Cannon/Loon Masters Races
It's a bad sign when the liquid crystal in the "Moose Warning" sign isn't illuminated because the crystal isn't liquid. That's the way the day started for the 2001 Hochgebirge Team Challenge at Cannon Mountain, the oldest continuing Masters race in the country. But those who rolled over and turned off the alarm missed one of those spectacular clear blue winter days. Any discomfort from the nippy bite of wind was disregarded in the rush of prerace adrenaline and the hurley-burley of team competition. The course set was deemed "interesting," an old fashioned open slalom, enabling contenders to test the delicate mechanism linking timing and aggression, judgment and line.
The Class 3 men swept the podium. Patrick McNamara pelted through the gates to claim top honors once again, more than two and a half seconds ahead of second place Stephen Willey, who edged out David Roberts by a couple of hundredths. Ever a competitor to rise to a challenge, Lisa Densmore, second after the first run, attacked the course to sweep by Class 1 ringer Kate Korbet. Kristen Bosworth finished third.
If you enjoy the pinging sound of sleet ricocheting off your helmet; if you can trust your sanity standing at the top of a windy course dressed in lycra when your colleagues sip beer and watch sports on TV; if you can wait and not be tired by waiting, then yours is the reward of competition and the exhilaration of speed, and-which is more-you'll be a Ski Racer. Notwithstanding the weather, visibility was excellent and the Loon race support team did an amazing job setting a technically challenging course on one of the circuit's longest GS's. Heavy snow buildup precluded an extensive reset, and the repeated passage of racers unearthed the ghosts of races past making for a pitch-and-toss ride down. Attrition was high among the men, and the rout decimated almost a quarter of their number. Dauntless among them, Tip Kimball, Sean Florian, Ronn Gifford and Doug Tucker were within six one-hundredths of a second of one another after the first run, and John Pierce and Vlad Krylov were only hundredths out. Summoning shockproof nerve, these combatants ripped through the course to sort out the vanguard, and it shaped up like this: Florian, Pierce, Gifford, Krylov and Tucker.
Cheryl Rowland, who has threatened the leaders all season, nailed the course twice to finish with an authoritative lead over second place finisher Kim Wolff. Nadine price, always a formidable contestant in the speed events, secured third.
With several of the early season favorites sidelined by injury and only four races remaining to determine final SISE Cup honors, spirited zeal fans competitive fervor. Lisa Densmore is positioned to move by current leader Carolyn Beckendorff, and Nadine price, now in third place, faces resolute challenges by Cheryl Rowland and Karen Nash. Will Withington and Sean Florian, who have been dueling it out all season, are still too closely matched to place money. Dave Lamb, Steve Willey, Ronn Gifford and Bob Hill are positioned to sort out the remaining season's spoils.
The races resume next weekend at Pico, new to the itinerary, and Killington.