ANGEL FIRE, New Mexico — Necessity, it has been said, is the mother of invention. And some mighty weird sports. Take, for example, shovel racing.
Shovel racing started in the 1970s in this ski resort town nestled in the Rocky Mountains of north-central New Mexico. Lift operators grew tired of taking lifts down the mountain after a day's work, so they started sliding down slopes on shovels. Naturally, they soon created a race, and the sport blossomed.
[bug id="weird-sports"]Part of what made shovel racing so wild were the modified shovel divisions. The rigs, some of which weighed as much as 500 pounds with their pneumatic brakes and roll cages, resembled the bastard child of a soapbox racer and a bobsled. Who knew you could pimp out a shovel? The modified divisions were extremely popular and wildly unsafe, which of course made them a natural for the very first Winter X Games in 1997. Once was enough, however, when a spectacular wreck severely injured a competitor.
Safety and liability concerns grew for obvious reasons, and Angel Fire resort eventually mothballed the races for five years. But the lure of the sport proved too strong, and it came back in 2010. Everyone kept it simple: A metal grain shovel to sit on, and maybe a little ski wax for speed.
Surprisingly, racers can still haul some serious ass simply sitting on shovels. Chad Denney from Angel Fire set a new record in the men's division on Saturday, streaking down the 1,000-foot course in 13.5 seconds. A radar gun clocked him at 73.64 mph. The speed limit on the New Mexico interstate is 75, so he could have punched it even a little faster without drawing the attention of the law. Even kids in the Little Scoops division, for those between 6 and 9, topped speeds of 44 mph.
Some racers pirouetted out of control across the finish line while trying to steer with outstretched hands. Others finished before, or after, their shovels. But most riders were in strong control of their rides, especially as the day went on. Any wipeouts generally happened while trying to stop once past the finish line.
Paloma Gonzales, a University of New Mexico student studying exercise science, skipped school to be in her hometown for the races. Riding a shovel she christened El Diablo Rapido, Paloma finished a close second in the women's division. She began when she was just a little scoop, trying to keep pace with her older siblings. "I had to prove to my family that I could do it," she said. "I was so scared, but it was so fun."
I will say, I was a little surprised there weren't more spectators. I thought the place would be packed. It was a gorgeous sunny day, but there were nearly as many racers (100) as fans. My guess is that back in the day people came to see the souped-up shovels and wild wrecks. Think NASCAR on snow. I heard a few guys mumble that race day is nothing like what it used to be. Sure. It's also safer and saner.
I asked a ski patrol medic and race organizers if anyone was injured on race day. Turns out the only people needing medical attention were those wild kamikaze skiers.
Photos: Sol Neelman
