Due to deteriorating trail conditions at Kincaid Park in Anchorage and continued warm weather in Southcentral Alaska, the 2017-18 Besh Cup Series committee has relocated the Besch Cup Series Races 1 & 2 scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, December 16 & 17.
The new venue will be Fairbanks with races to be held on homologated courses that would still allow this event to qualify as a FIS sanctioned race.
A meeting of the Cross Country Alaska Competition Committee on Monday night resulted in the following changes to the Besh Cup schedule. The goal of CCAK is to provide the opportunity for as many skiers as possible to compete in quality races that prepare them for national level competition.
- It was discussed and voted upon to not race in Anchorage this weekend. While NSAA would do the best it could based on current snow and conditions, there would still be a chance that further deterioration could result in race cancellation.
- The next topic that was voted upon was to waive the 10 day race change rule. Six of the CCAK Board of Directors attended the Competition Committee meeting and approved of the vote to waive this rule for Besh races 1 & 2.
- Next, the group discussed a suitable location for Besh races 1 & 2. The Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks is able to host the races on homologated courses that would still allow this event to qualify as a FIS sanctioned race. The Kachemak Nordic Ski Club representative weighed in and Tsalteshi Trails Association was contacted. Both clubs were in attendance at the Lynx Loppet in Anchorage and agreed that their trails were not any better than Anchorage. The committee voted in favor of holding the races in Fairbanks. The schedule will be adjusted and worked in the best way possible based on the fact these races are being held at almost 65 degrees latitude less than one week before the winter solstice.
- The final vote was to move Besh Cup races 5 & 6 to Anchorage. The Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage agreed that the races could be held in Anchorage that weekend and have begun the preparations for this. At this time there is not a reason to make any changes to Besh Cup races 3 & 4.
