Thanks to everyone who participated in the Ski Challenge 2015 Championships up at Giants Ridge! We had a total of 566 racer finishes over the three day event! (518 taking out duplicate racers). This, of course, is an increase from the year before probably due to temps being more tolerable than the previous year!
To see more photos from the 2015 Championships CLICK HERE.
SKI CHALLENGE OPEN
We were very happy with the positive vibes we got for the new Ski Challenge Open held on Friday. We pretty much filled up the race to the max with 90 participants! Our event was partially sponsored by Hoigaard’s, Joe’s and Pierce. Prizes from Hoigaard’s, Joe’s and Pierce, were awarded out to the 1st and 2nd place teams along with some Ski Challenge Gear. Third place team received Smartwool Socks. Our third to last place team was surprised with ski tunes from Hoigaard’s, Joe’s and Pierce!
NO WAX – Winners of the 1st Annual Ski Challenge Open Race. Pat Hiller, Jukka Mahonen, Mike Berggren, Bill Christopherson, Mark Cater and Ken McAdam.
We plan on expanding the Ski Challenge Open next year to more teams of six and will allow non-Ski Challenge members to also participate! We will be offering great prizes and another fun awards ceremony in the restaurant/bar for all participants! The Ski Challenge Open will remain on Friday afternoon of Championships weekend.
RESULTS RECAP
Congratulations to the winning teams for the 2015 Championships!
Division 1 – RE/WAX – BHWEDD – Captain, Pat Hiller
Division 2 – The Young and Edgeless – BHSUNA – Captain, Gary Griffin
Division 3 – Team Mongoose – BHWEDP – Captain, Tom Fredericks
Division 4 – Buck Naked – BHWEDD – Captain, Don Hammer
Division 5 – The Rookies – BHTHUR – Captain, Matthew Lysne
Division 6 – Samurai Squad – WMWED – Captain, Renata Engel
Division 7 – Rut Riders – BHSUNA – Captain, Craig Stubbins
Division 8 – BBC – BHWEDP – Captain, Joe Heinemann
Click here to see all Championship Results
PBR SKI WINNERS
Congratulations to the Pabst Blue Ribbon Ski Winners!
Thor Morales and Mike Bloomquist.
Thor Morales and Pat Dougherty, Hibbing Coach (holding skis for picture). Mike Bloomquist was not available for the photo.
CHAMPIONSHIPS FUTURE
We have some great new ideas for our 2016 championships. As things change and evolve, we are constantly thinking about how to improve the racing/event experience. We have looked at new venues, but find that Giants Ridge still seems to be the best for our kind of event. There are a few other options out there, but don’t seem to offer anything to improve the experience and seem to make things harder to accomplish. Logistics, parking, (freedom to have a parking lot party), ability to watch races if you are not a skier, are all lost at some of the other areas we have looked at. Giants Ridge offers us a location where our group can come together and hang out without a lot of “public” getting in the way.
It seems over the years that our racers are looking for more opportunities to race throughout the weekend. So, we will be expanding our “Ski Challenge Open” race to more teams of 6 on Friday giving all racers an opportunity to race on Innsbruck. This race is also open to non-Ski Challenge participants.
We are also going to attempt to have all divisions on Saturday going down to five total divisions. By going to five divisions on Saturday, this allows for us to have Division 3 on Innsbruck! If need be, we will add a sixth division on Sunday at 10 am. On Sunday we are going to offer an Individual Championship race which everyone in Ski Challenge is invited to participate in. Our preliminary idea for this race would be to allow racers two runs on Innsbruck and two on Helsinki. Awards will follow ranking individuals within their age groups.
GEAR UP FOR CHAMPIONSHIPS – 2016
Because we are planning on our Individual Championships being held up at our Championship weekend, we are going to offer a different kind of event the week before Championships hopefully at both Wild Mountain and Buck Hill. This event will have some kind of gate practice and race. Possibly a “League vs. League” race.
All of these ideas are in the beginning stages and we hope to get them set as we get closer to next season!