The University of Colorado ski team is going to make a little history by racing in a new format Friday night at Eldora. If that isn’t enough to make you want to attend, perhaps the prospect of appearing in a Warren Miller ski film will.
The Buffs are honoring the memory of legend Bob Beattie, who coached from 1957-65, by staging the first dual parallel race in NCAA history as an exhibition event, and a film crew from Warren Miller Entertainment will be there to catch it all.
Beattie, who coached the U.S. Ski Team to Olympic glory and co-founded the World Cup in 1966 after leaving CU, insisted for decades that the sport needed to hold more dual parallel racing (a pair of skiers racing at the same time, side by side) to make it more exciting for folks who don’t follow it regularly. Beattie died last year at age 95, and CU is calling this meet the “Bob Beattie Derby” in his honor.
Skiing’s World Cup features occasional parallel slaloms, but this will be a first at the collegiate level. Each skier will get four runs in side-by-side slalom racing on a 200-meter course, which is shorter than a typical slalom. Other schools participating in the meet will include the University of Denver, Utah, New Mexico, Montana State and Alaska-Anchorage. Racing will begin at 6 p.m.
Still not convinced it’s worth the trip to Nederland? Eldora is offering special deals for the occasion. A half-day lift ticket and a barbecue dinner ticket will cost you only $79. A full day of skiing with the barbecue offer will go for $99. There will be live music, and there is no admission fee to watch the race.
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