2012 PowerBar CO HS Snowshoe State Championship Course Set
An 18-24” blanket of snow covers the race course
If I would have told you that Summit High School was going to host the 2012 PowerBar Colorado High School Snowshoe State Championship 5K in December you would have told me that I was off my rocker. The only snow surrounding the school at that time was in a tree well on the north facing side of the school, and it wouldn’t have even made a snowball. SHS had no snow whatsoever, while Front Range schools got pounded by over a foot of snow during Winter Break. It looked as if the race should have been held at Boulder High School, home of 2-Time Defending National Champion Samantha Lewis, rather than on her favorite race course in Summit County.
Fast forward one month. Comparing the race course now to what it was on New Years Eve would be worthy a freshman high school student’s compare-and-contrast essay. The once brown-barren-sage covered landscape is now an endless quilt of white marked by the tippy tops of summer grass. The 2012 PowerBar Colorado Snowshoe State Championships are on, and the course beckons all comers.
Veteran or novice, snowshoe owners or not, this race has everything a snowshoe racer can dream of. This race course is much different than the 2010 and 2011 races. To offset forest use and protect the habitat of Iron Springs, the race course will be set on the flat surfaces of SHS’s fields. There will be two minor climbs in the race now: a spike near the first mile and a climb one half mile later. The new race course is vastly different than the course the last two years; this course bodes well for a Front Range runner who is used to speed, rather than power and climbing. Don’t fret 2010 and 2011 veteran racers: your old course is the course that will be used for the 2012 Dion Snowshoe USSSA National Youth Championship 5K.
If you don’t own a pair of snowshoes you have nothing to fear. SHS will gladly loan you a pair of snowshoes for free to use in the race. There are only 25 pairs, so first-come-first-served. You will fall in love with the sport, and you will get automatically qualified for the National Championship race happening at the same spot on Saturday 2/25/12 just for racing in this race. The National Championship has a 5K race on that Saturday, and 4x2.5 KM relay race Sunday 2/26/12.
Registration Link
Info on Snowshoe Racing