[FWM News] Heavenly, Sierra at Tahoe results; SG's in two weeks

[Far West Masters news]

After a relentless series of storms rolled through the Far West in late 
December and through the holiday period, the new year brought a respite 
and a return to the sunny skies we're more accustomed to enjoying. 
Welcoming the abundant snow and the fair weather, the January race 
calendar opened with a Friday SL double-header at Heavenly for the 
classic Viva Italia race, followed by two great days of SL racing at 
Sierra at Tahoe for a full and enjoyable three day weekend of racing on 
the South Shore of Lake Tahoe.

Next up on our race calendar is a 3-day speed weekend at Mammoth on 
Jan. 21-23 - we open with a training run for all on Friday morning and 
then have 5 SG races over the next 3 days, with the first two also 
opening the 2011 National Speed Series.  In addition to the excellent 
races that Mammoth always puts on, this is a great warmup for the 
Western Regional championships coming up on Feb. 3-6.   Entries can be 
submitted by mail or online at SkiRaceReg.com for both of these 
upcoming events.

  Printable entry forms: http://farwestmasters.org/services/raceentries
  Online registration: http://SkiRaceReg.com

Heavenly Viva Italia SL's
-------------------------

The weekend started out with the Viva Italia Cup held at Heavenly 
Valley's World Cup event hill. Four race runs (two races) were 
completed with excellent weather and course conditions. Many thanks to 
the hard-working Heavenly race crew, who once again put on an 
outstanding event for us, and to Viva Italia sponsor/party host 
extraordinaire John Gianotti. The 2011 Vivia Italia winners are Julie 
Rolfe (W07) and Kurt Belden (M06).

Sierra at Tahoe SL's
--------------------
On Saturday, we moved our version of the white circus to Sierra at 
Tahoe. After some initial delays to resolve timing setup problems, 
accommodated in good spirits by the competitors on a lovely day, our 
Slalom race on the challenging "Lower Main" run was again held on near 
perfect snow with slightly hazy skies. With the race hill right above 
the base lodge, it was a great venue for family and spectators to view 
the racing action. While the snow held up perfectly for the 
competitors, race workers were constantly challenged to replace gates 
being knocked out by our fierce competitors. Sundays race went very 
smoothly, with another day of good weather (and continued challenges to 
the course crew to keep gates planted!).

See the Race Results page on the web site for complete weekend results 
and the updated Season Standings rankings for 2011.

  http://farwestmasters.org/raceinfo/2011/results
  http://farwestmasters.org/raceinfo/2011/standings