Snow perfect for Quadrathlon
Event is 17 days away

By Santiago Ramos
Staff Sports Writer

GRANTS — It's just 17 days until the 24th Annual Mount Taylor Winter Quadrathlon, New Mexico's premier winter sports event.

According to the latest tally at the Grants/Cibola County Chamber of Commerce, a total of 265 competitors have registered as of Wednesday afternoon.

Quadrathlon race director Karen Fletcher says that more competitors should enter all the way until the day before the competition which will be Saturday, Feb. 17 at 9 a.m.

"People are still registering online," Fletcher said. "We had 364 register last year. In the past we usually had 550 to 600 enter. We still have 17 days left to register."

Today is the final day that competitors will be able to register with the $60 entry fee. Competitors can register at the Chamber of Commerce at 100 North Iron Ave. in Grants or they can register on-line at www.mytaylorquad.org or www.active.com. Competitors can also mail their entries in but in order to qualify for the $60 entry fee the entry must be postmarked by today. Starting Friday, entry fees will be $85.

The 42-mile round trip winter competition consists of four segments: biking, running, cross country skiing and snowshoeing up and then back down the 11,301 foot high summit of Mt. Taylor and back to the start/finish line in Grants.

Snow conditions are perfect for this year's Quadrathlon thanks to the weekly snowstorms that the area have received.

"The mountain looks wonderful," said Fletcher who has been involved with the Quad the last 11 years, seven times as a competitor. "It's been groomed. As of last week there was four feet on top of Mt. Taylor, two feet at the ski transition. It's snowpacked at the run transition and the bike transition is clear. The County has bladed the roads so people can go up and practice on the mountain."

Twice the Quad in 1999 and again in 2000 did not have enough snow to do the cross country skiing and snowshoeing segments. This year there is more than enough snow to satisfy both legs.

Robin Webb, the Executive Assistant at the Grants/Cibola County Chamber of Commerce who is also on the Quad committee, says that lots of entries have been coming in the past week in order to qualify for the lower entry fee.

"We've been getting a lot (of entries) in the mail and on-line," Webb said. "We're very excited with all the snow we've gotten since we had no snow last year. We've had 129 entries come in in the past week. But you must have it postmarked today in order to get the $60 entry fee."

Fletcher said that more volunteers are sorely needed to help with the Quad.

"We need more volunteers," she said. "We'll be having a volunteer meeting at 7 p.m. at the Cibola County Complex the day before the Quad. We definitely need more volunteers to help out."

The website for the Quadrathlon is www.mttaylorquad.org. Contact the Grants/Cibola Chamber of Commerce at (505) 287-4802 or 1-800-748-2142.