Author: brackec

Thanks to everyone for the great turnout for the first Citizen Series Race.  Don’t forget race #2 is this Tuesday (03 December) at 7PM at Brighton.

We are ~65% of the way to raising the money necessary to cover our race expenses (basically insurance, pies, and prizes).  Thank you to everyone who has joined.  Please continue to spread the word and encourage your fellow racers who have not joined to sign up.  We are planning an 8 race series, but the latest news is that this will be getting increased to 10-11 races and one of our great sponsors (Gear 30) is going to be organizing some races in the Ogden area.

For a recap of the Thanksgiving race and a great video by Kyle Walcott, please see the Citizen Series website.

We are kicking off another season of races this Thursday (Thanksgiving morning) at 8:00 AM at Brighton.  Keeping with tradition we will race in the “Vert 60” format. Those of you who participated last year know what to expect.  We will go for 1 hour and see how many laps we can do on a  short (500-800′) course. The goal will be to chase each other, gain fitness, and earn our turkey dinners!  Afterwards, as usual, there will be pies as prizes and a few other skiing related items to be given out.  Since Molly Green’s is not open that early, we will hold the awards at Alpine Rose which is the cafeteria in the building just uphill from them main ticket office.  They will be serving breakfast as usual if the Vert 60 gave you an appetite.

Everyone is invited regardless of gear, fitness, or skill level.  Every race we have a wide variety of gear from full carbon to full iron.

 A couple housekeeping items:

Park by the church on the Milly side, not in front of the Milly Chalet.  We will warm up together to the start of the course (location TBA).

Helmets and courtesy to Brighton’s paying customers, cat drivers and patrollers are mandatory.

The price is still free but we are trying to raise enough money to pay for our insurance to cover the Citizen’s Series. UT Ski Mountaineering is the official organization that will put on the Citizen Series.  Please consider joining UT Ski Mountaineering to support the Citizen Series and ski mountaineering in Utah in general.  An annual membership in UT Ski Mountaineering is $30.  100% of the membership fees go to support the Citizen Series.  For those not wishing to be members or if you do not know if you will race very many races, we are recommending a $5 donation each time you race to help cover these costs.  To save time on logistics on Thursday morning, please sign up ahead of time on the  membership page of the UT Ski Mountaineering website.  Please also print out and sign the waiver on the membership page.  Some of the benefits of your membership include:

• Entrance to and support of 8 great Citizen Series races
• Entry into an additional end of season opportunity drawing for great prizes (skis, clothing, etc)
• 15% off a skimo gear purchase at Gear 30 in Ogden
• We will be providing additional benefits as the season progresses including some swag and discounts at local retailers

Enough with the details. See everyone Thursday morning!!!

With winter trickling in, the first Citizen Skimo Series race is just over 1 week away. Race season will kick off at 8AM on Thanksgiving morning (28 November).

Our goal of the Citizen Skimo Series has been to grow participation of the sport by introducing people to ski mountaineering races in a fun and non-intimidating atmosphere. The races have grown from ~15 people at the early races to over 70 people at the races last season.

We have been very lucky for the past 2 seasons to be able to make the races 100% free. Unfortunately due to the growth of the races we have had to formalize the races more than prior years and for the 2014 season, we are faced with very large insurance costs this year. We need to raise $2500 to cover the insurance for 7 of the 8 races (not including the OR Show Race).

We have started the non-profit Utah Ski Mountaineering association to promote and sponsor skimo events (races, clinics, etc) in Utah.  We have submitted our non-profit application and hope to have 501(c)3 status by the end of the year.  UT Ski Mountaineering will be the official organization that will put on the Citizen Series.  Please consider joining UT Ski Mountaineering to support the Citizen Series.  An annual membership in UT Ski Mountaineering is $30.  100% of the membership fees go to support the Citizen Series.  For those not wishing to be members or if you do not know if you will race very many races, we are recommending a $5 donation each time you race to help cover these costs.   Some of the benefits of your membership include:

• Entrance to and support of 8 great Citizen Series races
• Entry into an additional end of season opportunity drawing for great prizes (skis, clothing, etc)
• 15% off a skimo gear purchase at Gear 30 in Ogden
• We will be providing additional benefits as the season progresses including some swag and discounts at local retailers

We will also be requiring a race waiver this year. Please print the race waiver and bring it to the first race you attend this season.

Please see the membership page of www.utahskimo.org for more details, to join, and for the race waiver.

Winter is coming. The forecast is calling for a few inches of snow at Brighton this week.  Before we all know it we will be out looking for early season rocks buried under a few inches of snow as we work to get our skimo legs under us.

The Citizen Series calendar has been posted with this season’s race dates.  We have lots of exciting things planned for this winter so stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.

In the mean time, get excited about skimo by attending one of the showings of this years PowderWhore showings which have a light and fast feature on Andy and Jason (lycra included).

That time has sadly come where the scheduled Citizen Series Races must come to an end. Watch the blog as we may have a race and BBQ similar to last year later in March.

As always, we will start the race promptly at 7PM. Headlamp and helmet are mandatory. We will again have some demo CAMP gear and the demo Ski Trab skis. If you want to use any of this gear, make sure to show up early.

Make sure to plan to stick around afterwards for awards at Molly Greens. We will have a great raffle including a pair of La Sportiva skis. If you want to be registered for the ski raffle, fill out the questionnaire below or at this link.

We look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday and celebrating the end of the Citizen Series.

Also, don’t forget that you must be registered for the Powder Keg by 8PM Monday night (Feb 25) in order to receive the technical race T-shirt.

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I normally don’t get too excited about writing race reports but today is different.  We had our 7th race of the Citizen’s Series last night and it was stellar.  Layne Caldwell, Jared Inouye, and Teague Holmes set up a great course with two short 250 foot climbs.  The format was a relay and teams were required to have one guy on race gear and one on fat skis.  To start, the 60 or so participants formed two lines (race gear in one and fat skis in the other) and then paired off.  From there it was a tag team effort to see who could finish 7 laps the quickest.

People went fast, it hurt, some people crashed, blah blah blah.  The race was an amazing workout on a well thought out course but I couldn’t care less about that right now.  I’m most excited about the enthusiasm of everyone. There were a lot of fast guys and gals out there and everyone seemed to be psyched to be out skiing and competing.  Living in a relatively large city so close to such a skier friendly resort (Brighton) offers all of us a unique opportunity to help spread the SkiMo psych to the masses.  I think it’s catching on.  I heard a few people say, “these races are my favorite thing about Salt Lake City!”

The World Championships are only a few days away.  Come give 2 of US National Team from the Wasatch (Tom Goth and Andy Dorais) your best wishes and get out of the inversion for a little fresh air and exercise.

Race #7 is tomorrow night (February 5) at 7PM at Brighton Ski Resort.  Please be early so that we can start the race right at 7PM.  As usual, park by the church, meet at Milly Chalet, and  a helmet and headlamp are mandatory.  If you are on race gear, bring a pack so you can get transition practice getting your skis on and off your pack on the booters.  As always, the race will be followed by awards and libations at Molly Green’s.

Please bring friends and introduce them to this great community sport.  As you spread the word, let people know that all abilities and gear are welcome and that only a small percentage of the participants are serious racers.  We want the Citizen Series to  be a fun, low stress introduction to the sport.

 

After last year’s successful Wasatch vs. The World Skimo Race during the OR Show we are back at it this year.  OR kicks off today with the on mountain demo and tomorrow commences the activities at the Salt Palace.

We have a morning race planned for Thursday, January 24 at 7AM at Brighton Ski Resort .  Please be at Brighton no later than 6:45 AM as we will be starting at 7AM sharp start to ensure everyone involved in OR is done by 8AM and can get back to town and to the show by 9AM.  The race will last about 1 hour or less and the format will be determined Thursday morning based on any snow we might get.

The race will be followed by awards at Milly Chalet.  Milly Chalet wil also be serving their great breakfast.

Helmets, beacons, shovels, and probes are mandatory.  It will be dark for the first part of the race so you may want a headlamp as well.  All ski gear is welcome – split-boards, tele, AT, and race gear – as well anything from baggies to spandex.

Come up and see some of this year’s US National Team who will be competing in Pelvoux, France February 9-15, get in a good workout before your workday, and enjoy some fresh air and sunshine to start your day off.

Happy New Year.  With the National Championship race and US National Team qualifying races behind us (congratulations to Tom Goth and Jason Dorais for making the US National Team to travel to Worlds February 9-15), it is time to resume the Citizen Series Races.  Race #5 is tomorrow night (January 15) at 7PM at Brighton Ski Resort.  As usual, park by the church and meet at Milly Chalet.  Come prepared for a fun night of racing followed by libations at Molly Green’s.  Don’t forget to bring your friends and introduce them to this great community sport.

Don’t forget about race #4 tomorrow morning at 7:30 am. Park by the church. Bring beacon, shovel, and probe if you have them.  There will be 2 courses, so if you don’t have backcountry gear, come anyway.

Pies an prizes after!

Bring everyone and start your Christmas off with a great workout.

Merry Christmas!