Race Season Summary
In general, the race season for athletes comprises of Regional Races ("regular season"), which are open to all competitors and qualify athletes to PARA State Championship events. From the PARA State Championships, athletes can qualify for USSS Eastern Regional events ("post season"). The following table summarizes the race season by age group for USSS races. For event details, please refer to the club race calendar.
Regional Races & PARA State Championships
From the regional races, athletes in the U12, U14, and U16 age groups are able to qualify to the PARA State Championship (previously known as a PARA State “Derby”) to compete against the best athletes across the 4 regions of PARA. The State Championship events are 2-3 day events at the end of February and beginning of March. They are a great opportunity for our athletes to meet competitors from across the state and race on new terrain. For details on the PARA State Championships and the regional quotas for each age group and gender, please refer to the following websites:
U18 & U21 do not have any regional PARA qualifiers. As opposed to having one weekend of State Championships to decide post-season qualification to USSS Eastern events, their Championships are a series of 8 races over 3 weekends. The series is known as the PA Cups. PA Cups are open to all U18 and U21 athletes. The Governor’s Cup (the top male/female athlete across all 8 races) and post-season qualification for U18 & U21 athletes are all announced at the final weekend of PA Cups held at Elk Mountain.
Eastern Regional Championships
US Ski and Snowboard Regions
PARA competes in the Eastern Region of USSS against 7 other states / regions. From the PARA State Championship events, athletes are named to the PARA State Team and are able to qualify to USSS Eastern Regional Events to compete against the best athletes in the Eastern Region of the US. Eastern Regional events are multi-day events, usually held in New England in the middle of March. For details on PARA quotas by age group and gender to each of the USSS Eastern events, please refer to the PARA website. For details on the USSS Eastern events, please refer to the USSS Eastern Region website.