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Show Bi3 o a rsvj :;::: Area resort snow totals to Iota! Deer Valley 6 91 Park City 6 84 Wolf Mountain 0 90 As of Friday morning Call 649-2250 for backcountry avalanche information Briefs The National Ability Center needs peers Are you a young person looking for something to do after school? The National Ability Center, a sports and recreation program devoted to providing provid-ing opportunities to individuals with disabilities and their families, is offering offer-ing a five-week session of alpine ski lessons at the Park City Ski Area. Many of the individuals in the program are young people ages eight to 17. The NAC would like to involve young volunteers in the program. Those interested may call 649-3991 for more information. Wolf Mountain shuttle is running Wolf Mountain's free shuttle program pro-gram has started for the ski season. One shuttle per hour departs various locations throughout the Park City area Monday through Thursday and two shuttles per hour will pick up guests Friday through Sunday. The final shuttle of the day leaves Wolf Mountain at 6 p.m. A late night shuttle shut-tle on Friday and Saturday will be available until 10 p.m. For detailed pick-up and drop-off information, call 649-5400. Annual soccer meeting scheduled The Park City Youth Soccer Club is holding its annual meeting Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Marsac building. All soccer parents, coaches, referees and other interested interest-ed people are invited and encouraged to attend. Huntsmam Cup ski race at PCSA The 10th annual Huntsman Cup, a qualifier for the National Disabled Ski Championships, will be Friday, Jan. 3 through Sunday, Jan. 5 at the Park City Ski Area. Spectators are welcome to come and enjoy the thrill of competition competi-tion and support athletes with physical disabilities from around the world. Call 649-3991 for more information. AGMS NEsT' HOUSEKEEPING ' Urom Goiiaes lo Gastfes. . . 50 off First j Cleaning with contract i i Day or jveninj Service CTree Csimaes Construction Gfean Qp tfanilorial Gfean , Tersonaf Shopping TJae Service References (801) 6457353 (800) 2509649 Licensed, Bonded, Insured Disabled Huntsman Cup racers to use a variety of techniques in weekend two-day race by Dave Fields OF THE RECORD STAFF It More world-class ski racers are in Park City this weekend, carving up the race hills of the Park City Ski Area. These racers are part of the U.S. Ski Team, train year round and are in top physical condition. The final times will be within hundredths of a second and the winners will be competing for spots at the championships. But these skiers have overcome more than the typical challenges of becoming top-ranked athletes. These are disabled athletes from over 20 states and several countries who will be competing for the Huntsman Cup Friday, Saturday and Sunday on CB's run. The 80 athletes that are expected to be competing in the race will be using a variety of adaptive techniques used by skiers with physical disabilities. Whether the athlete is a paraplegic on a monoski or an amputee using one ski with two outriggers, the speeds are high and the racing is intense. Racers from the U.S. Disabled Ski Team, the No. 1 ranked disabled team in the world, will be the racers with the fastest times. However, the Huntsman Cup is part of the Utah Winter Games so it involves not just the top racers but local intermediates interme-diates who may have not spent years racing. The three days of racing will consist of two giant slalom races and one slalom race. Since different disabled techniques tech-niques are intrinsically faster than others, oth-ers, the times are equalized to create a level field for all racers. The Huntsman Cup is sponsored by Huntsman Corporation and the National Ability Center. The NAC, located at the Park City Ski Area, is a non-profit organization that provides people with disabilities and their families fami-lies with the opportunity to experience New sliding opportunity for public at Bear Hollow by Dave Fields OF THE RECORD STAFF Another rung in the Olympic ladder is nearing completion and soon locals of all ages will be able to experience the thrill of a world-class sport. Construction of the $24-million. state-of-the-art facility is within days of completion com-pletion and track officials have started laying down the first layers of ice. Possibly as soon as Jan. 14, the track will be challenging sliders of all abilities. Described as the premiere facility in the country, if not the world, the luge and bobsled track at the Utah Winter Sports Park will be open to first-timers as well as the world's top lugetS. Jon Owen, western region program coordinator for U.S. Luge said track time is already being booked for the season by the country'! national team. But Owen's focus is not'on the country's top athletes in the sport but rather the lugers of the future. With the new track, come a commitment to educate and recruit future lugers to compete at the junior levels of the sport. Soon after the ice is hard, "Learn to Luge" programs will begin at the park for people of all ages. Anyone with $40 and a few hours can experience the thrill of high speeds and G-forces strong enough to weaken the most experienced luge pilots. But interested participants should not be intimidated by the potential poten-tial speeds, estimated to be upwards of 85 mph on the new track. Owen said newcomers are introduced to luge gradually on what is called the -i i skiers racing at quality sports experiences at an affordable afford-able price. And according to NAC officials, sometimes affordable is the key because many families "have extra expenses that are related to the disability," Meeche White, NAC executive director, said. White said watching the change in attitude of those coming through her progam is what keeps her motivated. "1 have seen peoples' lives change before their eyes," White said. "It transcends tran-scends into other parts of their lives." The NAC's motto is "If I can do this, I can do anything!", and White said it couldn't be more accurate. She said many people with disabilities are empowered by their experience on the mountain, enabling them to feel more confident in other environments like school and work. White said many of the skiers actually actual-ly are "moving faster than they ever have in their life." And skiers and spectators at the Park City Ski Area can witness that need for speed Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Aaron Lannington is one athlete that can be found at the Resort Center climbing into his monoski. Lannington used two skis for 25 years before he suffered suf-fered a spinal cord injury in a motorcycle motorcy-cle accident two-and-a-half years ago. But Lannington didn't let the injury slow him down. Six months after his injury, the former for-mer freestyle skier who now skis for the Snowbird Ski Team, was back on snow, doing what he loved. Lannington's entry in the Huntsman Cup last year was his first racing experience, experi-ence, and he was chosen as the Utah Winter Games All-Star, an award given to the top male and female racers. The now-experienced monoskier said learning to carve turns in a chair was a difficult task. Please see Disabled B-8 'tourist starts', lower down on the track, reducing the speed to 20-30 mph. But if someone shows a natural talent for the sport, Owen said it doesn't take long to get further up on the track, reaching higher speeds. The most difficult part of the sport is learning to steer the sled. "Once they get that down, they're off and running," Owen said. Owen said the steer- i n motion does not always come easily. If a slider wants to steer the sled to the left, the rider must push down and in with the right leg and foot while pushing down with the left shoulder. But, once a newcomer has the technique, Owen said the learning learn-ing process takes off and progress is quick. "Some kids pick it up quickly, some take longer. But once they have it, they're on the road to high speed," Owen said. Owen said some of the young lugers in Lake Placid, N.Y. were able to get onto the Junior National team after only one year's experience on a luge. Of the eight young people that Owen I I III III! UlNlHIilillllll limn XV x CBaer Sree W Resraunam IrishEnglish Pi b Open daily 11:30 AM - 10:00 I'M .-r. s r n r7iri n Dinner Sunday CBruncfi Qaily Specials 2nd floon-Mam Str66t Mall ovenloohng hiswmc Mam SmeeT 655-8655 RESERVATIONS ACCEPTED ENGLISH IRISH AMERICAN BISTROPUB Cl'ISINE WEEKEND ENTERTAINMENT r""jL ,mmr-m Ju m iSMR.JB&H Aaron Lanningham is one of many the Huntsman Cup this weekend at has been coaching over the past year, none are from Park City. The small group of future lugers has been training with sleds designed to run on snow. "This is the opportunity for kids around here," Owen said. "It's up and running. ..the real track, the real sport. The programs are here, the coaching is here, now all we need is the kids." There is not one particular body shape or physical characteristic that a potential luger should have. Owen said even though bigger people have more mass and can reach higher speeds, sometimes it is the smaller ones who have the feel for handling the luge. A successful luger does need one thing a stong stomach. "The rest naturally natu-rally takes care of itself," Owen said. Owen, an Olympic luger from the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary, will be coaching the clinics and some of the teams based at the Winter Sports Park. He said students at the clinics and teams will be moved along gradually, gradual-ly, giving lugers a chance to make mistakes mis-takes with minimal consequences. Despite travelling at incredible speeds and exposing your body to G-forces five times that of normal, Owen believes the sport is quite salte. "Luge hasva very bad reputation, but it is actually a very safe sport." Owen said. Owen said the computer-designed, three-quarter rnile, 1300 meter track drops 300 feet in 50 seconds. To test the true potential of the track, Owen said. Please see New Luge B-8 COME HILL or WINTER WEATHER -mi : w Park City SCOTT SINE'PXflK RECORD disabled skiers who will be competing in the Park City Ski Area. PCST gets top spots byDave Fields OF THE RECORD STAFF The Park City Ski Team improved on an already good season with strong finishes in the Sean Nurse Memorial Alpine Ski Race last weekend in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Skiing at the Snow King resort, the 34 racers from Park City were led by J2 racer Katie Shackelford. The 16-year-old Shackelford won the overall women's race on Saturday. Shackelford's teammate Elisha Stephens, also a J2 racer, finished second sec-ond in her age division and fourth overall for Saturday. The women's portion of the team was helped by Christine Stephens who started the day of racing at 22nd and finished the second run 10th overall. Another J2 racer. 15-year-old Sierra Blauvelt started 23rd, moved to 14th and finished 14th overall. Fourteen-year-old Rebecca Roth also improved on her first run start position, moving from 34th to 20th. The Park City men had some strong finishes on Saturday, highlighted by Todd Ligare and Tom Dark. Fourteen-year-old Ligare started 35th and finished fin-ished 15th overall and 14-year-old Dark moved from 52nd to 19th overall and finished third in the J3s. Sixteen-year-old Skylar Tritt helped the men's team by moving from a distant 63rd first-run starting position to 23rd after the second run. Beth McNichol. a Park City Ski Please see Park City Ski Team B-8 1996 CLOSEOUT Starting at $69,500 for a Loaded Demo Wagon CENTRAL ROCKY HUMMER A Division of Carieson Cadillac 1 060 Soi ith Mar ' Salt Lake City 801-530-4860 Fa 801-576-8260 11 |