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March 20, 2014 / Comments (1)

PACRAT racers cram in 800 runs on a busy double-race day at Mt. Hood Meadows

PACRAT recreational racers made up for lost time Sunday with a lively double-race down Stadium in windy, fast conditions.

With three cancelled races, PACRAT racers have struggled to stage races all year due to limited snow coverage, especially at Mt. Hood Skibowl. But a series of powerful winter storms in February and March have brought Mount Hood’s snowpack back to nearly average with another month of racing ahead.

More than 200 racers of all ages got two runs each on two separate courses Sunday, for a total of about 800 race runs. Teammates worked continuously to slip the course to avoid a build-up of hazardous ruts and keep things safe.

Results are still unofficial (I will update this post with final results once they are in), but some of the the fastest unofficial times for women racers were posted by Colleen Walter, Marina Nimmo, Brenda Ackerson, Barb Pressentin, Kathryn LePore, Meegan Bombadil, Kelsi Erikkila, Emma Moore, Nancy Pratt and Eleni Hobbs.

Here’s Colleen Walter getting into her tuck early to gain speed:

Here is a shot of Brenda Ackerman:

Some of the faster times for male racers were posted by Ken Park, Jay Pollock, Gunther Bergner, Kevin Chapman, Peter Dodd, Paul Soper, Dale Parshall, Bruce Parshall, Geoff Mihalko, Brian Stanley, Alex Ioica, Scott Morrison, Mark Stanford, Brian Bogatin, Alan Bean and Ryan Rooper.

Here’s a photo of Jay Pollock gaining speed:

Here is a shot of Geoff Mihalko edging a powerful turn:

Here’s another one, of Mark Stanford:

Here is Farzin Ghezel:

The vast majority of racers competed on skis, but there were a few snowboarders too. Here is Selena Coffman on course:

And finally, what kind of a son would I be if I didn’t give maximum respect to my mom, diehard PACRAT racer Alice Jacklet? Here she is proving that 72-year-old women can still bang those gates:

Go Mom!

The next PACRAT race is scheduled for March 30 at Timberline, with another make-up race date April 6, also at Timberline.

Last modified: March 20, 2014

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