Park City Ski and Snowboard Executive Director Christie Hind says the Trail Series is a four-part series that starts on Sept. 21 and wraps up with the finale – which climbs the 120-meter ski jump - on Saturday, Oct. 14.
The first three trail runs are on different courses with distances between four and six miles.
“This year we've got a distance of a mile so that some kiddos can join in the fun without having to go the full distance,” Hind said. “We hope everybody will come out, old, young and everything in between. You can bring your Baby Bjorn. You can bring your hiking boots and just come and enjoy the beautiful, beautiful fall colors at the UOP [Utah Olympic Park].”
Race fees are $40 a race or $150 for the series. The final race will take place climbing the rope netting up the 120-meter ski jump to the top. Competitors in the final race must be at least 9 years old.
Hind says this is just one of many fundraisers for the team.
“As you probably know, program fees and tuition fees don't really pay for programs,” she said. “So, we have to fundraise. And this is one of our important fundraisers. They can register online at www.parkcityss.org and you should see information about the fall trail series right there in the landing page.”
The races start at 5:30 p.m. for the Thursday races and at 1 p.m. for the Saturday Ski Jump Challenge. Points are awarded at each event toward the series awards.
In the meantime, athletes are preparing for the winter season with dryland training after school. Alpine Program Director Tommy Eckfeldt says the older athletes in the FIS and U16 groups just returned from on-snow training in Chile.
“Which was a real snowy event down there,” Eckfeldt said. “Crazy because two weeks before we it was mud and rocks and they got a big dump. So, we took advantage of that and were able to get great training conditions for those two weeks we were down there.”
Registration for all the winter programs is online. And save the date for the annual ski swap coming up the first weekend of November at the Basin Fieldhouse.
