Citizen Race Series Evolution

Otherwise intelligent people continue to debate over the concept of human evolution. The evidence that the human species is changing over time seems pretty clear cut; our skeletal structures are obviously different than in the past (we’re taller on average, for example). However, as in all things, it’s possible to be wrong on either side of the argument. An anti-evolution person could hold up the recent human perpetrated SkiLink folly as a great indicator of human regression. Hmm, maybe humans are not evolving after all…

One bit of recent evolution seems undebatable. That regards the first year of the Citizen Series rando races hosted irregularly at Brighton Ski and Snowboard Resort this season. Attendance is growing solidly. Precise numbers are lacking, since there’s always someone at their car, ducking into the woods to admire tree bark, bending over (to vomit?) behind someone else, sprinting off into the dark (Look, over there! I can’t see Tom Goth at all..), or otherwise making it hard to count everybody who shows up.

With room for inaccuracy in headcounts, turnout for the first six races looks something like this:

Name                                                                          Headcount

Turkey Burner:                                                                     13

Vert 120:                                                                              20

Xmas Ham Burner:                                                                25-30

Citizen Series Race 1:                                                           40

Citizen Series Wasatch versus the World:                              30

Citizen Series Race 3:                                                           45-50

Yeah, it’s rockin’. Along the way, there have been out-of-towners, locals, transplants, bemused Brighton downhillers, current and former National skimo champions, and – it doesn’t take a lotta brainpower to figure this one out – future National Ski Mountaineering Champions.

Part of the evolution has involved witnessing the race series draw the talent in from wherever the talent was doing solitary training before. From the look of things, loads of attendees are meeting new people before, during, and after the races, and  exchanging numbers, etc., to develop a wider backcountry circle. You can take a skier away from a social network, but you can’t take the social networker out of the skier.

Who knows, maybe in a more abundant or more stable snow year, people will be off surfing pow endlessly, and racing will drop from their minds? But it seems like the Wasatch Citizen Race Series is in its infancy. Interest is there, participation is solid and growing. It’s easy to envision this being the first of many years of this series, as people adopt the Euro mentality. (Get out to race after work, instead of re-watching Seinfeld re-runs?) Way more fun!

In the meantime, it’s fun to wonder how many will brave the cold and dark to show up next time. For anyone not plugged in, the next race is Thursday, February 9, 7 p.m. at the Millicent lift at Brighton. Others who have not yet made an appearance  have shown interest. Hopefully the trend of more new faces arriving (emerging from behind Seinfeld re-runs?) remains intact.

I believe the Wasatch Powderkeg is the largest rando race in America. If it’s not, it’s close. It would be cool if all the past Citizen racers, as well as the usual P-keg crowd turned up, and the attendance figures broke records. Remember to keep your calendar clear on March 10, 2012! And remember to sign up. You can do that by clicking the link to the Powderkeg site.

Sponsors:

The original, and continuing sponsor of the Citizen Race Series is Papa Sherpa, the new-ish father formerly known as SLC Sherpa, aka, the Korean lady, aka He Who Must be Seen in Spandex, aka, the Pie Guy, aka, So Many AKA’s I Forget His Name. For each race, this guy shells out his dough to pick up a cadre of pies, and sometimes even hot drinks. He also gets out there with a few others before many races to put in a skin track and booter.

Brighton. While the first two races flew way under the radar, things have evolved. Brighton is way on board with not only the Citizen Series Races, but also allowing uphill traffic. Be cool, don’t mess up this resource for others. Check out the easy-to-follow guidelines they established recently.

Varied sponsors continue to drop shwag into the mix; this time ProBar and Grabber Warmers offered up great tasting organic food and warm hands, respectively.

The Sprint Race:

For individual experiences at last night’s race, His Sherpita-ness, Papa Sherpa, and Layne all wrote about their efforts. Check ‘em out.