RACE PROGRAMS_>>
Left: Slalom at Mount Southington, a racing hotspot in Connecticut—its program has nearly 200 kids of all levels that participate, and the ski area hosts big races throughout the season on weekends.
main base lodge, so that the base lodge doesn’t become overwhelmed. In addition, timing, as in good come- dy, is everything. “We try to get races off early,” says Dougherty, sometimes begin- ning with course inspection as early as 7:30 a.m., before the mountain opens to the public. In that way, the racing can essentially be over before the morning rush hour picks up steam. Shared Costs, Careful Scheduling The race program at Granite Peak in Wis- consin is a collaborative effort between the resort and the local club, the Gran- ite Peak Ski Team. The club owns most of the racing hardware—gates, timing gear, netting, etc.—and the resort pro- vides the hill space (with just one of 65 trails devoted to racing), including the snowmaking and grooming. Although special grooming is some- times needed to create terrain features, the resort doesn’t charge extra for the effort, says Granite Peak GM Greg Fisher. »
ing and race training must squeeze into the picture in a way that avoids bogging down the heavy flow of traffic both on and off the hill. Mount Southington is fortunate that its layout enables a lift and a trail on one side of the mountain to be ded- icated almost exclusively to racing. But because races bring in not only racers but also spectators and supporters—par- ents, grandparents, friends, coaches, and so on—base facilities and parking can be overtaxed, especially on weekends, when races are frequently held. Mount Southington addresses these issues by bringing in extra personnel specifically to manage parking and by steering the racing contingent toward a separate banquet facility close to the
busy weekends. Connecticut Ski League races bring in “hundreds of racers,” says Dougherty, and the number of compet- itors in Connecticut high school races typically ranges between 400 and 500. Within a couple of hours of several major metropolitan areas, Mount South- ington sees a lot of overall skier traffic on a small layout—just 14 trails on 51 skiable acres and 425 vertical feet. Rac-
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