Opportunities Abound As Another Para Nordic Development Race Series Set To Begin

U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing has its own development race series in much the same way that Major League Baseball has a minor league system.

The National Para Nordic Development Race Series was started in 2021 as a way to encourage adaptive skiers at all levels to compete in races across the country. Along the way, it has provided skiers who have shown potential in the sport with more opportunities to work on their technique, develop their skills and gain valuable racing experience.

Two-time Paralympian Dani Aravich was crowned the overall winner following the series’ inaugural season. The following year, Erin Martin, who made her Paralympic debut at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, beat out 22 other athletes to win the series title.

“Not everybody’s going to want to race at an elite level, and that’s fine,” said BethAnn Chamberlain, a development coach with U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing. “But we want to make sure that everybody knows that there is a place for them in the sport, whether they want to race at a high level or they want to race in their community or make a trip and travel to Colorado just to do a race because it’s a fun event.”

Skiers won’t have to wait much longer to start racing again and earning points that will go toward the new season of the Development Race Series. At least 20 skiers are expected to compete in two days of races sanctioned by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) in Canmore, Alberta, from Nov. 20-21.

In the meantime, Chamberlain wants to encourage Para Nordic skiers of all ages to start planning which races they’ll compete in this upcoming season — if they haven’t already done so. She said athletes should take some time to make a calendar with at least 4-5 races that they’ll enter this winter.

Those races could range from local cross-country skiing events that tend to have a smaller field of competitors to large-scale competitions, such as the U.S. Biathlon Nationals at Bozeman, Montana, on March 24.

“It’s really important. If people want to be on that race pathway to becoming a Paralympian, it’s critical. You have to have race experience,” Chamberlain said. “You’re going to learn every time (you race). Just like any coach will tell you, it’s not about performing your best every time. But it’s about putting a bib on, getting the experience and practicing your process and then doing it again, and that’s how we get better.”

Athletes who compete in the series can earn points that will determine this season’s leaderboard in a variety of ways. They’re awarded points simply by entering events on the race series calendar <Link: https://www.usparanordic.org/competitions>, as well as for participating in local and regional events near where they live.

Athletes can gain additional points by finishing in the top three at one of the race series events. For example, skiers can earn six points if they compete at the FIS Para Nordic Continental Cup in West Yellowstone, Montana, from Jan. 9-12 and win a race.

The winner of this year’s development race series will receive a new pair of race skis from U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing. The runner-up will get new ski poles, and the third-place finisher and the Rookie of the Year will take home Team USA apparel.

“There’s always the people that are just going to go out there and (race) no matter what, but it is kind of fun to have a little incentive, to have something a little more structured,” Chamberlain said. “Just something to follow like, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve never been to the Methow Valley (in Washington), and they have this Ski to the Sun race. It’s on the series. Maybe I’ll go and check it out.’”

Athletes who are members of the U.S. national team are ineligible from competing in the development race series. That includes Paralympic gold medalists Oksana Masters, Kendall Gretsch, Jake Adicoff, Sydney Peterson and Dan Cnossen.

Sit skier Nicole Zaino, a Paralympic hopeful and a member of the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing development team, was named last season’s winner of the development race series. Visually impaired skier Brian Armbruster received the Rookie of the Year award.

Along with the Development Race Series, U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing will award national championships in cross-country skiing and the biathlon in a different way this winter than it has been done in the past.

Instead of hosting one large-scale national event where overall winners are crowned, U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing will hold a national race series separate from the Development Race Series and award national titles at the end of the season based on how athletes performed in a handful of races.

The hope is that the two different race series will attract more athletes to compete in races and grow the sports of Para Nordic skiing in the United States.

“We want people to be a part of this community. We’re excited about it,” Chamberlain said. “Race organizers are excited to have more Para athletes. … It’s like the chicken or the egg. We have organizers that are like ‘We’re ready to have a Para component to our event. How do we get athletes there?’ And so this is kind of trying to be a part of helping those pieces come together.”

Alex Abrams has written about Olympic and Paralympic sports for more than 15 years, including as a reporter for major newspapers in Florida, Arkansas and Oklahoma. He is a freelance contributor to USParaNordic.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.