Freestylers to compete at Chapman Hill

The best freestyle skiers in the USSA Rocky Mountain Division will compete in the Durango Orthopedics/Spine Colorado Southwest Freestyle Open today through Monday at Chapman Hill.

The competition will feature the top mogul skiers and aerialists in Colorado. Teams from Aspen, Steamboat, Winter Park, Vail, Summit County, Telluride and Durango will participate.

The weekend will start with the Durango Winter Sports Foundation welcome party from 5 to 7 p.m. today at the base of Chapman Hill. Events will feature a USSA Devo slopestyle and the local Town Race Series.

The mogul-skiing action will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday with dual moguls Sunday. Monday will feature a big-air contest.

For more information, call Kirk Rawles at 903-2119.

Seniors Outdoors! announces activities

Seniors Outdoors! announces these upcoming activities:

A difficult, 5-mile snowshoe hike from the Lower Lime Creek Road to the Purgatory Trailhead will meet at 9 a.m. Saturday. RSVP to Bob Thomsen, 382-9271, or Will Rietveld, 247-5194 or willjanet@bresnan.net.

A moderate snowshoe hike in Durango West will meet at 1 p.m. Saturday. RSVP to Dell Manners, 385-0533 or dmanners@sisna.com.

A moderate, 6-mile snowshoe hike on Missionary Ridge will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday. RSVP to Cheryl Berglund, 247-9747 or chasberglund@yahoo.com.

The Wednesday Wanderers will meet at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday to walk the Animas River Trail from Santa Rita Park to Home Depot and back. Dogs must be on leash per city ordinance. For information, call Eric Pahlke, 247-1130.

Nordic Center to host race, clinic this weekend

The Nordic Center at Purgatory will stage the final event in its Coke race series plus its last skate-ski clinic this weekend.

Adults will compete in a 10-kilometer skate race Saturday; juniors will race shorter distances. Registration will begin at 9 a.m. with the race starting at 10 a.m. Entry fee is $15 for adults, $7 for juniors.

The Sunday clinic will include classes for skiers of all ability levels. The cost is $15 for Nordic Center season pass holders or $25 for other skiers.

Equipment rentals are available at the Nordic Center.

For more information or to sign up for the clinic, call 385-2114.

Nordic Fest races this weekend in Pagosa

Three days of cross-country ski racing for all ages will begin today at the second annual Pagosa Nordic Fest.

Hosted by the nonprofit Pagosa Nordic Club, events will include: a free kids race today; the Eagle Mountain Mercantile biathlon (using Red Ryder BB guns); sprint races and relay races on Saturday; and distance races and awards on Sunday.

Today’s kids races will start at 8:30 a.m. at Pagosa Elementary School.

Registration will begin at 8 a.m. and racing will start at 9 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday at the Kuhn Ranch, eight miles north of U.S. Highway 160 on Piedra Road. Race divisions include a Kids division each day, Citizens skate ski or classic ski division and a Competitive skate or classic ski division. Events in the adult divisions will include biathlon, sprint and distance.

Registration fees are: Citizens Division, $30 for all races or $12 for individual races Saturday, $15 Sunday; Competitive Division, $40 for all races, $15 for individual races Saturday, $20 Sunday. Kids younger than 16 may compete for free.

For more information, call Pagosa Nordic Club President James Dickhoff at (970) 946-7225.

Course records fall in Winter Warrior race

Robbie Trudeaux and Megan Finnesy of Durango set course records Saturday in the feature 10K race at the second annual Winter Warrior snowshoe races at the Nordic Center at Purgatory.

Trudeaux traversed the course in 56 minutes, 59 seconds to win the men’s overall division. Finnesy was the top woman in 1:06:44.

The event attracted nearly 30 racers ages 4 to 78 from as far away as Albuquerque and Flagstaff, Ariz.

Pete Mech was second in the men’s division with a time of 57:25, and Travis Brown was third in 1:01:08. Andrew Ferguson won the men’s masters division in 1:03:29.

In the women’s race, Molly Hummel placed second in 1:15:00.

Conlan Jones won the men’s 5K race in 37:45. Cass Brown was the women’s 5K winner in 39:34, followed by Lisa Ford in 39:52 and Tammy Tiong in 40:06. Linda Stevens was the women masters winner in 42:21, followed by Sabina Kuss in 44:02.

Sponsored by Pine Needle Mountaineering, Tafoya Barrett & Associates, Kahtoola and High Performance Yoga, the event also raised $400 for the Durango Youth Nordic Club.

Herald Staff