Masters Moments: New England race roundup

A busy week of travel and racing for western racers as Western Regionals were held at Winter Park. Intermountain heads to Soldier Mountain for the Ken Corrock Downhills, as part of the Molecule F National Speed series, then go on to Snow King, Wyoming, for a joint race with the Northern Division, the Cowboy Classic.

A busy week of travel and racing for western racers as Western Regionals were held at Winter Park. Intermountain heads to Soldier Mountain for the Ken Corrock Downhills, as part of the Molecule F National Speed series, then go on to Snow King, Wyoming, for a joint race with the Northern Division, the Cowboy Classic.
    New England racers were busy with GS races at Pico and Okemo, while the "other" Eastern racers (New York) held GS races at Hunt Hollow but did not provide any race results. Brantling will host New York Masters for two slaloms and a dual run-off while New England takes off for the holiday weekend. Far West is also facing a weekend off, and when racing resumes, they head to Homewood, Calif., a new venue for two GS races. After playing gracious hosts for the Western Regional Championships, Rocky Mountain racers make their annual trek to Aspen to finish out their speed month with two super G's and two downhill races as part of the National Speed Series. Midwest racers head to Buck Hill for a series of races. And finally, the Pacific Northwest Masters head to Alpental for the "Over the Hill Classic," for two slaloms.
 
New England Sise Cup: GS at Pico and Okemo
Pico GS
In recent years, we have not seen too many close overall races in New England Masters. Kerry Brennan took the overall win by winning both runs. This week the top four women all finished within 3.19 seconds, and it was a battle for second, third and fourth, which also happened to be for the top three class 6 positions. Margaret Vaughn and Nadine Price found themselves being pushed by fellow class 6 racer Susan Dorn. Dorn has spent the last few seasons easing back into racing after a lengthy hiatus from racing and skiing in general. Something has "clicked" and a "re-born" Dorn found herself about a second off the lead and only a half second off Vaughn after the first run. Price, in the unlikely fourth position (and third in class) in a GS, recovered almost a full second, but it wasn't enough to catch Vaughn who snatched second overall by four hundredths of a second. Tracey Reimer finished fifth.
    With an actual sun in the sky and a firm, edge-able surface, class 1 Ben Green used great race conditions to ski out of the back of the pack to take the first-run lead and the overall win at Pico on Saturday. Green and Randy "Road Warrior/Helmet Cam" Detrick were the only racers to break 40 seconds on the rolling Pico B Slope. Brian Irwin was third for the men. The surface held up well and the Pico race crew only needed to move a handful of gates for the second run. "Mainer" Tip Kimball pulled out a sub-40 on the second run but it wasn't enough to move him into a podium position. Alex Gadbois, with two consistent runs held onto fifth overall.
      Best wishes go out to new racer Allison Hall who slid through the finish line after a double ejection from her skis somewhere between the last gate and the finish line. Ms. Hall had the unfortunate luck of an extended visit to Rutland Regional Medical Center after a repair of tibia-fibula fractures. Hopefully she won't take the broken leg personally and will come back to join us next year. Most of us know the orthopedic staff there and know she received great care. Heal quickly, Allison.

Okemo GS
A delayed race start due to a "socked-in" course did not deter the New England Masters from giving it their all. Okemo produced another tight race for the women as Nadine Price took her first overall win of the season. It was Price and Vaughn duking it out for not only the overall, but also for age class bragging rights. Price won the first run, with Vaughn winning the second, and in the end it was only 0.39 separating the two class six women. Tracey Reimer took third just under five seconds back. Gay Folland and Patti Lane rounded out the top five.
      With flat light and hidden bumps and lumps in the course the top three men turned it into a dog fight finishing only two tenths apart for the overall. Outfitted with a helmet cam, Randy Detrick took the lead in the first run. After a third place first run, Tip Kimball had the complete attention of the race crew — their radios chattered as Kimball charged the full length of the course to take the race by only six hundredths of a second. Alex Gadbois dropped to third overall. Dorin Munteanu, who actually tied his first run time to earn "Mr. Consistency" honors for the weekend, finished fourth. Bryan Reimer claimed fifth.
      In the overall Sise Cup standings, Randy Detrick and last year's winner Mark George have moved into a tie for first place with 570 points. Detrick has only seven finishes to date and George has 10 at present. The best nine results count toward the overall title. Trailing by only 40 points in third is Alex Gadbois with fifteen results. There are only four more races that count towards the point standings — a giant slalom, a super G and two slaloms.
      For the women, Carolyn Beckedorff, faced with virtually no competition this season, has wrapped up women's title with 900 points. Lisa Densmore, with 610 points, holds onto second with Margaret Vaughn trailing in third with 565 points and 16 results. Nadine Price, in fourth with 475 points, still has a chance to move up in the standings as she has only eight finishes to date.
  New England racers take the weekend off for the Presidents holiday and resume racing on Feb. 23-24 for GS at Loon and SL at Crotched, N.H.