Prime Time Ski Club news for Bethel Citizen 1/23/14
We’re well into the new year and members of Sunday River’s Prime Time Ski Club are all geared up for another great season. Despite Mother Nature and thanks to the mountain’s expert snowmakers and groomers, members have been enjoying the many ski trails that are open while anxiously awaiting a full trail count.
The Prime Time Ski Club boasts a membership of nearly 150 snow sports enthusiasts who are 50 years and older with intermediate to advanced skiing ability. True to our motto, “No one needs to ski alone,” Prime Time members meet every weekday at 10 a.m. at Sunday River’s North Peak Lodge for a quick get together before breaking into small informal groups of four to eight skiers based primarily on skiing ability and terrain preference. Prime Time is also a social group with members getting together for pot luck dinners and other events from time to time. We also do a few good deeds, such as supporting the Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation program and the local Mahoosuc Land Trust.
We hope you’ll join us. Check out our web site at www.primetimeskiclub.com. Or just show up at North Peak Lodge weekdays at 10 a.m. (in the area just past the bar) and check us out.
Many of our members were among the hundreds of spectators and skiers who crowded the slopes at Sunday River for the first Red Bull Frozen Rush Jan. 10. Veteran professional off-road truck racers switched from dirt speedways to frozen slopes to compete on a mile-long, figure-eight course rising over 550 vertical feet on the lower slopes in front South Ridge base lodge. With Pro4 racing trucks flying off jumps on snowy inclines and declines and dodging slalom gates, eight veteran motorsports drivers tested their skills against one another while trying to control speed and outpace their opponents.
Each racing truck was modified to adapt to the harsh weather conditions, including one-of-a-kind studded and specially designed mud terrain tires. Sanctioned by the U. S. Auto Club, one of auto racing’s leading governing bodies, the race featured a bracketed, single elimination format with two drivers on course at a time. The winner was motocross and supercross athlete Ricky Johnson, who beat Johnny Greaves in the finals. Greaves appeared to beat the unofficial countdown clock but a pair of penalties negated his effort and handed Johnson the win.
If you missed the Red Bull Frozen Rush, you can watch the following you tube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDzAFWtaCPI&feature=youtu.be Or better yet, tune in to watch the full race on NBC-TV on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 2, at 3 p.m. EST, preceding the big football game.
And don’t forget about Go50 Week activities at Sunday River Jan. 27 – 31. On Monday meet some of Sunday River’s team members as well as Prime Time members at North Peak Lodge at 10 a.m. and enjoy free hot cinnamon buns and coffee. Later that day there’s a Welcome Social at the Foggy Goggle from 3 to 4:30 p.m. with free hors d’oeuvres. Come meet Prime Time members who can give you advice about the best places to ski on the mountain and then listen to Scott Andrews, Ski Museum of Maine’s historian, talk about the history of ski equipment manufacturing in Maine. Other activities for the week are listed on Sunday River’s web site.
