Our Thursday night series will pick back up on February 2nd at 7 pm! Races will follow on the 9th, 23rd, and March 1st. This will be a perfect tune up for the big one, the Wasatch Powderkeg, on March 10th.
Also, don’t forget about our bonus race this Friday morning. It’s a 7am start at the base of the Milly lift. We will be done by 8:30 so everyone can make it to work, the OR show, or any other responsibilities that exist besides skiing.
We are working on obtaining a title sponsor for the series so there may eventually be some decent prizes. But, for now, the pumpkin pie tradition continues!
We are having a bonus Friday morning race to accommodate the OR show folks who will be in town and restless. The start time will be 7AM at the base of the Milly lift. Park at the church and park tightly and organized to keep everyone happy. The format is yet to be determined by the amount of blessed snow we get this week. We plan to be finished by 8:30 so everyone can make it to their respective engagements…which might just be breakfast for those that don’t have to hightail it to the show.
So come on out and show these out of town folks how the Wasatch is speeding up!
Last night we held the first race of our new Wasatch Citizen Skimo Series. Brighton was gracious enough to allow us to have the event under the lights even though we are not paying customers (we tried to make up for that at Molly Green’s afterward). The turnout was FANTASTIC with over 40 people racing through the still single digit air. The format was “vert style”, meaning we would try and lap a short course as many times as possible in a predetermined amount of time. I pushed for 75 minutes but wanted 90. The masses demanded 60, so 60 minutes of suffering was the name of the game. After the fact, I wish it had been 45.
The planned meeting time was 7PM, and at 7:03 I looked around and saw only 5 others. Thinking the race was a bust or that there may have been an accident in the canyon that was holding up traffic, I decided we should wait. Then word came that everyone was waiting at the other end of the parking lot. Running over, I found another 35+ folks, milling about in the cold, wondering why we weren’t getting started.
Up the Great Western we skinned, 40+ strong, headlamps bobbing in the darkness. Insufficiently warmed up, I muttered a few words about the course, rules, and the newly forming Wasatch Skimo Team (custom speed suits being ordered for those interested) and then a sick samurai gave the commands while his studly 10 year old son toed the line for his first race. We started fast to warm up and eventually completed a varying number of laps depending on gear, experience, fitness, etc.
Some highlights include everyone yelling and cheering for eachother, the boot track through the woods, and for me seeing others get excited about the sport. Out of the newcomers, Teague had the most laps – just shy of 7, Emily edged out Emily again for the women’s win, and Ethan won the biggest pie for being the youngest participant.
The biggest boner move of the night came when I came into the uphill transition zone and went down, sliding into the patroller who came by to make sure we were being safe and staying out of the way of downhill traffic (of which there was very little). Damn. I am a total dumb ass. Period.
He was a good sport and I apologized profusely. Instead of assaulting patrol, I was hoping to genuinely thank them, Brandon Dodge in particular, for supporting our shenanigans. We will be having more races over intermittent Thursday evenings and there is one in the works for Friday morning next week.
Who cares that there is no snow? We are having a great time getting fit and playing the skimo game. Spring will come and with it stable snow and coverage for our bigger goals. But until then, come join us and find out what skinny skis and tights are all about.
Don’t forget to join us this Thursday at 7:00PM up at Brighton (meet at Great Western base) for the first event in our Citizen’s Skimo Series. Again, all levels and types of gear are invited. It’s free so there’s no reason to not come try and win a pie. Helmet and headlamps required. Hope to see you there!
Alright folks, it seems the interest is there to work on getting faster by chasing spandex clad skiers around. So in that vein, our first race will be Thursday, January 12th (with others to follow on intermittent Thursdays). Let’s shoot for a start time of around 7:00 PM. Everyone needs to bring a headlamp and follow Brighton’s new uphill policy for parking. Further details forthcoming as the date nears but be assured that winners will receive a prize (mostly likely to continue with the tradition of pies). Hopefully we can start a new tradition of sharing the pies and getting a drink at the lodge.
And BTW, all are welcome. At our recent informal holiday races the gear ranges from Dukes to Dynafits to Teles. Think of this race series as good training, a way to meet new partners, an intro to Skimo, a way to get gear savvy, or just a good time. Hopefully it will lead up to a faster Powderkeg and all around more skiing.
