Name: Ski Racing Foundations
Price: 265 CHF
Availability: InStock

A professional-development program for the adults who take young skiers to the mountain: how to work alongside professional coaches, and enough understanding of ski racing, physical and mental development, competition and equipment to be genuinely useful.

Dates

Thursdays 5 November to 10 December 2026

Editions

Runs twice each season. The dates below are the next edition.

Registration

Registration opens 1 October 2026 · register by 29 October 2026

Format

6 sessions · 9 hours live

Location

Live online · 19:00 Central European Time

Course Leader

Nacho García

Fee

CHF 265 (≈ €290 / $324)

Credits

6 ARCI Education Credits

Teachers and school staff who take pupils to the mountains, chaperones responsible for young skiers away from home, and anyone considering race coaching as a profession. It is also the natural first step for a coach who intends to take ARCI Alpine Ski Race Coach later.

Prerequisites

✓No coaching qualification required

✓No prior race-coaching experience required

✓Intended for teachers, school staff and chaperones responsible for young skiers, and for those considering race coaching as a profession

✓Familiarity with a ski environment is useful and is not required

Course Leader

Nacho García

Head Coach and Alpine Program Director

Lecturer and workshop conductor, with a real passion for building a solid foundation in alpine ski racing through the development of coaches.

Qualifications

CSCF (Canadian Ski Coaches Federation) International Race Coach · NCCP (National Coaching Certification Program, Canada) Coach · CSIA (Canadian Ski Instructors’ Alliance) Level 3 · ISIA (International Ski Instructors Association) · J+S (Jugend + Sport) Alpine Ski Coach, Switzerland · EEE alpine ski instructor, Spain · Sports Psychology for High Performance (Barça Innovation Hub)

Coaching experience

Coaching experience at Olympic Games, World Cup, Europa Cup, NorAm, South American Cup and FIS level · Former speed race centre director, Norway · Speed specialist, working with national-team athletes · Mental coach specialist, running workshops and mental coaching for athletes across all disciplines · University alpine ski race coaching, Switzerland · Structure Director, head coach, speed coach and coordinator

Roles on the mountain — teacher, chaperone, professional coach, parent and athlete, and where each one begins and ends
Working alongside a race coach — handing over and taking back responsibility, and what to ask
Duty of care, safeguarding, boundaries and escalation
The disciplines — slalom, giant slalom, super-G and downhill, and what separates them
Gates, course setting, inspection and line
What a good turn looks like, and the vocabulary to describe it
Skis by discipline and age group, boots and fit
Protective equipment, and what a racer is required to use
Tuning basics — edges, base and wax — and what to check before a race day
Describing an equipment problem so a coach or technician can act on it
Growth, maturation and training age — why two racers of the same age are not the same athlete
Warm-up, load, fatigue and recovery
Injury risk in a race environment, and the signals worth noticing
Mindset, goal setting, routines and focus, taught as skills rather than as character
Pressure, and how the adults around a young athlete shape the reading of a result
Establishing a competitive culture that raises standards while protecting athlete wellbeing
How a race day runs — start list, bib draw, inspection, runs and results
School racing, club racing and national and international competition in outline
Racing alongside academic commitments, and where the pathway leads

01Roles on the Mountain, and Working with Professional CoachesThursday 5 November 2026 · 19:00 CET
02Fundamentals of Alpine Ski RacingThursday 12 November 2026 · 19:00 CET
03Equipment Basics and VocabularyThursday 19 November 2026 · 19:00 CET
04Physical Development of the Young AthleteThursday 26 November 2026 · 19:00 CET
05Mental Training and Competitive SpiritThursday 3 December 2026 · 19:00 CET
06Competition, School Racing and the Athlete PathwayThursday 10 December 2026 · 19:00 CET

Work alongside a professional coach with a clear understanding of where each party’s decisions lie.
Follow a training session, a course set and a race with sufficient understanding to contribute on the hill.
Use the vocabulary of ski racing and equipment accurately enough to be understood by coaches and technicians.
Judge what physical and mental demands are reasonable for a young athlete at their stage.
Exercise duty of care for young skiers, including the limits of that responsibility and the point of escalation.
Take a first, substantial step toward the ARCI Alpine Ski Race Coach education pathway.

Fee

CHF 265 (≈ €290 / $324)

How to register

Use Register interest above. ARCI replies with a payment link and confirms the place once payment is received. Places are confirmed in the order payment arrives.

Payment

Payment is made online by card or PayPal, through a link ARCI sends for the course. No payment is taken on this site.

Session format

60 minutes education + 30 minutes discussion per session

Language

English

Attendance

Sessions are attended live. Registration constitutes a commitment to attend the scheduled sessions. No participant limit is published; larger groups are divided for the discussion period.

Course material

Each session is taught from an ARCI presentation. Registering gives you an ARCI account and access to the ARCI app, where the material from your course is available to review at any time, on a phone or in a browser.

ARCI Education Credits

6 ARCI Education Credits. These 6 ARCI Education Credits may contribute toward the ARCI Alpine Ski Race Coach education pathway and may also be recognized within other ARCI education and training programs, subject to the requirements of each program.Credits never confer automatic admission, certification, exemption, qualification or equivalency. The requirements of each future ARCI program decide how credits are recognized.

Cancellation

Written cancellation 28 days or more before the first session is refunded in full. Between 14 and 27 days, half the fee is refunded. Inside 14 days, or after the course has started, no refund is given. A session you do not attend is not refunded and is not transferable. If ARCI cancels the course, everything paid is refunded in full.

Fees are charged in Swiss Francs. Euro and US dollar figures are indicative, converted at the European Central Bank reference rate of 2026-11-06.

Ski Racing Foundations

Prerequisites

Nacho García

Other ARCI Open Education Courses

Parents Guide to Young Athlete Development

Mental Training Fundamentals for Young Athletes

Mental Training for High Performance

High Performance Ski Preparation & Boot Fitting

Speed — Training and Racing Fundamentals

ARCI Masterclass Series