But they will have to take a powder to do it.
Beginning Monday, some of the best powder hounds around will gather to compete in the ninth annual Breckenridge Figure-8 contest, to be held in the Horseshoe Bowl atop Peak 8. All they will need is a good snowfall.
Twenty teams of two skiers each will battle the mountain's steepness and varying powder conditions to create the best figure-8s.
Figure-8s are the skiers' track impressions left behind in the snow when the two skiers intertwine tracks, one skier following another. The trailing skier tries to mirror the lead skier's turns to create a symmetrical effect.
A set of judges on the hill will score the event. The event will be also be videotaped, and a separate set of judges will score the competition after viewing. The scores of both panels will be combined to determine the winners.
A total of $4,500 in cash and prizes will be at stake, as will an automatic entry into next year's Grand National Powder-8 Championships in Jackson Hole, Wyo. That area, perhaps more than any other, is noted for its deep powder.
In February, at the 1989 Jackson Hole competition, Dan Rosenthal and Rob Sprague - first-place finishers at Breckenridge - placed third.
The Saemisch brothers of Denver also competed at Jackson Hole a year ago after finishing second in the eighth annual Breckenridge event.
Entry fee for the Breckenridge Figure-8 contest is $120 per team. For additional information, contact Lee Metzger at 1453-2368 or Jim Hamilton at 1453-2003.
From April 3 until the closing of the Breckenridge Ski Area, powder skiers will be gathering in the Horseshoe Bowl atop Peak 8, scanning the skies and awaiting at least four inches of fresh snow and the chance to compete for over $4,500 in cash and prizes in the 9th Annual Breckenridge Figure 8 Contest.
The contest is a unique event in which 20 teams of two skiers each battle the mountain's steepness and varying snow conditions in an attempt to impress a panel of judges with the execution of 8s.
An "8" is the impression left on the snow as the team of two descends the mountain with one skier following the other, trying like all get-out to duplicate the leader's turns, criss-crossing and ski-carving the digit 8 all over the hill.
This year the contest will be videotaped, and a separate set of judges will view the film, combining scores with those of the judges on the mountain, to determine the winners.
In addition to being Kings of the Hill for an entire year, the winners of the Breckenridge Figure 8s will be entered in the Grand National Powder 8 Championships to be held next February in Jackson Hole.
Last year two teams of Breck skiers took part in the Wyoming competition. The Saemisch Brothers from Denver, second place winners at Breck, and Dan Rosenthal and Rob Sprague, first place winner here, 8 up the mountain at Jackson Hole.
Rosenthal and Sprague took third at the Nationals and promise to be a tough pair to beat this year.
Entry fee for the 9th Annual is $120 per team.
For additional info, contact Lee Metzger at 453-2368 or Jim Hamilton at 453-2003.