Ramapo Racing

Monday Night Training With John Pierce at Mt. Creek. John, a member of Ramapo and one of the top racers in the east (that's his picture at the top of the page), is again running his sessions beginning Monday, January 2, 2012. Sessions begin at 6:00 pm and run till just before closing. Don't worry if you can't make the 6:00 pm start; just show up on the race hill, take a warm-up run, and check in with John, who will be either at the top or bottom of the race slope. Format of the training alternates between SL and GS weekly. Training and lift ticket are the same low prices as last year ($20 lift ticket and a $20 gate fee per session – pay at the race shack). Contact John at jpss@optonline.net for more info. Wear a helmet..

Holiday Race Camp. John Pierce is also running a week-long GS-slalom training during the Christmas-New Years week. Again, contact John for details.

Ramapo Instruction Weekend.. January 7 and 8, 2012. Gore Mountain is an official NASTAR center. So, the race group will ski together until 10 am each day and then jump in the race course and run gates until 2:00 pm (or until our legs fall off) and then we can just take it easy doing bumps.

Met League. The Wednesday Night Race League is held at Hidden Valley. Ramapo races against other clubs in the New Jersey Ski and Snowboard Council. For each race, the team scoring consists of the three fastest men and two fastest women. The five best team scores for the first six races count for the season standings. Individual racers with at least three finishes get a standing for the season. The races include two giant slaloms, one super-G, and three slaloms. The super-G is the favorite; the ski area closes off a novice slope that runs almost the full vertical of the ski area. Hold your tuck as long as you can – it's a hoot! As a team, Ramapo won a couple of the races last season, and has come in second place at the end of the season for the past several years.

Current schedule has start of racing on January 4 with a GS and then alternating slalom and GS each subsequent Wednesday, with the Super-G scheduled for late February. The schedule is weather dependent and is therefore guaranteed to change. Check the race forum for last minute updates on the schedule if you are not on Stu's e-mail list. If you plan on attending a race and have not gotten an e-mail from Stu confirming that there is a race, you should call Hidden Valley your self to confirm that the race is on: (973) 764-4200.

Scoring is based on the following calculation. The fastest racer gets 1 point. All other racers points a ratio of their times divided into the fastest racers time. So, if the fastest racer had a combined time (two runs each race, except for the super-G which is one run) of 60 seconds and another racer's combined time was 70 seconds, that other racer's score would be: 60/70 = 0.8571. Then, the three men and two women with the highest times from each club count for the team standings for that race. Ramapo's team includes expert and novice racers. You should be a competent skier, but expert ability is not required. For past races when the top folks did not show or fell, the team has been saved by having a novice make it through the course and getting us the third man's or second woman's time that we needed to have a complete team finish for the night. The reason is that a novice can easily score 0.5 points, and that score is a whole lot better than zero points.

Helmets are strongly recommended and actually required for the super-G. For the last season, we were blessed with outstanding ski conditions – the weather stayed cold so the slope would not thaw during the day and then freeze for the night racing, and the area was able to make plenty of snow. However, it's still best to show up with sharp edges on your skis. Nothing is more frustrating than skidding sideways through slick sections of a race course.

The races start at 7:30 PM, but you should show up early enough to sign up and have time to warm up and inspect the course. Again, it's a good idea to confirm with the ski area that the race will be held on any individual night, particularly if the weather is bad. If you are on Stu's e-mail list, you will get an e-mail confirming that the race is on. Otherwise, call the ski area (973) 764-4200. The races are open to all adult (age 19 and older) club members. There are 4 men's and 3 women's seeded positions, followed by open seeds. However, we Ramapo does not seed – that means, it's first come first served (don't leave a seeded spot empty). Sign up under "Ramapo". If you are not a member but would like to try it out, you can still sign up and run the course after the seeded racers.

The cost for the night lift ticket at Hidden Valley is $25 and the gate fee is $10. Ramapo will reimburse club members $6 of the gate fee, resulting in a net cost of $4. Regular racers who also go to Hidden Valley for Monday race training will want to get a season pass. There is a special rate to club members for a twilight season pass.

And don't forget the after-race get-together at the bar: specials on quality beer, wings, and great camaraderie, which are just as much fun as the race itself.

 

The club's annual Race Weekend will be held on Saturday March 17, 2012 at Sugarbush. The race begins at 10:00 A.M. We will meet at the top of the race course at 10:00 A.M. The race will be held on the NASTAR course off the Spring Fling slope. The race is open to experts, novices, and boarders. Adults are put into one of three race groups (A, B, or C) depending on their ability – separate groups for men and women. Juniors are separated boys from girls. There is a Three Generation Cup (grandparent, parent, grandchild), as well as prizes for husband-wife and parent-child teams. There is no charge for club members; all you have to do is buy your lift ticket. Two runs are offered, but you only need to finish one to qualify for a medal or trophy, except for club champion where both runs must be finished. Ramapo's current men's and women's champions are Paul Trumbull and Carlene Bassell.

Guests are welcome at $10. For the three-generation competition, only one of the team has to be a Ramapo member for the other generations to race for free.

For several years, we have been running the race with other ski clubs in the New Jersey Ski and Snowboard Council: Garden State, Short Hills, and Trailside. So we have also made this a team race, but have added a unique handicap system to equalize the teams across age and sex. The handicap is based on the fact that, if a 50-year old and a 25-year old get the same times, the older racer should be considered the winner. What we have done is take NASTAR's handicaps for awarding gold medals and used the differences in those handicaps based on age and sex, to adjust everyone's time downward- the older female gets more of a downward adjustment and the younger male gets less. Then for the team totals, we take the five lowest times for each club, and the club with the lowest total time wins.

The State Race. On Saturday February 4, 2012, the State Race will run with other clubs in the New Jersey Ski and Snowboard Council at Pico Ski Area in Vermont. . This is a competitive race, and over the last several years Ramapo has won the combined team trophy twice and came in third twice. The team consists of six men and five women. If there is sufficient interest, there will be a second men's B-team. The event includes both slalom and giant slalom, and a party at the end of the day. If you want to race, call or email Stu. Don't assume that we know that you want to join. You must be pre-registered to enter this race.

President’s Race.The Stanley Sharaga Memorial President's Race (March 24, 2012) is named after Stan Sharaga who brought this race from relative obscurity and developed it into the popular event that it is today. Stan died at an early age. Always a blast, the President's Race is held at Hunter Mountain. This is the last race of the year and draws the most clubs and participants of all the New Jersey Ski and Snowboard Council races. Scoring for the President's Race is a bit strange to say the least. Each racer gets two runs: one on the blue course and one on the red course. Each time gets handicapped based on how the professional pacesetter did on both courses. The better of the two handicapped times is then used to determine placement among all racers. Based on the handicapped score, each racer is then placed into one of three groups: A, B, C, with A for the fastest one-third of the racers, B for the middle third, and C for the slowest third. The top racer in each group receives 30 points, and each successive racer behind the winner for that class gets one point less. The top three point getters for the women and the top four for the men are then counted for the team score. It is a random scoring, but typically the team with the most participation wins – that is the purpose of the scoring.

Juniors, though they don't count for the team scores, also enter the race; they are grouped within two age groups, separate for boys and girls, and the top three finishers in each group are awarded medals.

There is a party at the end of the day, with pizza included in the package. Photographs showing each racer in the course are also included. There is a huge raffle with about half of the participants walking away with everything from skis to poles to wax.

The cost for the event has not yet been determined. However, the cost for the combined package (if ordered in advance) of discounted lift ticket, race fee, party fee, and photograph has always been less than the cost of a regular lift ticket from the area. So if you were planning on taking a day skiing at Hunter, why not join the Ramapo team?

MAJOR BARGAIN AT TUXEDO RIDGE!

Tuxedo Ridge Bar League. This is the best deal around. Tuxedo Ridge (previously known as Sterling Forest Ski Area) has a Monday night bar league starting the first Monday in January. The difficulty level is standard NASTAR. Tuxedo Ridge is an official NASTAR area, so you get your pins, handicaps, etc. For $15, you get a lift ticket, gate fee, and food at the bar (drinks not included, but they have $2 beer specials each week).

Racing is by team. You must be at least 21 to race – after all, it's a bar league. Sign up for the race when you buy your lift ticket.

Race runs from 7 to 9 PM. As with any winter event, before making the drive, contact the ski area to confirm the race will he held.

THURSDAY SKI COUNCIL NIGHT AT
HIDDEN VALLEY SKI AREA
Thursday (of course) January 28, 2010

(cost and scheduled not yet determined). This is a big party with an easy race that Ramapo has won most every year since its inception. We need three men and two women for a complete team. dinner, lift ticket, and gate fee for a two-run race. You need to finish both runs for your time to count. Dinner starts at 6pm and the race begins at 7:30pm.

Additional Events. The ski areas will soon be scheduling additional club races and some of the local and Vermont ski clubs set up additional events. We will keep you posted about additional team races of interest to the general membership.