In its 12-year history, the SISU Ski Fest in Ironwood only had to cancel once because the snow conditions weren’t able to support the race.
Race Director Jackie Powers didn’t want this to be another year without a race, so she and other organizers decided back in July to make modifications.
“In the summer we for-saw that things were only going to get worse and not better before January,” said Powers. “We made the decision in July to switch to a virtual event so that we could plan something that we hoped was going to be worthwhile and still fun and still competitive and safe and not to be canceled.”
Here’s how it works:
Racers register online for either the 30k, 15k or 5k. The ski fest will mail out your racer packet.
Sometime between January 4th and January 17th, you ski your race wherever you want.
The Ski Fest will be setting up the racecourse at ABR Trails for those that still want to do the race in Ironwood.
Then you track your distance and your time and upload to the website.
This is year, Powers said they’ll be applying an adjustment based on your age group and event to determine the overall winners.
“With all the unknowns of the weather and where you’re able to do it, whether it’s a hilly course or flat course and all those kinds of things, we thought by doing this age group equalizer we could add something else into the mix to make it truly random, or less random maybe, just to make it fun and still make it competitive and try and make it fair,” said Powers.
January 3rd is your last day to register for the event.
The SISU Ski Fest will kick off this Friday with livestreamed concert on theTravel Ironwood Facebook page.
Powers says this ties in with Ironwood’s First Friday event.
It will also be a chance for people to win two entries into the race.
“We normally have a party at the Ironwood Theater after the race which obviously we can’t have this year so instead we’re having a virtual concert at the Ironwood Theater,” said Powers. “People can tune in and hear some music and get in the mood and maybe win a free entry at the last minute.
Money earned from the race goes to the SISU Community Grants Fund which helps silent sport projects in the Gogebic Range.
Powers hopes that even though people can’t be together for the race, they still find enjoyment in it.
“Hopefully it’s fun. It’s gets them out there. It kind of connects people that we’re all part of this race even though more disjointed than usual,” said Powers.
