In the Fall of 2005 Bill Leonard of Ski Country Sports dreamed up the idea of organizing a High Country race series for local adult skiers. The point of the series was to have fun, as well as to enjoy some good natured competition. Bill pitched his idea to Gunther Jochl, owner of Sugar Mountain Resort, and the Sugar Mountain Adult Race League was born with the first series of races commencing with the 2006 ski season. That first year the league filled up its 100 person limit and the series has been going strong ever since.
When Leonard was asked what he had in mind when starting the league he joked, “I was kinda thinking it would be a great date night out, a night to get away from the kids once a week.” Now, 20 years later, those kids are all grown up and are now out on the slopes themselves racing for the Ski Country Sports team while Grandpa Bill spends his time minding the grandkids.
This past Monday night, after the final race of the season and during the award ceremonies, those 20 years were celebrated with a slideshow of photographs of past races as well as thoughts about all the time that had passed since that first race. It was noted that, in 2006, Twitter made its debut, Facebook was opened up to everyone (not just students), and parents were suddenly able to snoop on their kids. And, back then, everyone still used flip phones. Looking over the racing rosters from those 20 years it was guesstimated that close to a thousand racers had participated in the league with dozens upon dozens of teams being born.
And after reviewing those rosters it was determined that there had been five racers that had participated in all 20 years of racing with the league. Those five racers were recognized during Monday evening’s anniversary celebration event and each was presented with a plaque commemorating their accomplishment. Here are those five individuals:
Gunther Jochl
Gunther Jochl, owner of Sugar Mountain Resort is a 20 year veteran of the Sugar Mountain Adult Race League. His team, “Team Sugar”, was the first to sign up and he was probably the first to sign onto the Team. Since Team Sugar was first on board, they are the first Team to race down the course at the beginning each season, and Gunther is the first one down the course for the team. And Team Sugar has come in at first place every year of the event. That’s a lot of firsts for Gunther, who remarked, “It’s been fun, people enjoy it and have been having a good time doing it. We get together, race a little and have a beer afterwards. The camaraderie, and just having it has been a great thing,” said Gunther. “It’s as much fun today as it was in the beginning!”
Sean McKee
Sean McKee has been there from the beginning, and from day one the person responsible for getting the course and timing gear together and in place so that the racing can begin promptly at 6:30 every Monday night. Remembering back twenty years, McKee reminisces about what it was like keeping up with the timing back in those days. “When SMARL started, we were using a wireless timing device that had a display about the size of a nano iPad, about 8 by 8 inches that ran off radio signals. The times captured from that device were then display on the device screen and then those times had to be hand written down onto a sheet of paper. Then, at the end of the race, after the times were all compiled, those numbers had to be manually calculated to take into account each racers handicap and age for the final score,”
In those early years racers had to wait in the bar for an hour or more for the results to be announced, and everyone would scramble around the dozen or so posted sheets of paper checking out their scores to see how they stacked up with everyone else. “Instead of the beauty of a computer today, somebody had to physically spend an hour or so doing all of the calculations, manually, before the results were ready to post” says McKee. “That was always quite a scene watching the racers huddled around those sheets checking their times.” For folks who needed to leave early it would be Thursday, when the High Country Press print edition came out with that Monday’s scores printed in their edition, before racers could see the results. “Today I can have those numbers and results completed five minutes after the race ends. We even have a 65 inch TV display at the top and bottom of the course that display names and race times virtually in real time.”
Erich Schmidinger
Erich Schmidinger, who has also been racing with the league for 20 years, said he remembers leagues like these growing up in Massachusetts as a kid. “It was a big deal on the ski slopes up North” he remarked. “You’d see a lot of people you don’t get to see during the busy winter season, a lot of local people. And, of course, enjoying getting together after the race for a couple of beers is something a lot of us look forward to.” Asked what he thinks after 20 years of SMARL racing he says, “I could say everybody is getting older, but I wouldn’t say we’re old yet. We’re still having fun!”
Cindy and Les Broussard
Cindy and Les Broussard, owners of the Banner Elk Cafe, are also alumni of that first race. A family who loves to ski, the Broussard’s restaurant has always sponsored two to three teams every year. Besides participating in the racing, the Broussard’s restaurant has been hosting nights serving food to the racers after the race; a tradition that goes back all the way to the very first season. “I know most of the racers, so we end up feeding our friends which is fun,” said Les Broussard. Besides the fun, Broussard also enjoys the competitiveness brewing out there on the course. “I know it’s suppose to be fun and all that, but don’t let anyone tell you there’s not some serious competition going on between teams and individuals. I know Gunther, and we keep a close eye on each others scores to see who’s coming out on top every Monday. Probably the top ten racers from around here are out there on the course every week.”
Ralph Polattie
Perhaps the most dedicated racer of the SMARL event is 72 year old Ralph Polattie from Greenwood, South Carolina. “I’ve always wanted to race, every since seeing Jean-Claude Killy back in the 1968 Olympics when I was a youngster and I said then, ‘man, I want to do that someday’. My friend Donovan Carroll at Alpine Ski Center told me about this race starting up and encouraged me to come up and give it a try. So I signed onto the Bayou Smokehouse team and I was hooked.’ ” After the first seven years of bouncing around ski teams, Polattie decided to start up his own team, and the Good Ole Boys was born 13 years ago. The team’s been out there racing together ever since. “I’ve made a lot of friends over the years, kinda like you’re in a fraternity, and I can’t wait to see them every season,” says Polattie. But what perhaps makes Polattie the most dedicated racer is the fact that he drives 3 hours and 40 minutes, each way, from Greenwood, SC every Monday for the race. “I’ve been driving up for the race for 20 years now, only missing a few nights, mostly because of treacherous weather,” says Polattie, “I come up here and ski for the afternoon and then back out for the race that evening. Then I pack up and head home. I’m so use to it and don’t even notice the drive anymore.”
Bill Leonard
Special recognition was then given to Bill Leonard for bringing the race league to life 20 years ago, and being the fellow who has kept it going strong all these years. Leonard was on the course racing with his team “Ski Country Sports” until a few years ago when an injury curtailed his racing. All four of his kids are now racing with the team, each coming on board as they turned 21 years of age. “Ski Country Sports” has pretty much held onto the second place finish spot since 2006. Leonard was named Grand Poobah of the Sugar Mountain Adult Race League on its 20th Anniversary and honored with many such as toasts. Thank you Bill.
Over 100 Pictures from Over the Years of SMARL
Flip through years of pictures from the race course and award ceremonies of SMARL. See many of the racers who have participated, watch them grow older and see how the clothing style has changed over the years.
You must be logged in to post a comment.