Many times I am asked, who can win at your races, and other pertinent questions.  I would like to address some of those questions.  Anybody can win in our races, we have classes for people who race in classes broken down by age, sex, and ability.  So in order to win, you do not need to be the fastest person on the hill, just the fastest person in your age, sex and ability class.

The ages are broken up into three groups, Juniors (1-20), Open (21-49), and Veteran (50+).  The sexes are separated by male and female, however some family members still argue even though we try to separate them.  The ability groups have 11 classes within these other classes, so we keep small competitive groups of racers that are close in time and ability when racing.  By doing this, we keep every class competitive so anybody in that class on any given day could win a race and have their day in the sun on the podium.

For those racers that improve quickly we have a system whereby they can be bumped up to the next class if they get too fast for their present class.  For example, if a racer in class 5 skis fast enough to have a class 4 time, they would get a strike.  After 2 strikes, they would be bumped up into class 4 in future races.  This system works for every class except for Class 0, which cannot be bumped up anymore.

We determine the range of each class through our pacesetters at each race.  By using pacesetters we can closely determine mathematically what each class time and range is for each race course.  That is why we have a pacesetters race every year.  The pacesetters race against each other on one day on six race courses at six different points in the race.  In that way they get different snow conditions on every course, while competing with people of similar skill in each group.

We compare all the times on the pacesetter courses and give each pacesetter a handicap, just like in golf, that we can use any time they race.  Each individual pacesetters handicap is used when they run a course.  We try to have six pacesetters on each course.  If a pacesetter has a bad run, we will throw it out, and average the other pacesetters handicaps to try to come up with a course handicap and then mathematically work backwards to figure out the time range for every class of racers.

After we calculate the handicaps for each course, we can determine who has skied fast enough to get a strike in their respective classes.  Those people that get strikes should be informed by their Race Chairman so they will know to go to the next class if they receive a second strike at the next race.

This system is not perfect, but we believe it is the best system available to make ski racing as fair as possible for anybody at any ability of skiing.  You can be a rank beginner and win in your class, because you will be competing with people close to your speed and ability on the race course. 

Ski racing is fun no matter who you are, and no matter how good or bad you may be.  Ski racing helps people improve their skiing technique by being around people that will help you with your technique, or by forcing you to turn when you normally wouldn’t turn.  Ski racing is very social and competitive if you want it to be.  Anybody that can make turns right and left and be able to stop on skis, can be a ski racer.  Ski racers come in all shapes and sizes, but they have one thing in common, they all love to ski race.  If you haven’t tried it, give it a go.  Come by one of our races, inquire about trying it out and try it at least once for a thrill.  Ski racing is fun, safe and a great place to meet new friends.