual club races at dry slopes and indoor centres, up through regional competitions, to the national series that produces British rankings and feeds into the international pathway. Most racers begin in club dual slalom events (two identical courses run side by side, knockout format), progress to technical races at regional level, and then, if they choose, move into the FIS-licensed side of the sport. The club racing guide covers the full architecture, including how points, seed lists, and national selection actually work.

FIS points and the national pathway

The FIS points system is how international alpine racing ranks its athletes, and the concept extends downwards into British racing through the national rankings. Low points means you are fast. High points means the field is beating you. Understanding the points calculation (time penalties applied to your finish, weighted against the field quality) is the difference between knowing how you raced and knowing what the result actually says about your racing.

The British Alpine Championships

The British Alpine Ski Championships are the pinnacle of domestic racing. A week-long event in the Alps, attracting the full range from national team racers to competitive club skiers, across downhill, super-G, giant slalom, and slalom. The event has a long history and remains the single best measure of where a British racer stands against the national field. The world cup calendar sits alongside it for context on the international season.