Ski Challenge Sponsors and Advertising

Ski Challenge is always looking for new sponsors and advertisers. If you are looking for a unique way to promote your goods or business, become a Ski Challenge Sponsor!

Ski Challenge sponsors benefit by being exposed to a great target market of like minded people.

Some of the basic benefits that sponsors get are:

Ads in all printed and e-mail newsletters (provided by sponsor)
Logo with link on all e-news sent out by Ski Challenge
Listed on Ski Challenge Brochures
Name on General Sponsor Page of website with link to your website
Mention at League awards ceremony
Mention for door prize give away at each week in leagues sponsored
Allowed to distribute any literature at league events

Higher level sponsors get:

Logo to appear on website league pages
Logo to appear on league results posted on website
Sponsor events and news promoted on Ski Challenge Facebook Page
Logo on t-shirts (120+ per league)
Logo on Bibs (120+ per league)
Logo on Team Photos
Logo on Running orders inside and outside and on website for all leagues sponsored
Logo on indoor League banner for all leagues sponsored
Logo displayed on banner(s) at Championships at Giants Ridge
Logo in Newsletter under league standings
Logo on Ski Challenge Vehicle and Trailer (pending vehicle sponsorship – no logos on vehicle if no vehicle sponsor)
Logo on table toppers and running orders for all leagues sponsored
Logo on weekly result pages at hill, shops and website – for all leagues sponsored
Outdoor banner hung up weekly (banner provided by you) – for all leagues sponsored

We offer five different levels of sponsorship. Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Contributing sponsor levels.

Contact Barb at Ski Challenge at info@skichallenge.com or 952-894-9220 for more information.

Buck Hill Friday PM and Saturday AM Leagues Discontinued

Unfortunately, Buck Hill has decided to cancel our Friday night and Saturday morning leagues for the 2019 season. Friday nights have been cancelled due to the lack of meeting space for our check in and awards. Black Diamond wants to rent out the event center on Friday nights if possible and the Hutch is being used by the ski school. Saturday mornings, Black Diamond wants to rent out the event center and Buck Hill does not want a race on the hill on Saturdays.

Please consider joining our NEW Friday DAY league at Buck Hill. This league will be considered an All Age League and also a BONUS league. This means you get two runs in each course. Race time is 1 pm, with inspection at 12:30 pm. The event should wrap up by 3 pm.

Also, if you are a family or kid who enjoyed our Friday night league, please consider our Sunday PM league. This is an all age league that is also a bonus league. It starts at 5:15 pm. Course inspection at 4:45. We are usually all wrapped up by 7 pm.

We are disappointed that this has happened, but want to give everyone the heads up and options that are available.

We are contemplating and working with the Buck Hill race department to have some kind of practice/gate nights with timing on the four Friday nights in January. This is in the early planning stages and we will let everyone know if it will happen.

2018 Championships Recap

We had another successful Championships Weekend at Giants Ridge March 2-4. The weather was fabulous and the conditions were awesome! We had a total of 511 racer starts during the three days. The Ski Challenge OPEN Team Race was held on Friday. Divisional Team Racing was held on Saturday and Sunday. And, the “King & Queen of the Hel” race was held on Saturday afternoon. Scroll down to see more about each race.

Ski Challenge Friday OPEN Team Race on Innsbruck

“NoWax” team was the winner out of 17 teams again for the fourth year in a row! The team included Scott Malmsten, Ken McAdam, Kristina Ammon, Pat Hiller, Doug Nordmeyer, and Terry Lutz. We had 96 participants in the race. An awards ceremony was held Friday night at the new chalet next to the Burnt Onion Bar.

To see all results click here:

TEAM RACING

Team racing took place on Saturday and Sunday of the Championships Weekend. Divisions 2, 4 and 6 were on Saturday and Divisions 1, 3 and 5 were on Sunday.

Winning Teams: ALL RESULTS

Division 1:

RE/WAX – Buck Hill Wednesday DAY
Bud Bunch – Wild Mountain Sunday DAY
Shotskis – Wild Mountain Sunday DAY

Division 2:

RUdoneW/that? – Buck Hill Friday
The Karma Terrain – Buck Hill Wednesday DAY
The Gate Commandos – Buck Hill Sunday AM

Division 3:

Musskis – Buck Hill Monday
Buhler Blizzard – Buck Hill Sunday AM
The Naski Boyz – Buck Hill Wednesday PM

Division 4:

The High Lifers – Buck Hill Thursday
Jesters – Buck Hill Wednesday PM
The Cruzin Wild Bunch – Wild Mountain Sunday DAY

Division 5:

Bucket Boys – Buck Hill Sunday PM
Sitting Ducks – Buck Hill Wednesday PM
Rail Riders – Buck Hill Saturday

Division 6

The Rookies – Buck Hill Thursday
Ancient Ninjas – Buck Hill Thursday
Rock it Dawgs – Buck Hill Saturday

To see all results CLICK HERE

KING & QUEEN OF THE HEL RACE

This was the second year of the King and Queen of the Hel Race. This race was open to all Ski Challenge members and non Ski Challenge members and is held on Helsinki. We had 54 participants. If you were a Ski Challenge member, we took your “rated Handicap” going into the race and compared what your earned handicap was in the race. We then determined a % improvement (or un-improvement). We crowned a King and a Queen of the Hel based on the best % of improvement. We also gave prizes to the fastest racers in various age groups.

An awards ceremony was held on Saturday night in the new Chalet next to the Burnt Onion Bar. Anika Hager was crowned Queen of the Hel. Eddie Overholt was crowned King (for the second year in a row). To see all the results for this race follow these links:

PHOTOS

To see photos from the weekend you can find links on our website here: PHOTOS. Or you can find the photos on our facebook page here: PHOTOS

2018 Season Wrap Up

Thanks to everyone for a great season! It takes a lot of people, places, and moving parts to make everything work! Mother Nature finally agreed with us this year by giving us Winter! The conditions were good and the temps rarely went above 32 or below 0! The on hill crews and Ski Challenge staff at Buck Hill and Wild Mountain worked hard to bring everyone a quality program for all abilities and race levels.

2017-18 By the Numbers

For the 2017 Preseason season we ended up with 218 racers starts. We tried something different this past preseason by cutting back to two weeks of racing. This avoided having to cancel the first week due to lack of winter weather and snow cover. Cancelling the first week has been a trend for the last few years. Starting the second week in December gave the ski areas time to get a good base and be ready for racing. Unfortunately, we were unable to have a Wild Mountain preseason league. There just was not enough participation to warrant the Ski Challenge Team format. Wild Mountain did offer practice gates each Wednesday night in December for Ski Challenge racers. Hopefully we can try again to have a pre-season league at Wild in December of 2018.

The total number of racer starts for our regular, seven week league series was 6,615. This was number was up about 1% from the year before.

Ski Challenge helped put on the Padraig’s Place Ski Race benefit at Buck Hill on Saturday, February 10. A total of 82 racers participated.

Giants Ridge hosted our end of the year Championships. We had 361 racer starts in our Team Events. 96 participated in the Friday Ski Challenge Open race and 54 racers competed in the King & Queen of the Hel race.

Overall, the Ski Challenge submitted 7,276 results into NASTAR during the 2017-18 seasons.

Padraig’s Place

What is Padraig’s Place?

Padraig’s Place is an adaptive ski program at Buck Hill. It’s a local, non-profit organization that has come together with Buck Hill Ski and Snowboard School to provide a fun experience for skiers and snowboarders with both physical and cognitive disabilities. Padraig’s Place provides an opportunity to experience winter fun in a safe, family friendly atmosphere. They are focused on having fun and giving all guests the opportunity to enjoy winter recreation. Padraig’s Place tailors their lessons to suit the individual needs, creating the best memories again and again.

How Padraig’s Place began

Padraig is a young man from the Twin Cities whose family loves to ski. A number of people believed that because of Padraig’s disabilities that he would not tolerate ski equipment or enjoy skiing. His family believed he could and this year Padraig begins his 9th season of skiing. For us “this is a family activity. We couldn’t imagine not sharing the sport we love with both of our children, despite the challenges that we might face,” says Brian and Eileen Foley, founders of Padraig’s Place. The success in getting Padraig on the snow was in large part due to the support and encouragement that the Foley’s received from the Buck Hill Ski School. They are thrilled to now be able to share this great winter activity with other families through the collaborative efforts of Padraig’s Place, a non-profit organization, and Buck Hill Ski and Snowboard Area.

Ski Race Benefit

Padraig’s Place is hosting the 10th Annual Ski Race Benefit on Saturday, Feb 10, 2018 at Buck Hill Ski Area of Burnsville, MN. Skiers and non-skiers are welcome to join in for a fun evening of ski racing along with a chance to honor Padraig’s Place’s participants, donors and supporters.

A Special Après Ski Party will follow with awards, special recognition, and a presentation on Padraig’s Place. This is a fun evening to give support to Adaptive Skiing at Buck Hill.

Go to padraigsplace.org/Ski-Race-Benefit or the Ski Challenge Website for more information.

Walser Nissan New Vehicle Sponsor for Buck Hill Leagues!

Ski Challenge welcomes Walser Nissan as the new Vehicle Sponsor for our Buck Hill Leagues for the 2018 season! Located just minutes from Buck Hill north on Buck Hill Road in Burnsville, Walser Nissan offers our Buck Hill racers a convenient location to shop for a vehicle.

When you stop by Walser Nissan Burnsville in Burnsville, you are treated to a new way of car-buying. The sales team is determined to pair you with the perfect new Nissan, or help you to browse the selection of used and Certified Pre-Owned Nissan models. Thanks to Walser’s Best Price upfront, you can spend less time haggling and more time test-driving the new or used sedan, SUV, truck or minivan that’s best suited for you.

If you’d like to keep your Nissan running well for years to come, stop by the Burnsville Nissan service center for routine maintenance like oil changes, brake inspections and other types of service. If you require more serious Nissan repairs, their factory-trained technicians can take care of that, too. They stock a variety of OEM Nissan parts to ensure that repairs to your vehicle are made in a timely manner. Walser Nissan is also well-equipped to service models of other makes, so you can be confident visiting us no matter what you drive.

Look for the Ski Challenge Nissan Rogue parked at Buck Hill (and at Wild Mountain) throughout the season!

Primal Power New Location Open House

For anyone interested in scoping out the new training facility, we will offer an Open House on Saturday 12/23 from 9:30am – 12ish. Feel free to swing over and get a feel for the new location and new environment.

Also, on December 23rd we will have a Christmas Challenge posted on the white board. Athletes will compete to finish the challenge in the fastest time. Prizes will be given out to fastest times in each category.

NOTE: You do not need to do the workout to attend the open house!

Saturday December 23rd
9:30am-12:00
1353 Larc Industrial Blvd, Burnsville, MN 55337

Whats happening?

After four years of growth Primal Power is moving facilities! The new facility is located less than one mile away at “The Cages” Facility. They have partnered with Northstar Baseball Club and will be leading the club’s sports performance and training program called Northstar Performance. This move will bring Primal Power a bigger space, a larger, more updated weight room, a more private atmosphere, and greater community outreach. The move is effective January 1, 2018. Primal Power is working diligently to make this transition as smooth as possible. For the near future prices and session times will be the same, as well as the online scheduling and payment. And of course, Jeff Meland will still be personally coaching every session! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

Jeff Meland
Phone: 763-516-2823
Email: jeffmeland@primalpowertraining.com

Effective Date: January 1, 2018

Midwest Masters December Training at Buck Hill

GS & Slalom training will happen on Monday, December 11th and Wednesday, December 13th at Buck Hill. Registration will be from 6 – 7pm (look for the Masters sign) and training will start at 7 pm and end at 9 pm. ONLY $10 for two hours of training!