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Wachuset Night League Racers

Cheese

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Jan 4, 2012
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999
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Hollis, NH
Kick-Off party is this Wednesday night. I'm psyched to get this race season started. Will any other AZers be in attendance?
:beer:
 

Nick

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Nov 12, 2010
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You know, my Wachusett skiing is mostly gonna be weekends this year with the wife and baby. It's going to be hard to get out nights now as I'm normally helping out and my wife just started tutoring a couple nights a week so I'm on duty.

I'd love to try racing. Have only done nastar like twice... when I was in my teens. One of these days ....
 

Cheese

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Jan 4, 2012
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999
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Hollis, NH
It's not going away anytime soon. The older you get, the higher your handicap and the more points you earn. So, the longer you wait the less you'll have to ski fast. See you out there in a few years!
 

KevinF

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Dec 19, 2003
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568
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Marlborough, Massachusetts
Cheese, I thought about racing at Wachusett this year, but I'm also racing at Nashoba, so I figured two race nights a week could make for a hectic schedule through the winter.

But I"m curious as to what the Wachusett race format is like. Is it basically a NASTAR type set? i.e., GS cheater skis (high-teens radius skis) rule the roost? Are most people deadly serious, or do a good number of people do it "for fun"? Is the race order based on how you did the previous week?
 

LiquidFeet

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Oct 22, 2006
Messages
211
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Location
Boston area
KevinF,
At Wachusett, once you are on a team, you just show up and go. Everybody gets two runs on a dual course, once on the left course and once on the right course (yellow and green). They count your best run, but both get recorded. It's Nastar all the way, with your results listed on the national Nastar site the next day.

WaWa runs a very tight ship which is quite user-friendly. There's a snowmobile that constantly runs up and down the side of the course carrying pants and jackets, since many but definitely not all shed their outer layers for the run, and wear spandex beneath. The race suits are for aerodynamics; not all are fashionably recent. There is no seed; you line up and go when you get to the front of the line. It's your choice whether you want an early run or a late one. The pacesetters are bonafide; they get their handicaps officially at the start of the season and you get yours based on theirs. When you're done with your race, you can ski around, but many after a few runs head up to the restaurant to visit with friends, order dinner or a beer, and wait for the results. Around an hour after the race is done, someone comes out with printed results that are handed out to each table. You can compare your best handicap or time with whomever you hope to beat one day on the list, and you can find out your team's standing right then. It's a hoot. Some teams are packed with trained racers in current spyder suits with handicaps in the single digits; others have people who just want to get invited to Nastar Nationals one day. You can have a Nastar medal if you like every week; the race boss comes around with a box full of them and you tell him what you earned and there you go, you get it. Oh, and there's a raffle every night. Oh, and there's video every night. If you look at your watch and remember your start times for both runs, you'll be able to see yourself on the monitors in the restaurant. The time runs at the bottom. Nice weekly social event.
 
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LiquidFeet

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Oct 22, 2006
Messages
211
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Location
Boston area
I think they use plastic.
My plan is to skip the night league this year, and ski during daylight hours on Wednesdays.
Would like to meet up with anyone else who might be there then.
 

wa-loaf

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Jan 7, 2007
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Mordor
I'll be there Wednesday for the kickoff party. We race on Thursday nights.
 

Cheese

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Jan 4, 2012
Messages
999
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Location
Hollis, NH
Cheese, I thought about racing at Wachusett this year, but I'm also racing at Nashoba, so I figured two race nights a week could make for a hectic schedule through the winter.

But I"m curious as to what the Wachusett race format is like. Is it basically a NASTAR type set? i.e., GS cheater skis (high-teens radius skis) rule the roost? Are most people deadly serious, or do a good number of people do it "for fun"? Is the race order based on how you did the previous week?

I could not possibly give an answer better than what LiquidFeet provided.
 
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wa-loaf

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 7, 2007
Messages
15,109
Points
48
Location
Mordor
Cheese, I thought about racing at Wachusett this year, but I'm also racing at Nashoba, so I figured two race nights a week could make for a hectic schedule through the winter.

But I"m curious as to what the Wachusett race format is like. Is it basically a NASTAR type set? i.e., GS cheater skis (high-teens radius skis) rule the roost? Are most people deadly serious, or do a good number of people do it "for fun"? Is the race order based on how you did the previous week?

We have a number of people on our team who used to race at Nashoba and quit for the Wachusett program.
 
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