Ramapo Racing

Race training is offered at Mountain Creek on Mondays (traditionally), but check the club newsletter or updates to the web site to verify availability and schedules. Although attended by many club members, the Monday night training is not a club function.

For experienced racers and novices, Ramapo offers a weekend of race instruction and valuable gate time at the club’s annual instruction weekend. For the 2009 season, Instruction Weekend was held at Elk Mountain. On Saturday, the mountain set a tight, challenging GS; on Sunday they opened up for more speed, including closing off an entire slope for us to practice. The area management treated us wonderfully in getting us set up. The racers’ consensus is to do it at Elk again next year. Thanks to Cliff Gawel for providing the bulk of the instruction. So far, the location for the January 2010 Instruction Weekend has not been set, but the racers’ consensus is to do it at Elk

Met League. The Wednesday Night Race League is held at Hidden Valley. Ramapo races against other clubs in the New Jersey Ski 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.

The final schedule has not yet been set, but expectations are that the first race will be a GS on January 6, 2010.

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 need to have a complete team finish for the night. The reason is that even a rank 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 that 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. 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 club members. If you are not a member but would like to try it out, you can still run the course after the seeded racers. Traditionally, Ramapo has been able to reimburse club racers for the cost of the gate fee; so the only cost to members is the cost of the lift ticket. Last season, the cost was $15 per racer and the club reimbursed $11, so the net cost to Ramapo members was just $4 per night, plus the discounted cost of a lift ticket. The ski area always has a special seasonal discount for racer lift tickets that gets advertised sometime during the fall. So look out for updates to the website, before you decide to buy a 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 6, 2010 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 Mike Diederich and Sharon Weston.

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 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 6, 2010, the State Race will run with other clubs in the New Jersey Ski 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 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 Council races. Scoring for the President’s Race is a bit strange to say the least. Each racer getst 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 race will be held March 20, 2010. The cost for the event has not yet been determined. However, the cost for 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?

Updates on this race and pre-registration deadlines will be posted as new information becomes available.

MAJOR BARGAIN AT TUXEDO RIDGE!

Tuxedo Ridge (previously known as Sterling Forest Ski Area) has a Monday night bar league starting 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).

Racing is by team, but the area said that if an individual shows up, just ask to join any existing team. But it would be great if someone from Ramapo would take the initiative and try to organize a Ramapo team for that event. There is a racing forum on the club website that can be used to communicate. Or just e-mail me (Stu) and I can assist. I plan on going to a couple of events, but with the Monday night race training, can’t make a major commitment.

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

For the low low price of $38, you will receive:

Lift ticket for the night (beginning at 4 P.M.) Buffet dinner 5 to 7:30 P.M. - penne ala vodka, baked ziti, bread and rolls, soda, coffee, tea Race
$10 voucher that can be used to by drinks at the bar that night, or any other time during the season, or lift tickets, etc.

Fine print: For season pass holders, the cost is $23 for the dinner and race – no $10 voucher.

If there is anything that Ramapo members can recognize, it’s a good deal. Of course, I am touting the race with the other clubs of the New Jersey Ski Council. There will be two runs that will be set at a difficulty level comparable to NASTAR. The event has been run for the past four years and Ramapo Ski Club has won it every year. But we need your participation – men and women. The top racers in the Wednesday Night Race League are disqualified from counting toward the team standings for this race. So we need you casual racers and supporters of Ramapo to show up AND race.

There will be no regular ski club meeting at the KOC that night, so you have no excuse not to participate!

As with any winter event, this one is impacted by weather and subject to last minute cancellation and rescheduling as occurred last year. How will you find out if this happens? By January 21, e-mail Stu if you plan on attending. On the afternoon of January 28, I will send out an e-mail to everyone on my list confirming whether the event is on as scheduled, or has been rescheduled for a later date. If you do not have e-mail, to confirm the event, you will have to call the ski area directly (973) 764-4200 and ask for Rori Mattiello. If there is a rescheduling, a general announcement will be made through the club website and reservations hotline whether or not a club meeting at the KOC will be held on the rescheduled date.