To race well, you need to stay healthy. To run races, you need to stay healthy and try to keep your volunteers healthy. Especially when you start getting near-record snow and record participation as happened for the 12th Annual Ranch2Ranch Trek earlier in February. Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers who helped keep me going, especially the kids and their families benefitting from our scholarships who manned the aid stations and the wonderful people at registration and bib pickup. The main drawing card is the Trek Course starting at Snow Mtn Ranch trails, to Fraser2Granby trails, to Granby Ranch trails all with beautiful vistas and challenges. Grooming is tough transitioning from icy trails to fresh snow. While the bigger machines from the resorts did well but we had to literally help dig out HTA with their huge workload and our volunteer staff. The drawing prizes offered by Swix and Fischer are aways well received but this year it was the dangerous thrill of Nordic skiers coming down Buckhorn that seemed to be the big hit each day!
The snow continued to fall for days on end this month until we begged for relief from shoveling. Then when the snow stopped and the sun came out, the temps went up during the day but still dipped below freezing at night so we are back to hard and even icy trails.
Two main events this weekend – Biathlon state championships with the Sprint Saturday and Pursuit on Sunday. These have the largest turnout of any of their races and are definitely worthwhile to hang out on the range to cheer on the local competitors. Visit www.coloradobiathlon.org for more details or send questions to [email protected]
The other is the sixth race in the Grand County Race Series Saturday March 1 at Latigo Ranch near Kremmling – a 20k/10k/3k Skate race laid out by the “Big Shooter” himself. The weather should be warm before the next storm system comes in the first of the week. Latigo Ranch is a gem among the Guest Ranches of Grand County and the food is absolutely gourmet! Well worth a visit for a ski and lunch or plan to spend the night… The racers and volunteers are in for a treat!
Save the weekend of March 8 and 9 for the 41st Snow Mountain Stampede 50k/25k/12.5k/3k Skate marathon on Saturday and the 50k/25k/10k/3k Classic marathon on Sunday. These are the biggest races of the season with a distance good for everyone. With new snow expected in the coming week, grooming conditions should be great. The longest races start at 9am, earlier than the rest of the series. Be the Boss and complete BOTH skate and classic marathons and earn your Ranch Boss belt buckle! Or complete both 25k races and earn your Ranch Hand belt buckle! Are you up for it? It’s an exciting finish to the racing season!
Visit skigrandnordic.org to signup or get more information for any or all of these races. Remember, no day of registration. You can volunteer on the same site and get the best seat in the house. Volunteers are always needed and very appreciated. Or if you prefer to just watch, bring your bell and cheer on the racers. For questions, call/text 970-887-0547 or email [email protected]
