GET INTO MASTERS RACING AT THIS RACE
If you've ever thought about doing a Masters race, the Loritz Classic, Jan. 25-27, would be a great introduction. Especially this year.
Yes, it will be a tough three-race event---the slalom and GS are on World Cup courses, and though the super G is on an intermediate run, it requires skiing, not just gliding. But the Masters will be honoring Gary Loritz. The Masters culture will be a major part of the weekend, and one of its major attractions.
BACKGROUND: Gary Loritz was a bantam-sized man who was a Park City giant. Ski racing was his passion and he was one of the fastest Masters racers in the country. Loritz wanted to train and work on his racing, so he helped create the now-well-known Park City Masters Program which trains five days a week at Park City Mountain Resort.
It is a cosmic injustice that this super athlete; this hunter, sailor, horseman, ever-active man, should be diagnosed with the movement-robbing condition of Lou Gerhig's Disease, or ALS. As Gary went from a cane to a wheelchair, his wife Kristi and the Park City Masters decided to have flowers for the living, putting on the first annual Gary Loritz Classic while Gary was still around to see it. It was in January, 2007, that the first Loritz Classic was held.
Gary and Kristi watched the races in the finish areas. The awards ceremony was at the elegant Adolph's restaurant, where a huge silver trophy, the Gary Loritz SkiMester Cup, was presented. Gary's call out at the awards was, "Never miss another race!" He died in March.
The Cup, on permanent display at Adolph's, will be inscribed with the name of each year's overall male and female champion through the results of the three races. Racers may enter one, two or all three of the events.
For this second annual Loritz Classic, the super G will be Friday, Jan. 25, the GS on the 26th, and the slalom on the 27th. That's also when the Masters will hold the "Last Run" for Gary; the traditional winding procession down the mountain, a single-file memorial ski run for a departed racer.
Register online of your intent to race at entries@intermountainmasters.org. GS and SL are $25, SG is $35. Mail checks made out to Intermountain Masters to Loritz Classic, PO Box 982244, Park City, Ut. 84098; or pay at race check-in between 7:30-8:25 a.m. No race day registration.