MT DEW Vertical Challenge FRI RoundTop, SAT Whitetail, SUN Liberty FREE Race sign up ahead of time online
info in my blog. Lots of fun. Friday a double Header Mt Dew race AM and NASTAR 6:30 pm ROUNDTOP
http://skidomeorg.blogspot.com/
Wondering how these work? In particular, the Whitetail one. I think I've seen this event before on a beginner run, but I think i saw it's going to be on Home Run this time?
Do racers get only 1 run? Or are they bracketed and winning racers progress towards finals?
camp wrote:
Wondering how these work? In particular, the Whitetail one. I think I've seen this event before on a beginner run, but I think i saw it's going to be on Home Run this time?
Do racers get only 1 run? Or are they bracketed and winning racers progress towards finals?
I did it last year at Liberty. It was at the bottom of the easiest descent they could find in view of the lodge. I presume they will use the very bottom of Home Run, the listed run, which is pretty gradual and in view of the lodge. You could probably skate it faster than ski it, so it is really designed to be a fun easy race for beginners and kids, but a lot of adults do it. You get one run, but you can ski roundtop on Friday, Whitetail on Saturday and Liberty on Sunday. One guy signed up for almost all of them last year, but only did a few. There are multiple age groups. As I recall the top 3 skiers in each age category qualify for the finals in New England. I can't access the site right now. Here is the link: http://www.skiverticalchallenge.com/.
I plan to do the one at Whitetail on Saturday. Based on the forecast it will be very much spring skiing with temperatures in the upper 50s and probably some slush by 11 am race time so plan accordingly. I got first and qualified for Nationals last year, but skipped it and took GS/Slalom PSIA clinics in Utah instead.
Joe Kaplenk
For those interested you can still register online for any of the upcoming events for no charge. They do a printout in the morning, or at least did last year. Here is what they sent me:
"Just a few reminders that on site Race Registration and Bib Pick Up Opens at 7:30 a.m.
The Vertical Challenge Race starts at 11:00 a.m.
The Race Awards and Victory Party take place at 2:30 p.m."
If you attend at Whitetail look for me as the guy with a black shirt, black helmet and black pants with suspenders or black ski bib. If I have a jacket it'll be black with a PSIA pin.
Joe
I ran the Dew at Whitetail. I was wrong about the slope description, but not the location. It's been a while since I've skied Whitetail. Home Run is the slope where the ski team practices. So it was a good spot for the race. They started at 10:30 instead of 11 and let the ski team participate, so there were some good scores. It was 58 degrees according to my car when I checked at the end of my run. (it went to 68 by the end of the day) The snow was loose and sticky, but not too bad. It got pretty crowded. They were going to let some newbies run twice, but they decided against it unless they absolutely had time left. I'm not sure if they ever did. It was definitely more challenging than the course at Liberty last year. It appeared like it was twice the slope and twice the length. There were over 400 participants. They had events for skis, snowboards and multiple age groups along with separate men and women.
I used my new slalom skis instead of my GS skis because they seemed to ski better in the loose snow.They are a pair of Rossi Hero ST skis which are awesome slalom skis and can't be skied slow. I got them a month ago and this was my second time on them. I was told by a shop guy that they are like riding a bull, which I tend to agree. and are extremely quick turning and not as tiring as my cruising skis. There were two courses in parallel, but I only got to ski one. The times were supposed to be equal, but someone that did it elsewhere said that is not the case there and they were quite a bit off when they were able to run both courses. You get to choose which course you want to do.
There was a long line at the top by 11 when I got there and it seemed like 45 minutes before I got to run. The course was surprisingly good with minimal ruts. I had a good start and was making good time until I got to the flatter part at the bottom. I didn't see any double gates indicating the end of the run and didn't see any timing equipment or someone taking care of the bottom. But then I was trying to focus on skiing. All I saw was a roughly 10 foot opening between two fences and figured that was the race end, so I started to push, then I saw there were a bunch of spectators that moved partially into the gap to watch a little girl on the other course. I hesitated, analyzed it and figured I could get between them and the fence or that they would move when they saw me. Well they just stood there as I'm barreling down and never moved. They could easily have stood behind the fence as they all looked tall enough. No one was herding them away from the opening.
I ended up wiping out as I tried to avoid them and went about 30 foot with no skis, but was okay. I was afraid of injuring someone. One binding rotated vertically in the front, which I've never seen before, but then these are $1200 skis, so I expect a few suprises. I tried to rotate it back without catching my fingers and decided to walk down the rest of the way and go to the shop. They said it was a good decision as I could loose a finger If I'm not careful. Several people said my run was awesome but maybe they were talking about my spectacular wipeout.
In spite of my hesitation and wipeout I was only 4 seconds off first with a second. It was the first decent race that I've skied in 25 years, so I felt pretty good about it. The Dew at Liberty last year was not at the same level IMHO and was my first race of any level in 24 years, since I stopped skiing for 20 years to skate. I didn't check where they are running the Dew at Liberty, but the ski team uses a black diamond there and at Whitetail the ski team uses a blue. So it probably won't be the course there.
They had raffle tickets that they sold and the money went to a charity. They they pulled numbers for a bunch of items including two snowboards, at least one go-pro and other various items. They also pulled bib numbers for items and a few gave special awards for certain things, like a little girl that got it for being such a part of the event with her parents. It was a fun time and the announcer made it fun for the kids.
I'm qualified for Nationals, but may still go to Utah again for more PSIA clinics. I have relatives 15 minutes from Snowbird. Last year also it was the same weeked as the Eastern PSIA spring gathering. I didn't check about it this year yet. So I have a few decisions to make.
All in all everyone seemed to have a great time.
Joe Kaplenk
