ASRA NEWSLETTER

Ski The Ice!

 

March 5, 2008

 

Editor: Liz Holste

 

ASRA’s 2008 Season Continues!

 

When you are signing up for an ASRA race, please make sure you write your ASRA number on your registration cards. If you are not sure what your number is, check the ASRA membership card that was sent to you. You can also log on to the ASRA website at www.skiracer.com and look it up before you come out to a race.

 

Not writing your ASRA number on the registration cards delays the start of the race.  The ASRA crew then has to spend time to look it up and find out whether you are a paid member or not. That delays the printing of the start list…as we know, that delays the start of the races.

 

It is hard to believe but the 2008 race season is coming down to the wire!

 

This year the Invitationals are being moved to the Belleayre Ski Area in Highmount, NY! Be sure to make your rooming reservations early. There are lots of great hotels just off the NY State Thruway that have good prices. There are also boarding houses and a few hotels in Fleischmann’s – just down the road from the Belleayre Ski Area. Check out Belleayre’s website www.belleayre.com for more details on lodging options.

 

The Friday night awards ceremony will be a BYO food (and …) party.  Please bring something to share!  We’ll be finished by 6PM, so you’ll have plenty of time to go out for dinner. 

 

The finals party will be held in the Overlook Lodge at the Belleayre Ski Area on Saturday night – March 15, 2008. Arrangements are being made for a place for the ASRA racers to change into their party clothes if they are not staying in the local area.

 

The races at Windham and Belleayre were fantastic. 113 racers showed up for the February 16th race! That was a record for participation for a race this year. It shows what a great venue the Belleayre Ski Area is and how much the ASRA racers like it. Dot Nebel is an awesome trail to run a GS on. Only two racers broke the 1 minute time barrier on the GS! That shows you how long the course was.

 

The Super G on Friday at Windham was also fantastic. That race also gets great participation every year. Make sure you check it out next year!

 

The race crews at Windham and Belleayre did excellent jobs setting the courses and keeping things going.

 

There was some rain at the race on Sunday – February 17th but it did not dampen the spirits of the ASRA racers. In true ASRA fashion the race went on.

 

A new resort complex is in the plans next year at the Belleayre Ski Area. Plans include accessing some of the old Highmount Ski Area trails just next door and making them part of the Belleayre Ski Area. If you never had the chance to ski the Highmount trails when it was open, next year you will be able to.

 

The last regular season races were at Elk Mountain, PA (unfortunately, due to lack of participation, we had to cancel the races at Catamount, NY). It is hard to believe that the racing season is almost over. It seems like it just went too fast this year.  The races at Elk were incredible.  The GS and SL were both very challenging (45 gate slalom on Sunday!).  The Elk Mountain race crew did an incredible job and even allowed us to take some practice runs after the race concluded.  We were also blessed with great weather and fantastic snow conditions…for those who didn’t attend, you missed one of the best weekends of the year!

 

Please talk to all of your skiing friends and tell them how much fun it is to participate in an ASRA race. We need more racers in every age group to help keep the ASRA race league going.

 

Many of the mountains are asking us to guarantee a certain number of racers that will be participating in each race. Please try to make it out to as many ASRA races as you can each season. ASRA still has to pay for the guaranteed minimums, even if not enough racers show up.   So get out and attend as many races as you can.

 

The more races you do during the season – the more points you get! You’ll have better Age Group standings at the end of the season if you participate in more races and … you will also qualify to win some great prizes at the finals.

 

A HUGE thanks goes out to the entire ASRA crew for all of the hard work they do throughout the racing season to keep everything going smoothly for us. We should also thank them for all of the work they do throughout the rest of the year to set up all of the great races that we have. There is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes. So make sure you personally thank the Foy family and the rest of the ASRA crew for everything they do for you. Without them the ASRA League would not exist!

 

If you have some free time step up and volunteer to help out. If everyone helps – things will get done quickly and we’ll all have a great racing season   

 

 

 

SKIING BOOKS

 

If you are looking for some great ski books to read in your free time – check some of the ones on this list. Some of them are older books and can be found on amazon.com or maybe you’ll even find them on ebay.com

 

New Hampshire On Skis                                     by: E. John B. Allen      Arcadia Publishing

 

New England Skiing                                                       by: E. John B. Allen      Arcadia Publishing

 

Killington – The Story of Mountains And Men                  by: Karen Lorentz          Mountain Publishing

 

Herman Maier – The Story of My Life                              by Herman Maier           Velo Press

 

Trail of Vengence                                                          by Peter J. Quirk           Hopewell Publications

 

The Sleeping Giant – The Story of Hunter Mountain         by Paul E. Pepe                        Mad Box Publishing

 

How The Racers Ski                                                       by Warren Witherell        Norton Publishing

 

Learn To Ski For Fun                                                     by: Dr. John T. Whiting  Lulu Press

 

SKI – Fifty Years In North America                                 by: Richard Needham    Harry N. Abrahms

 

A Pictorial History Of Downhill Skiing                             by: Stan Cohen             Pictorial Histories Publ.

 

ASRA RACING NEWS & ANNOUCEMENTS

 

Do you have any news about any of the ASRA racers that you would like to share?

Have any equipment or memorabilia you want to sell? Have lift tickets you would like to sell? Do you have a condo at a ski area that you are looking to rent out? This is the place to do it. Send the information to Liz Holste at liz@skiracer.com and it will be put in the next ASRA newsletter.

 

This year the new owners, POWDR INC., will be closing Killington & Pico ski areas in Vermont for the season on the weekend of April 12th.

 

VAIL/BEAVER CREEK CONDO

 

Have you ever wanted to rent a beautiful townhouse in Colorado? Ski or snowboard at two of Colorado’s best resorts in 2008! Get some friends or family together and stay in this beautiful 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath townhouse. It sleeps 8 to 12 people comfortably. This Colorado townhouse is centrally located in the Vail Valley.

 

It is just 1 mile from Beaver Creek and only 7 miles from Vail. It is not ski in / ski out, but there is no need to drive to the ski areas! You won’t find much parking close to either ski resort. So take a short walk out the front door and you can get on the local bus that will take you to either Beaver Creek or Vail and back every day. The buses make many trips during the day so you can go back to your townhouse and relax after taking a few runs if you want to.

 

Check out www.cocondo.net  for all of the details, rates and pictures of this townhouse.

 

ANTIQUE SKI RACE

@ ASCUTNEY, VT

 

The 5th Annual Antique Ski Race will be held at Ascutney Mountain in Vermont on March 8th & 9th.

 

Still have some old ski equipment sitting in your basement or attic??? Here’s your chance to see if you can still ski on it! Bring out your oldest ski clothes too. You know you have some sitting in your closet or your attic or basement! The older – the better! Prizes are given away in many different categories.

 

Even if you don’t participate in this race – it will be a great one to watch. There may even be some former pro ski racers there too! In the past some famous skiers like Suzy Chaffee have competed in this fun ski race.

 

The Ascutney Antique Ski Race is one of the biggest fundraisers for the Vermont Ski Museum. Next time you go to the Stowe Ski Area stop in town and check out the many exhibits the Vermont Ski Museum.

 

For more information about the Antique Ski Race at Ascutney call 802-253-9911 or log on to: www.vermontskimuseum.org

 

Maybe next winter we can set up our own ASRA Retro Ski Race Day at one of the local mountains! If Tanglwood, PA is open next season that would be a perfect place to do it.

Some other possible venues could be Mt. Peter Ski Area, NY or Tuxedo Ridge Ski Area, NY.

Or maybe at Hidden Valley, NJ.

 

THE BEAR MOUNTAIN, NY SKI JUMP

 

The history of the ski jump at Bear Mountain, NY goes back to 1928. More jump competitions were held on this ski jump than at any other jump venue in the United States. In 1990 the jump was closed down permanently. Throughout the years various efforts were made to try to reopen this jump, but unfortunately nothing came to fruition. An important legacy in ski jumping history was lost for good.

 

The jump at Bear Mountain was not the first ski jump in the United States. The ski jump at Ispheming, Michigan is one of the oldest ski jumps in the country. It was built in 1886.

 

Believe it or not - there were even several small ski jumps in New Jersey! The first documented on appeared in 1924 at the North Jersey Country Club in Paterson. This jump predates the famous one at Bear Mountain. The skiers who built the jump at the North Jersey Country Club helped build the famous ski jump at Bear Mountain. Thousands of people would come out to Bear Mountain, NY on a weekend just to watch the jump competitions.

 

Many famous ski jumpers competed at the Bear Mountain jump. The Tokle family has a long history of ski jumpers in their family. Torger Tokle came to the U.S. from Norway and began his U.S. ski jumping career. He entered his first jump competition and Bear Mountain and won it.

 

He won almost all of the competitions that he entered at Bear Mountain. He competed for several years before he joined the Army and became part of the famous 10th Mountain Division that fought in World War II. Unfortunately he was killed in combat in Italy.

 

Art Tokle, Sr. was also part of the Tokle family’s long tradition of ski jumping and also competed at Bear Mountain as well as at many of the other ski jumps throughout the United States. Art Tokle, Sr. continued to ski & jump into his 80s.

 

His son - Art Tokle, Jr. continued the Tokle family’s legacy in ski jumping. Art Tokle Jr. got his start on a small ski jump in Lake Telemark. He also competed at some other small jumps at the Craigmeur Ski Area and at the Great Gorge Ski Area in New Jersey. Today Art Tokle, Jr. is President of the United States Eastern Ski Jumping Association. He continues to coach the up and coming ski jumpers of the United States.

 

The Tokle Family were members of the Odin Ski Club in Lake Telemark, NJ. The Odin Ski Club had several small ski jumps in their community from the 1940s through the 1960s. They even held summer jump competitions on crushed ice!

 

There was no snow making at the famous Bear Mountain ski jump. Warm winters and lack of participation seem to have been the demise of this jump. The ski jump was closed down in 1990. Over the years there were several efforts to try to reopen the jump, but none of them came to fruition.

 

Today not much remains of the Bear Mountain jump. When you look up the hill behind the Bear Mountain Inn you can still make out where the jump hill was. Unfortunately it is quickly being taken over by mother nature. Part of the in-run still survives and the old jump tower can still be seen on the side of the hill. If you walk up the hill and stand at the bottom of the in-run you can almost feel what it must have been like to go sailing off the ski jump. Many people have fond memories of the weekly jump competitions that were held at Bear Mountain.

 

FIS World Cup Races

 

You can keep up on what’s happening with all of the FIS World Cup races if you log on to: www.wcsn.com  Follow them live and on-demand all season long!

 

 

ASRA Race Results

 

To check out your weekly race results and seasonal points standings just log on to www.skiracer.com Results from each race are being posted as quickly as possible. There is also a history of the last several year’s ASRA race results if you want to check and see how you did over the last few years.