SNOWBASIN PUTS IT ON
The Intermountain Masters opening races, two slaloms, took place at Snowbasin, Dec. 15-16. The usual suspects did the usual thing: Ryan Leach and Dana Alexandrescu-Leach were the fastest man and woman, Stew Marsh kicked class butt on his home hill, and Victor "The Inflictor" Roy gave Leach a run for his money despite being a near quarter century older.
Saturday's flat light took out a lot of go-for-broke racers in the second run, including superseed's Bill Skinner, Nick England and Craig Norton. Many Masters found they were not in the shape they believed as the long course, more than a minute for most, left them gasping for breath at the finish.
But the real story of the weekend was the incredible job done by the 'Basin's race department. Under less than even marginal conditions, the few and overworked of the RD managed to put on a great race and keep the hardpack course maintained; with gates in and ruts out.
Constant slipping kept it smooth, and one RD worker acknowledged that there were only four RD staffers, along with a very few volunteers, who did all the labor before, during and after the race. The hard work of putting up fences and taking them down was itself a big job for so short a crew, but getting slalom gates in and keeping them in was a chore under the snow conditions---manmade hardpack over ice. The drills were in constant use. That's not to forget how quickly RD worker's fingers got stiff in the frigid, breezy air.
It was too cold to ski for pleasure once the race was over, so there was an early gathering for the awards party, where an inexhaustible supply of hot appetizers was devoured by chilled and hungry Masters.
Snowbasin is has reclaimed it's Olympic roots. The enthusiasm of the mountain's management for racing, the courtesy and professionalism with which the racers are treated, and the excellence of every event---it's the best race mountain in Utah, if not the whole Intermountain West. Head Masters coach Bill Skinner said, "We can't wait to come back."