With the completion of week 2 of our regular season, we have all had the chance to experience many course sets and a lot of different conditions. With warmer weather, the lack of a good freeze overnight and variable hill use, sometimes it becomes a little more difficult for course setters to set courses that appeal to all racers. They try their best to set according to the conditions to make a safe, enjoyable course. Sometimes if conditions aren’t so good, a course may have to be a little “straighter”. Sometimes if conditions are real good, the course may have a little more offset. We encourage our course setters to set for the intermediate skier. Sometimes a rut is hidden prior to the start of the race, or snow conditions are worse than first thought which may cause some difficulty and more DNFs than we would hope. It’s just something that comes with the territory.

Please keep in mind that all our race crews are doing the best they can and our main goal is for a fun, safe experience. We feel bad when a race doesn’t go as well as we would hope.
Some questions have come up regarding the jumps on the race hill at Buck Hill. We have been in communication with the race department on how to make the racer experience the best it can be with the jumps in place. There is no plan right now to remove the jumps for this year. The race department is communicating with the groomers to try and get the sides of the jumps groomed down a bit to allow for more room for setting and less of a pinch at the bottom – especially on the blue side. They are also looking at possible B-netting around the finish timing equipment island. With the colder weather this week, we have already seen an improvement in the conditions which allows for less wear on the race run which translates to a more enjoyable racing experience.

Buck Hill has moved the bumps to a different location to allow for more carving and warm up on Cross Roads.

With 12 races per week and more than 900 participants racing per week, there are bound to be courses and conditions that appeal more to some than others from week to week. We appreciate all your patience and understanding.