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Welcome to the Far West Masters!
If you are a new visitor to our site,
visit the Information pages to learn more About masters racing.
The How To Join page has for membership information
and applications. We are open to all and welcome new racers!
Masters ski racing is the premier adult ski racing series in the country.
We are governed by United States Ski & Snowboard competition rules,
the sanctioning body in the US for organized ski racing at all levels from juniors
up through international and Olympic competition.
Far West Masters organizes US alpine masters competition in the
Far West division.
Our yearly schedule includes all disciplines (SL, GS, SG, and DH),
with races held mainly at ski areas in the central Sierras.
Racers from 21 to over 80 years old compete in ten-year age groups.
Top News Items
- Mt Rose and Palisades races info
After a weather-delayed start to the 2023 racing season, our calendar gets busy
with a GS-madness weekend on two of the best GS race venues in the Far West Division.
We will have back-to-back events on the weekend of Feb. 11-12, with a double-GS day
on Saturday 2/11 for the McKinney Cup event at Mt Rose followed by the Bernard Cup GS
at Palisades Tahoe (Olympic Valley) on Sunday 2/12.
** NOTE SCHEDULE CHANGES **
After considering feedback from racers and discussions among the organizers,
the Palisades Bernard Cup schedule has been changed from 2 GS races to 1 GS,
allowing more reasonable departure time for competitors travelling home on Sunday afternoon.
(or... watching the Super Bowl?!)
Note also that Palisades is preparing the main race arena venues for the men's World Cup Races on Feb. 25-26,
so our masters race will be held on the alternate venue of Motts (access from mid-mountain Siberia chair).
Race registration for both events is open on masters.AdminSkiRacing.com.
The early registration deadline is Sun 2/5;
registration closes at 8pm PT Thu 2/9.
Open class reminder: if you want to compete in Open class, contact scoring director
Deb Lewis at dlewis@farwestmasters.org no later than noon Friday 2/10.
Day-of-race Open class changes will not be accepted.
[03-Feb-2023]
- Alpine Viva Italia SL races
And finally we have racing to kick off the 2023 season! After losing
our scheduled races at Mammoth in both December and January and finally
emerging from the multi-week storm onslaught that started just before
the new year, the snow is deep, the sun came out, and we had beautiful
conditions for two SL races on Kangaroo at Alpine Meadows on Saturday Jan. 28.
In addition to being our season kickoff, these races were scored for the Viva Italia cup,
a combined award based on age handicapped total times. John Gianotti would have been
proud of the spirit of our racers carrying on his tradition. The 2023 Viva Italia winners were
Nancy Gieske (W08) and Tim Stewart (M10).
Due to the lateness of the awards party after a long day on the race hill, we were
unfortunately unable to announce the Viva Italia results for the trophy presentation
on Saturday, so congratulations to Nancy and Tim!
Complete race results and the Viva Italia rankings are
posted on the web site on the Race Results page
along with the first Season Standings rankings for 2023.
[02-Feb-2023]
- Alpine SL races info
It's been an amazing January in the Sierra, with several weeks
of the storm train rolling at full blast, so it's
a welcome change to have a week of clear weather setting up
just in time for our SL races at Alpine Meadows on Saturday Jan. 28.
Race registration for both SL races is open on masters.AdminSkiRacing.com.
The early registration deadline is Sun 1/22;
registration closes at 8pm PT Thu 1/26.
Open class reminder: if you want to compete in Open class, contact scoring director
Deb Lewis at dlewis@farwestmasters.org no later than noon Friday 1/27.
Day-of-race Open class changes will not be accepted.
[22-Jan-2023]
- Mammoth Jan GS/SL races cancelled
The snow has been nearly non-stop since the last week of December;
for over two weeks now the storm track has delivered repeated moisture-laden
AR (atmospheric river) storms straight into California and the Mammoth-Tahoe
region of the Sierra. Feet of snow, rinse and repeat.
We rarely cancel events prior to race day, as mountain weather is changeable
and the forecasts don't always turn out to be what happens. On relatively
rare occasions, however, we will declare a cancellation when there is no
reasonable likelihood to be able to hold the race or for competitors to
travel safely.
Sadly, this is one of those times. We will not be racing at Mammoth next
week on Jan. 20-22. The MLK holiday weekend is bringing more feet of snow over
multiple days. While it appears that the weather pattern will finally clear
by the middle of the week, there is no way to prepare the race surface in just
a few days after this much snow.
The next races on our schedule are two SL races at Alpine Meadows on Sat. Jan. 28.
February features the FIS Masters-Western Region Championships at Beaver Creek CO
on Feb. 2-5, followed by a packed weekend of GS doubleheaders on Feb. 11-12
at Mt Rose and Palisades Tahoe (Olympic Valley).
[14-Jan-2023]
- Mammoth Jan GS/SL races info
It's been a pretty wild couple weeks to kick off January here in the Far West.
A seemingly non-stop series of storms rolling through has brought rain, floods, and huge amounts
of snow to the Sierra. Late last week we made the sad decision that it would not
be possible to run the planned DH/SG races at Mammoth on Jan. 19-22 and changed
the event program to GS races on Fri-Sat and a SL race on Sun.
The event announcement and Schedule page information on the farwestmasters.org web site
have been updated and race signups on masters.AdminSkiRacing.com have been changed over.
Entries for the Fri DH and Sat-Sun SG races have been "carried over" with the
change to GS/SL. Everyone who was entered for the speed races was sent a notification
on Tuesday night about that change; entries can be dropped for anyone who will not
be coming with the changed event schedule.
Early registration deadline is Sun 1/15; registration closes
at 8pm PT Wed 1/18.
We will continue to monitor the weather forecasts and conditions outlook through
the coming MLK holiday weeked, with one more round of storms predicted and then
prospects for shifting back to a dryer pattern next week. If there is any additional news
to pass on we'll announce as soon as possible to assist everyone with their planning.
If you have any questions or need assistance, contact us at raceadmin@farwestmasters.org.
[11-Jan-2023]
- Mammoth DH/SG races changed to GS/SL
Well, happy new year, the Sierra is entering January with the storm door
wide open to a continuing series of major winter storms that started over the New Year's
holiday weekend and a week later is still rolling. More snow than we know what to do with!
We are now within two weeks from the planned DH/SG races on Jan. 19-22 and
the weather forecasts have several more strong storms lined up for the coming week.
Regrettably, the prospects for a weather break that would allow the necessary
preparations for a speed venue just isn't in the outlook. In addition, few of us have
had any opportunity for speed training before what would be our first races
of the season.
Following discussions with Mammoth Race Department, Far West Masters organizers,
and masters program coaches, we are going to change the event plan to three days
of racing - GS on Friday and Saturday, SL on Sunday.
We'll get additional details out next week and change the race signups on
the masters.AdminSkiRacing.com registration site to match the new program. If you have
already signed up for the DH/SG races, we'll be in touch on logistics of whether
we'll carry over those signups or just start fresh for everyone.
[05-Jan-2023]
- Mammoth races cancelled
Unfortunately our season opening GS-SL races at Mammoth had to be cancelled.
The week turned stormy with a strong storm that took out Thursday's final training camp day
and made travel difficult for those not yet on site, while the forecasts converged on
a second multi-day storm moving in on Saturday through the weekend.
Fortunately for those here, the fallback option was a beautiful powder day on Friday in the
short break between storms. With 2+ ft of fluffy new snow at Main (and 30" reported at the summit),
there was no way that the race hill could have been prepared. Patrol and mountain operations
had a lot to do just to get the mountain dug out and open.
We appreciate Mammoth's efforts to put on our opening races, but the weather won this round.
[02-Dec-2022]
- 2023 Open Class
Far West Masters races are conducted following the standard US masters age class rules.
An additional option is used by Far West Masters in our division races, allowing competitors to elect to be
scored in an Open class drawn from all age classes rather than their age class for race awards and season scoring.
All competitors start within their age group in the race start order but may choose to be
scored for race awards based on the overall ranking of Open class participants rather than within their age class.
The season leader bibs are awarded based on the rankings of the Open class.
The 2023 Open class elections list is started with all current season bib holders registered by default.
Everyone else (including "the usual folks") need to explicitly elect to participate in Open class.
It's your choice - no one is obligated or expected to elect Open class - go Open if you'll have fun doing that,
stay in your age class for scoring and awards if you're happy with the standard age class system.
To elect Open class, contact scoring director Deb Lewis at dlewis@farwestmasters.org.
Open class participants will be noted on start lists and when possible on the finish board so that
all competitors know who is competing within their age class and who is being scored in the overall Open class.
IMPORTANT REMINDER:
to participate in the Open class for any event, you MUST elect Open
no later than the noon the day prior to the race.
Day-of-race Open class changes will not be accepted
[28-Nov-2022]
- Schedule Updates
The season schedule published in October has been updated with a correction for one event along
with a new event added on Mar. 3-4 at Diamond Peak.
Apologies for the mistake on our originally published schedule, due to a miscommunication
we had the dates and disciplines incorrectly posted for the Bernard Cup races at Palisades Tahoe (Olympic Valley).
The races will be two GS races on Sunday Feb. 12 (the original dates of Jan. 7-8 were incorrect).
This will be a leg-burner weekend on two outstanding GS venues, with the McKinney Cup GSx2 races
on Saturday Feb. 11 followed by the Bernard Cup GSx2 races at Palisades on Sunday Feb. 12.
We're very pleased to announce that we have added a new event to the schedule
with a weekend of two SL races at Diamond Peak on Mar. 4-5. It's been quite a few years since
masters raced at Diamond Peak so it's exciting that this event came together to add to our
race calendar.
REMINDERS: Membership signup and registration for the Dec. 2-3 Mammoth opening weekend races
are open on our new masters.AdminSkiRacing.com (ASR) registration site.
Renewal deadline for Far West Masters membership is Sun Nov. 20, so
if you haven't gotten around to renewing your membership get it done before late renewal fees kick in!
Dec Mammoth race registration is also open on ASR - early registration deadline is Sun 11/27;
registration closes
at 8pm PT Wed 11/30.
The 3-day Mammoth training camp preceding the races is on for Tue-Wed-Thu - see the camp information
announcement for details.
[19-Nov-2022]
- Mammoth Dec races and camp
Winter has arrived with a solid early-season storm dumping on the Sierra this week
and our opening event of the 2022-2023 Far West Masters season is coming up soon.
We have Fri/Sat GS/SL races at Mammoth Mountain on Dec. 2-3, the week following
the Thanksgiving holiday. Mammoth is hosting a 3-day GS/SL masters training camp
on Tue-Wed-Thu Nov. 29-Dec. 1 prior to the races, so that's a good opportunity
to get on skis and get in some preseason race training to get warmed up.
See the event info announcement and training camp flyer for additional details.
Mammoth is offering a discounted lodging package for camp week and race weekend.
Race signups are now open on our new masters.AdminSkiRacing.com registration site.
Early registration deadline is Sun 11/27; registration closes
at 8pm PT Wed 11/30.
You can sign up for the races and purchase your 2023 Far West Masters membership if you haven't
already done so. This is a different site than we have used in previous seasons, so everyone
will need to create an account in order to sign up.
Our registration policies for late fees,
entry deadlines, DNS and cancellation are the same as they have been for many season, but
please take a few minutes to review the FWM Race Registration description.
Entry fees for races are charged when the event is held, so you can register or drop without penalty
anytime up until the close of registration. All entries as of close of registration will be charged
the race entry fee until refund granted by the race organizer.
[07-Nov-2022]
- Fall Forerunner newsletter
The fall issue of the Forerunner newsletter is out!
The President's Update message from Ray Tulloch describes the
latest news we have on plans for the upcoming ski season.
This issue also includes other information about membership
and the season schedule plans.
If you haven't already, take a quick look at the article on
Membership Renewal, which has a lot of helpful tips on how to get started
on our new registration service at masters.AdminSkiRacing.com.
Note: the primary distribution method of the Forerunner newsletter will
be electronic publishing through our news email list and here on the web site.
All current members of Far West Masters should receive the newsletter. If you
have any questions, contact us at forerunner@farwestmasters.org for assistance.
[23-Oct-2022]
- Season Schedule and Membership
Get ready for the 2022-2023 Far West Masters race season!!
The 2023 season schedule is posted on farwestmasters.org
on the Season Schedule page.
Far West Masters membership will open in October on our new
registration site masters.AdminSkiRacing.com and
race signups will open in November.
2023 Membership Reminders
-
U.S. Ski & Snowboard Membership
- US Ski & Snowboard membership renewal deadline is October 15.
Late fee of $25 charged on renewals after that date. (late fee does not apply to new members)
- Most masters should select the "Alpine Master" membership type.
Do NOT select the "Alpine Master w/ requirements" membership type unless you are
required to have SafeSport training and background checks due to your engagement with junior athletes
through a US Ski & Snowboard club role and do not already have through Official or Coach license.
- Most masters should select "No Club Affiliation" for the US Ski & Snowboard club affiliation.
Do NOT select the club at the area where you ski and train unless you are actually a member - the clubs
are generally associated only with junior alpine competitor programs. (e.g. the Mammoth and Palisades Tahoe masters
programs are NOT affiliated with the USSS club)
- Your Far West Masters membership is IN ADDITION to your US Ski & Snowboard Alpine Master membership.
Your FWM membership dues supports organizing our division race calendar and provides you with a permanent
race bib for all our Far West masters races.
- Far West masters membership is not required for first-time racers or competitors from other divisions.
We will provide a temporary bib for your use.
[10-Oct-2022]
- Preliminary 2023 Schedule
The preliminary 2022-2023 race schedule is now available! Scheduling Director Mike Braun
has tried to put together a calendar with a good mix of events at proven venues.
A highlight this season will be the opportunity to compete in the Masters National Championships in
our home division at Mammoth Mountain.
The Western Region championship/FIS Masters Cup races will be held at Beaver Creek CO on Feb. 2-5.
The US masters national championships are planned for Mammoth Mountain CA on Mar. March 28-Apr 2.
Mammoth will host a 4-event national championship event with DH, SG, GS, and SL.
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[28-Sep-2023]
- Introducing AdminSkiRacing
Far West Masters is moving a new site this season for membership and race entries.
SkiRaceReg.com brought us into the online registration world in 2012, providing
us with a much-needed service to streamline the race entry process for both racers
and organizers. System operator Doug Briggs is retiring (some silly reason
about wanting more time to go skiing and racing) and we are grateful for the
decade of fantastic support that he provided.
This season our registration service will transition to AdminSkiRacing (ASR).
This site was used last season by New England and Mid-Atlantic Masters and this
season most other masters divisions will be moving to ASR.
We have a lot of work to do to transition to the new registration site and update
all the information here on farwestmasters.org, so please be patient!
We expect to have membership signups open by mid-October and race signups by early November.
[29-Sep-2022]
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