McCall looks to put Nordic race on the map

Nordic ski racers, both serious and casual, will skate, pole and kick-and-glide at Ponderosa State Park Saturday during the McCall Re-Mastered race.

The fifth rendition of the event is being billed as a tuneup to the Boulder Mountain Tour near Ketchum and Sun Valley. The tour, scheduled for Feb. 4, is the largest Nordic event in Idaho and draws about 800 participants including hard-core, Lycra-clad athletes and weekend warriors who don costumes instead of race suits.

McCall's Re-Mastered race typically draws about 100 participants, but organizers aspire to see it grow and perhaps one day be in the same class as the tour.

"The goal behind it is to create another regional race for master level, citizen racers, but still draw an elite field similar to the Boulder Mountain Tour," said Kurt Wolf, recreation supervisor at McCall and president of the McCall Re-Mastered board of directors. "We are not near the scale of that event but that is our goal - to provide another regional, well-run Nordic ski event."

Wolf said the free-style race, meaning it is open for both classic skiers and skate skiers, is meant for all experience levels. The course follows the same 15-kilometer loop as the 2008 World Masters Race that drew 1,200 competitors from around the globe.

"By no means does that mean you have to be a world-class athlete," Wolf said. "We have kids in their teens all the way to seniors in their 60s and 70s."

During the Re-Mastered, people can choose to participate in 15K, 30K or 45K versions of the race. The competition will begin with a mass start at 10 a.m. Mountain Time and registration starts at 8:30 a.m. The cost is $63 and all proceeds are poured back into the race.

Dean Hovdey of McCall said the area offers world-class Nordic skiing. He and his wife, Patty Boydstun-Hovdey, a former Olympic alpine skier, own and operate Hometown Sports.

"The Nordic skiing we have right here in McCall is phenomenal," he said. "What we've got here is a combination of the right elevation, the right snow conditions and temperature, so the snow at the Nordic touring centers is consistent and good, and then we have all these different venues right here in the valley."

The race helps promote the local Nordic opportunities and to draw tourism to the town, but Hovdey said the focus of the event isn't necessarily to benefit businesses.

"When you put on events like this, a part of it is to help bring business to the community, but I think what ends up making an event successful or not is not that focus but the focus of making it a really good experience for the competitors," he said. "It's all about doing it right for the competitors. When that is the focus of these events, then these are things that gain momentum and bigger participation over time."

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