Organizers are getting set to have over a thousand locals, lining up and down Main Street this Saturday, for the 3rd Annual Park City Shot Ski.
The event invites participants to line Main Street, holding hundreds of skis laid end to end, and take back a shot. It is both a friendly competition with Breckenridge, Colorado, which set a record last January for the number of participants, and a fundraiser for the Sunrise Rotary Club.
KPCW talked to organizers Jim Whitman and Connie Nelson. Whitman said the idea was spawned by one of the annual Park City Road Tours.
“Connie and a couple of our members were on the city tour a few years ago and discovered that this was something that Breckenridge had been doing for a while.” Whitman said, “We thought it was a great idea, and they thought it was a great idea for us to sort of have a rivalry and go back and forth. They have a rotary club there that programs theirs. The key to that is that through both rotary clubs all the funds that are raised all go back into our grant the Sunrise Rotary grant program.”
Nelson said that the beverage for the shot is being supplied by High West Distillery.
“They are going to use a double rye whisky in our shot glass this year. They’ve just been fabulous in helping us with all sorts of different branding that’s going to come up. It’s actually Saturday October 13th and you need to register now on ParkCityShotSki.com. We have about half the people, we have about 600 signed up and we need 1,275 participants to beat Breckinridge. They did 1,266 in January this year. We just have a real friendly rivalry we go back and forth each year. We try not to make it too much because we’ve already had to double up and down Main Street.”
They said that the cost for participants is $25 a ticket. You must be 21 years of age or older and have a valid I.D.
The shot starts this Saturday the 13th at 2:00 pm. Final registration is from 12:30 to 1:30.
Nelson said they have some new wrinkles this year, related to the Bar Crawl and Shot Ski.
“Everyone who participates gets a shot glass and a wooden nickel. Now that wooden nickel, with the branding of high west, you can go to one of five or all five bars. The participating bars are High West Distillery, No Name Saloon, O’Shucks, O.P. Rockwell and Wasatch Brewery. There will be a signature High West drink of each one of those of their selection. So you and your gang go down there, take your wooden nickel and you get a free drink at one of those five.”
Connie Nelson and Jim Whitman from Sunrise Rotary, who said the event is their major fundraiser, which allows them to give out some 20 grants to local non-profits.
Last year Sunrise Rotary gave out over $23,000. Nelson said this year they’re aiming for $25,000.
