Masters Ski Racing Friday January 30, 1998 Attitash NH Saturday January 31, 1998 Mt. Cranmore N H Sunday February 1, 1998 Wildcat NH North Conway, N.H.-- The 1998 Sise/Wes Masters racing series returned to the Mt. Washington Valley this weekend. There were 3 days of racing with events hosted by Attitash, Mt. Cranmore and Wildcat. Saturday's Cranmore contest concluded the chase for the Gibson Cup, awarded to the top male and female finishers from the two events held at Mt. Cranmore. The hundreds of committed racers, volunteers and area employees worked with sponsors Swix Wax, Artech Racing Gear, Warsteiner Beer and Elan Skis to produce 3 great days of racing. Friday's Giant Slalom event was held at Attitash, this popular course attracted more than a hundred racers as many "played hooky" from work on Friday. The snow was forgiving and the course was as demanding as ever. For the men, the winner was as predictable as ever, as Tyler Palmer outran the field capturing the overall title. Chris Johnson, a noted slalom specialist added a solid GS finish to take second, forever-young Doug Tucker placed third followed by Dave Lamb and Kim Zimmerman. For the women, Brooks Axelson turned in another solid GS performance, edging MWV-native Sarah Pendleton with Lisa Densmore-Feinberg, Nicole Bloomfield and Martha Wylie rounding out the top 5. Saturday's weather was almost-perfect as the armor-clad Slalom racers returned to Cranmore. Sunny skies and dry, hard snow made for a great day of racing and an exciting setting for the completion of the Gibson Cup. The Gibson Cup is awarded each year to the top male and female racers from the two events hosted at Mt. Cranmore. Saturday was the Slalom portion of the event and was combined with the January 3 GS race results. The Gibson cup is filled with historical significance as past winners of this event read as a "Who's Who" of ski racing in New England with names like Matt, Schneider, Cochran, Vallar, Pitou. First held in 1940, the Gibson was one of the top amateur ski racing contests in the region, it moved to the Master's circuit in 1995. The Men's winner this year was Tyler Palmer followed by Chris Johnson, Brian Dewsnap, Ronn Gifford and Jim Harding. For the women, Lisa Densmore beat Heidi Harring, Margaret Zuccotti, Patty Lane and Nadine Price. Tyler commented that he was especially honored to be included with these past skiing greats, having grown up in the region and followed the Gibson Cup results over the years. (One would have to think this is the only ski-racing-related award in the area that Tyler had yet to capture.) Under the sunny skies and great views the women's results for the day had Class 1's Meg St. John demonstrating some great slalom skills besting Kim Wolff, followed by Lisa Densmore, Tracey Boulter and Margaret Zuccotti. In Women's Class 10, Pam Fisher won, in Class 9 Betsy Kent beat Alice Pepper. In Class 6, Dee Larsen edged Suzzane Boulter and Jennifer Calder and Class 5 action saw Meg Nuttter in first followed by Tamamra Marcinuk and another MWV-native, Gay Folland in third. In Class 4 Margaret Vaughn prevailed over Nadine Price and Michelle Brennan. Class 3's hard-charging slalom-specialist Kim Wolff beat Lisa Densmore and Heidi Harring. Rounding out the Women's division was overall winner Meg St. John followed by Tracey Boulter and Margaret Zuccotti. In the Men's action, local favorite Tyler Palmer completed his dominance of the Cranmore-hosted races beating Chris Johnson and Brian Dewsnap followed by Jim Harding and Ronn Gifford. In Class 12, the winner was Rodney Aller, while in the hotly contested Class 11 Tony Hyde edged Robert McDaniel and Fez Morse. Class 10 Duffy Dodge continued his winning ways beating George Caner and John Pepper, Fred Barstow edged Larry Voelker and Frank Klay to capture the Class 9's. David Britton won handily in the Class 8's over Robert McGrath and Franz Schemmel and Steve Foley edged Robert Wigglesworth and Bill Crabtree in Class 7 action. Scott Pyles beat Peardon Donaghy and Dwight Conant in Class 6. Overall winner--and a guy who has many wondering: "how can he be that old and that fast?"-- Tyler Palmer won the Class 5 followed by George Merril and Bill Brennan. Jesse Beck prevailed in Class 4 edging Fred Diffenbach and Jim Weitz, who made his first trip to the podium. Jim Harding lead the 3's followed by Ronn Gifford and another podium-newcomer, Lane Partridge. Christopher Johnson won a close race in the 2's followed by Brian Dewsnap and Kim Zimmerman. In Class 1, 3 newcomers to the circuit took the honors, Mark Sorel captured first for the young bucks followed by Kyle Tracy and Matt Aescheliam. The competitors discussed the great weather, good skiing and historical significance of the Gibson Cup over at awards ceremony, raffle and post-race party hosted by Mt. Cranmore and the sponsors Swix wax, Artec Racing Gear, Warsteiner Beer and Elan skis. Later that evening, competitors fortified themselves at the annual Master's dinner held at Whitney's Shovelhandle Inn in Jackson. This widely anticipated event drew many of the hungry racers as they "carbo-loaded" in preparation for the next day of Slalom races at Wildcat. Sunday February 1, Slalom at Wildcat Jackson, N.H.--"You can't get much better than this," was the oft-heard refrain to describe the weather and conditions on Sunday at the Wildcat slalom. Blue skies, a clear view of Mt Washington, temperatures around freezing and hard, dry snow proved to be a nearly unbeatable combination for the second day of slalom racing. The conditions and scheduling of back-to back-slaloms had the Slalom specialists in the field especially excited. (The GS gurus had their weekend last week with 2 GS races.) In the men's field Chris Johnson capped off two second-place finishes from Friday and Saturday with an exciting win on Sunday. Johnson's blazing second run proved to make the 3/100th of a second difference over first run leader Jim Harding. Brian Dewsnap, battling sleep-depravation finished 3rd, followed by Ronn Gifford and Jesse Beck. Meg St. John continued her outstanding skiing, beating second-place Kim Wolff, followed by Joan Barthold, Lisa Densmore and GS-specialist Brooks Axelson. (In fact Meg's skiing would have placed her in the top-3 of the men's race!) Pam Fisher again took honors in Class 10, in Class 9 Betsy Kent topped Alice Pepper. Wendy Hill won Class 8, while Suzzane Boulter edged Dee Larsen in the 6's. Women's Class 5 was won by Meg Nutter and Margret Vaughn bested Michelle Brennan to take the 4's. The competitive class 3 contest saw Kim Wolff taking the honors over Joan Barthold-- who had a very strong second run-- and Lisa Densmore. Meg St John took Class 1 ahead of Tracey Boulter. In Men's action. Rod Aller captured Clas 12, Richard Wood beat Tony Hyde and Egil Nilsson in Class 11. Class 10 was won by Sherwood Jones with George Caner and John Pepper in hot pursuit. In Class 9, Larry Voelker rebounded from his second-place Finish on Saturday to beat Paul Rich and Fred Barstow. David Britton bested Robert McGrath and Franz Schemmel in Class 8, and Steve Foley continued his strong skiing beating William Crabtree and Ian Cruickshank in the 7's. Class 6 winner, Scott Pyles duplicated his Saturday win this time edging Chris Mcaleer and Peardon Donaghy. George Merrill , lead Bill Brennan andJason Densmore in the 5's and Jesse Beck continued his strong slalom skiing besting world-traveler, Rich Jefferson and Fred Diffenbach in the 4's. Jim Harding won the first run and finished ahead Ronn Gifford and Jim Nash in the 3's. Chris Johnson's strong second run proved to be the difference in the race and lead him to victory over a very consistant Brian Dewsnap in the 2's. Matt Aeschliam topped John Wilson and Chris Leuci in the battle of the neophytes in class 1's. Whether the racers preferred Friday's Giant Slalom, or the weekend Slalom races, no one could complain about the great weather, skiing and hospitality demonstrated by the 3 hosts in the Mt. Washington Valley. "You don't get many days like this," indeed, surely all the racers will remember this one. The master's tour stops at Pat's Peak in Henniker NH on Saturday Feb 7 followed by a visit to the Dartmouth Skiway in Lyme on Sunday. Vaughn Harring is a slalom specialist wannabe and Director of Public Affairs for GTE Internetworking. ####