Hot competition for fire trophies

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 12, Issue 555, 27 September 1994, Page 10

Hot competition for fire trophies

Serious fun is called for from participants in the sixth annual New Zealand Fire Fighter's Ski Championships being held this week on Turoa. At the time of writing 120 firemen and women in 30 teams were signed up to race in the two-day event, which starts Thursday. They start with two runs at a giant slalom course on Thursday, probably set up on the Vertigo Run off the High Noon T-Bar. On Friday they pair off with the next closest in points from the previous day's racing and do battle on a dual slalom course. The hosts, the Ohakune Volunteer Fire Brigade, may have a hard j ob snatching back the top trophy as, at the time of writing, they hadn' t quite sorted out their team. However, having a large number of skiers on their brigade, they can usually muster a strong presence on the race course, if not first place. Their top team have won the trophy two out of the five years the event has been running and they want it back.

Last year's winners, North Harbour Maniacal Masters, won it in 1 992 also so they too are desperate to win it so they can claim a hat trick. They won the trophy one other year, but not in succession. Other race trophies up for grabs are for the fastest male, won four out of five

times by Ohakune' s Duane Dixon; fastest female, won four out of five times by Caroline Giles, formerly of Ohakune but this year living at Whakapapa, and possibly racing for a fast north-erly-aspect Ruapehu team (watch out Maniacs and Ohakune?) Also hotly contested is

the FU Coupling trophy, for the slowest team. Raetihi Volunteer Fire Brigade and Wellington' s team Brown Eyes have often fought off all-comers for this - but there are some especially slow firefighters willing to get burned on this one. The event is both social Turn to Page 11

Fire ski races this week

FROM PAGE 10 and competitive, reflected in the points spread in last year's event which ranged from 74 points to 526 points. The firefighters are divided into three skier divisions: novice, intermediate and competitive. The novice skiers start half-way down the split course, with the competitive skiers sent down after them. Last batch is the intermediate skiers. First day, the ravers (sorry, racers) score points relative to their overall placings, with the fastest earning one point. The aim is to finish with the least number of points (or most if you want the FU Coupling trophy). Second day, losers of each dual slalom are given 1 5 points and winners, zero. The points system is designed to keep the racing competitive over the two days. For example, last year the team in second place was 40 points behind the winners, but they were still in with a chance to catch up, by winning all their dual slalom races. It's not all gates and GS — there is some time (quite some time usually) for socialising, with most being laid on at the fire station this year. The guest firefighters will be treated to sumo wrestling (participating - not spectating) in silly sumo suits, inflated to protect the innocent. The Ohakune Volunteer Fire Brigade once again thank the community for their support in this event and also ask for the co-op-eration of the whole community to keep emergency call-outs to a minimum, especially at night so as not to interfere with vital training being carried out by racers.