MASTERS
Agnar Fjordholm at the
2006 Masters National
Championships in Big
Sky, Mont.
Masters
USST member Scott Snow
tests the new start ramp at
Bryce Mountain.
Kathy HurdCarillo races GS at Bryce Mountain.
MAT T STICH; COURTESY AGNAR FJORDHOLM; BARRY CLAYTON
come from all over the area, from Washington, D.C.; Charlotte and
Greensboro to the Atlanta Ski Club, which is one of the largest in
the country.”
The number of masters racers in SARA may be small, with about
25 full-time racers traveling the circuit, but like any other masters
region in the country, the quality of racing at the top end is competitive. Some 75 percent of SARA racers trek to the masters national
championships each year — among them are Phil Perkins, Kathy
HurdCarillo, and Agnar Fjordholm.
One of the more avid SARA masters racers, Phil Perkins, was the
winner of the opening slalom at Bryce. The 62-year-old Perkins is
a software development engineer, and coaches and races out of
Bryce Mountain. “I’ve skied all my life, but never raced until I moved
from Maine to Virginia,” says Perkins, who races with his wife, Kar-
en. “Racing made skiing more interesting, and 20 years later I’m
still having fun with it.”
Perkins is not an apologist for southern skiing, despite his north-
eastern background. “There’s great snow down here, and plenty of
it,” says Perkins. “In the 20 years that I’ve been racing, I can think of
only two or three cancellations because of snow conditions.”
The Sugar Mountain GS ranks among his favorites thanks to its
good vertical and varied terrain, as does nearby Massanutten,
which Perkins describes as having “lots of character.”
Speaking of characters, masters Class 4 Kathy HurdCarillo lives
and races out of Bryce Mountain and is a high-energy ski racing
devotee. She had spectators scrambling for their start lists when
she scored a second-place finish in slalom at the 2010 Masters
Nationals in Sun Valley. HurdCarillo grew up in Washington, D.C.,
where she became a nationally ranked figure skater. Her skating
prowess led to a professional career. “I toured all over the world
with the Ice Capades,” says HurdCarillo. “I skied recreationally as a
kid out of Bryce, but I was so busy with skating I never gave it much
time until I retired.”
At that point HurdCarillo found a home at Bryce Mountain, set up
her own dance company and started teaching skiing under Horst
Locher. “In the early days I’d bomb down the mountain, sitting in
the backseat with my legs totally fried. I never thought to stop and
rest,” says HurdCarillo. But Locher saw her carving perfect turns on
grass skis and told her that she really should be racing.
“I’d spend all day with the kids and the afternoons starting the NA-
STAR racers,” recalls HurdCarillo. “One day at the end of the ses-
sion I took a timed run, and I was hooked.”
After a few years training with Locher, HurdCarillo started travel-
ing to SARA races, and, seeking more competition, she gradually
increased her radius of travel to include the 2003 National Masters
Championships in Park City. “In the South, there are a variety of
mind sets,” says HurdCarillo. “Some are serious, some casual. This
is a great place to train and race, but with only a handful of women
racing here, I need a better frame of reference.”
Agnar Fjordholm has no shortage of references when it comes to
ski racing. He raced as a youngster in his native Norway, raced on
the U.S. pro tour, and directed the ski school at Breckenridge, Colo.
“I got out of skiing when I moved to Washington, D.C., as a profes-
sional pilot,” says Fjordholm, now a Class 9 in the masters. “I didn’t
ski for about 10 years, and then found out about the SARA masters
circuit. I’ve been doing it ever since. Ski racing is such a pleasant
diversion from daily routines. I call it my mental therapy.”
For Fjordholm, the attraction is not only in the challenge of taking
on the mountain, but like every masters racing circuit around the
country, it’s also about the people. “They are a great group of peo-
ple and their enthusiasm for the sport is inspiring,” says Fjordholm.
“I enjoy being among them.”
For those wanting to sample the southern racing fare, Perkins
notes: “Most days are sunny and in the 40s and nights are in the
20s. The snow’s great, and the hills are challenging. What’s there
not to like?”
