Richardson thrills young racers at 'Funracer' event

The annual PC-Conferencing “Funracer” event at Colorado’s Arapahoe Basin in late April raised more than $3,000 for the Rocky Mountain Division Home Team scholarship fund that assists the division’s top 50 athletes across all disciplines with race and travel costs, which can surpass $20,000 a year for athletes on the NorAm circuit.

ARAPAHOE BASIN, Colorado — “Go Fast … Be Good, Have Fun,” to quote Bode Miller. And if you were fortunate enough to attend the USSA Rocky Mountain “Funracer” Saturday, April 21, at Arapahoe Basin in Colorado, you got to enjoy those three themes played out in spades. The annual event, put together by Kevin Ward, whose company PC-Conferencing is one of the many sponsors, is fast becoming the spectacular final event in the Rocky race season.  For the low, low price of $45 entry fee for adults, the Funracer gave you:
•    Two runs of dual GS on the best snow in the world … everybody who wasn’t skiing in Colorado this year, eat your heart out.
•    After the race, a chance to party down! Complete with a fabulous, down-home barbecue, awards and a bazillion raffle and door prices.
•    The “Be Good” part, $$$ on the bottom line to support the Rocky Mountain Division Home Team scholarship program.
    But don’t answer yet … there’s more! The goodie-bag swag included a pair of Walk-Eze for all racers and the big bonus was an appearance by Kaylin Richardson, U.S. Ski Team member and 2007 U.S. national downhill champion.
    So now that we set the stage for you, how did it all play out? Answer: Better than even This Experienced Ski Journalist could have imagined. 
    First, the race itself was a hoot. If you haven’t skied any dual-GS recently, it’s an adrenaline kick-start and the best way to go head to head with any of your training buddies. If we get the Olympics back in this country, I’m voting for duals as the demonstration event. The racers were a genial admixture of masters, juniors and other folks who just plain wanted to rock on and contribute to RMD.    
    Kaylin was the pacesetter and let’s not even talk about how far ahead of the pack she was … because you’d need a calendar for that … the worst part was that she made the whole thing look ridiculously easy. The rest of us, on the other hand, looked like we were killing chickens, causing us to vow to take up bowling as winter sport. Just kidding!
    I talked to a bunch of the racers, including the Kraatz family, consisting of mom Colette, son Tristan and daughter Skylar. They journeyed from Crested Butte to the Funracer, where they each enjoyed a special experience. Colette, a first-time racer, said, “I registered as a racer to help raise money and actually raced just so I could see what my kids go through each race. Pretty amazing! They are fearless!”
    One of the high points of Tristan and Skylar’s day was skiing with Kaylin. Folks, if you haven’t heard, we have a great U.S. team, and one of the best aspects of our team is that our athletes are uniquely personable and approachable. As Colette says, “Skylar and Tristan both had the great fortune of meeting Kaylin Richardson and inspecting the course with her. She took them through each part of the course and showed them the points they needed to watch out for and what they could do to keep up their speed and form. Both of them said everything she said made sense and helped them when they ran their race. She even signed their helmets!”
    One of the best parts of ski racing is meeting old friends and making new ones. As Colette recalls, “Tristan also made a new friend in Anthony Wada from Monarch Mountain who captured the platinum, and he is looking forward to next race season to see him again.”
    Colette offered a great summary of her family’s Funracer experience: “We all won lots of prizes and went home feeling quite satisfied with our last day of racing/skiing for this year. Once the results were in, we had all medaled, a gold for Skylar, a silver for Tristan and even a bronze for me!”
    That’s my kind of ski race, and since we’ve obviously moved from “go fast” to “have fun,” let’s talk about the postrace festivities. In the fine tradition of Beachin’ at the Basin, there was, of course, a full-on barbecue …in the snow. You know how it is …if you don’t like the weather in Colorado, wait 10 minutes. So a day that began sunny and mild turned into what we Coloradoans euphemistically call “mixed spring precipitation.” 
    Didn’t stop anybody from having a blast, however. The Funracer is a unique race that lets the racers give and get back big time. Kevin Ward assembled an awesome list of sponsors, donations and goodie bag/raffle prizes including:

•    Ski Racing magazine: T-shirts, cowbells and other sundries.
•    Atomic: auctioned a pair of GS skis autographed by Kaylin Richardson, Billy Kidd, AJ Kitt, Phil Mahre, Doug Lewis, Diane Roffe, Steve Nyman, Daron Rahlves and Caroline Lalive.
•    FK Tools (Chip Ford): Brushes, edge sharpening tools, and other tools.
•    Holmenkol/Uvex: Wax, brushes, scrapers and other tuning stuff.
•    Descente: gift certificates. 
•    Spyder: 2 speed suits.
•    Völkl/Marker: Assorted clothing, bags and other logo gear.
•    Tommy Knocker Brew Pub: 2 kegs.
•    Richter Race Service: 1 World Cup tune.
•    Copper Mountain: Several half-day masters training passes.
•    Swiss Am Racing: Half-day masters training passes. 
•    Bula: 15 gift certificates for hats.
•    The Boot Lab: one free custom insole.
•    Blizzard.
•    Colorado Ski & Golf.
•    Booster Strap: Lots of them …
•    Krystal93 FM: Free airtime to promote the Funracer.
•    FUXI racing: All kinds of goodies from Franzi…
•    A-Basin and A-Basin racing: Free hill space for the race.
•    Saucer Wax: free wax.
•    Rocky Mountain sunscreen: free sunscreen.
•    KEKA shi guards.
•    Ski Racing Development.
•    REI: ski helmet.
    Lots and lots of Good Stuff, which, as my teammate Anne Gibson said, made it entirely worthwhile to be out “in the frigid weather like Pavlov’s dogs waiting for our treats.” Author’s note: Anne won a new helmet, poles, brush and Booster Straps (“Arff! Arff!”), so it couldn’t have been that bad.
    We’ve done “Go Fast, Have Fun,” so let’s wrap up with “Be Good.” The proceeds from the Funracer benefit the Rocky Mountain Division “Home Team,” which is a scholarship fund for the top 50 RMD across the alpine, freestyle and nordic/jumping disciplines. This year’s Funracer contributed $3,000 to the Home Team Fund, which gives grants to athletes to defray the costs of training, travel and competition … and as we all know, those costs are consid
erable.
    What’s the goal of a successful regional racer such as the RMD athletes? I spoke with Darlene Nolting, RMD competition and development manager, who said the next step is the usually the National Development Team. And what does it take to make the dev team? Results, as you can imagine, and typically at high-profile races such as the NorAms and USSA nationals, where the national team coaches are looking for new talent to emerge. 
    And, yes, it costs big bucks to travel to and compete in the these events. As Nolting said in an article that Adam Boffey wrote for the Summit Daily News, “If an alpine skier competes in a full season with all the NorAms, it can cost close to $20,000, and if they go to nationals, that’s another $2,000. When the Home Team gives us a grant, we get to take a certain amount off the bill.”
    So there it is, folks. If you want to help the Home Team, win medals and prizes and have a great time doing it, make sure you put the Funracer on your calendar for next spring.