Welcome Back Racers!
2025 marks the 40th season of Ski Challenge! The Ski Challenge began in 1985 as a Twin Cities Metro Area recreational ski racing program founded by Patricia Lecy. Patricia enjoyed racing through NASTAR courses and thought it would be fun to turn a simple NASTAR type of race into a grand, team event. The program began with four teams (approximately 35 people) roving each week to different ski areas. After a couple of years, the program began to grow and Patricia decided to keep each league at its own venue. In time, Buck Hill, Afton Alps, Hyland Hills, Trollhaugen, and Welch Village were involved with the Twin Cities Ski Challenge. As the years went on, the Challenge grew and grew. In 1988, Patricia and her business partner at the time decided to split the Twin Cities Ski Challenge into two groups. Patricia kept leagues at Buck Hill and Hyland Hills and added Powder Ridge and Wild Mountain to the list. She also changed the name to “The Ski Challenge”. In 1997, Dave and Barb Everson purchased The Ski Challenge from Patricia and Roger Lecy, who retired to Tucson for the winters. Sadly, Patricia Lecy passed away in 2006 from Cancer. But we will always be grateful for her creativity and passion for the sport that started all the “Serious Fun!”
We are looking forward to a fabulous 40th year!
LIFT TICKETS
Must be worn at each event. Tickets will be periodically checked. Buck Hill offers online tickets deals and a late night lift ticket deal each night starting at 7 pm. Find out more on their website. www.buckhill.com
EVENT CENTER / AWARDS
NO Outside Food or Beverage allowed in the Event Center or Buck ’54 Restaurant. There is an opportunity to purchase food and beverage at each of our race events.
SUNDAY AM – Races. Check in and booting up will be allowed in the Event Center this year for Sunday mornings. The room will be open at 8:30 am. Ski Challenge will have a designated area in the room. The restaurant will not be open until 10 am. There will be no off week and double race day this year. All races will run consecutively for seven weeks.
SUNDAY PM Super Bowl Sunday – February 9. We are moving our race start time up an hour on Super Bowl Sunday. Inspection will be at 4:30 pm and Race starts at 5 pm.
NASTAR NEWS
NASTAR is under new ownership and has some good changes in place. Global Reach Sports is now the proud owner of NASTAR. This transition marks a new chapter for NASTAR, where it will benefit from the dedicated focus and resources of Global Reach Sports — a collaboration between Split Second Timing (owner of Live-Timing.com) and Silicon Peak — ensuring that the program receives the full attention it deserves.
Tear Down This Paywall!
They have removed the paywall. Now, all results, rankings, and race records are freely accessible to everyone.
PACESETTING FOR 2025
There will be no pacesetter trials for the 2025 season. NASTAR will determine pacesetters’ handicaps based on past race data and pacesetting. We use this pacesetter handicap to determine a par for the race. A pacesetter’s handicap represents the difference between his/her ability and the National Standard expressed as a percentage. When a pacesetter races a course to set the Par Time, their time is divided by their pacesetter handicap, and the result is the calculated Par Time or the National Standard.
The Par Time or National Standard is the Zero Handicap that all participants compete against. Based on over 100 million race results from 25 NASTAR seasons, this calculated value represents the fastest racer in the U.S.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
With the start of the new season, there may be questions about the program. Follow the link below where you will find everything you need to know for the upcoming season.
LIABILITY FORMS / REGISTRATION
Make check in easier by completing all your forms ahead of time. This season you must have a Ski Challenge liability form filled out and a separate Buck Hill form. If you have already done a Ski Challenge online registration form, your Ski Challenge waiver is included on that. Follow the links below to complete the froms. You can see what forms you have completed HERE.
CLICK HERE TO GET LINKS TO THE ONLINE FORMS
