Both alpine and skimo or ski mountaineering athletes are invited to form a team or race individually. The first race is Friday, Jan. 24, at the Utah Olympic Park.
Put on by Park City Ski and Snowboard, Athletic Director Tommy Eckfeldt said this community race series will be the first of some 30 regional alpine competitions scheduled at the UOP over the next five weeks.
“We start this coming Friday which is really exciting,” Eckfeldt said. “We're psyched to have it back. We got the start [gate] built just last week, and the surface is looking great. The UOP has done a fabulous job getting that place buffed out and the timing set up.”
Inspection of the dual modified Giant Slalom course opens at 4:30 p.m. with races starting at 5 p.m.
And skimo inspection opens at 5:30 p.m. with races starting at 6:30 p.m.
The race schedule takes a break in February. Races start again on Friday, March 7, along with March14, 28 and April 4.
The entry fee for individual alpine races is $45 or $200 for the 5-race series. For skimo athletes – those who skin up to the top of the course and ski down - the entry fee is $25 a race or $100 for all five.
Eckfeldt said race brackets are based on age, not skill, with four categories.
“It's kind of a family event,” he said. “We've got our youngest ages, which can be U10, U12 racers [8- to 12-year-olds]. And we have prizes for under 13 years old. And then we move up to our U18, U21 so all of our teenage racers can compete against one another. And then we move into our 21 to 40 range. So, these are, in our town, it's all our ex-Olympians and World Cup athletes, but also our NCAA athletes.”
Eckfeldt said former World Cup alpine racers Ted Ligety and Steven Nyman are regular competitors.