SMP, united under one banner, Freeskier and Snowboard. Time to bond the team in one place, at one time. Go-Karts. And not your sissy, you-must-be-this-tall-to-ride-this-ride type go-karts. The legit, 60 mph, full face helmet, glove and racing suit type go-karts. The location: Centennial, Colorado. Winner takes all. And by all, I mean, the glory, the admiration and an engraved trophy in the shape of a cup to display proudly in his or her office for one year, until the cup approaches us once again next year.

We were picked up at 11:00 am Thursday morning in the most ghetto-ass converted RV/van I have ever seen. It was painted entirely black and we were a little wary. But the driver, Dan, was ready and willing to take us wherever we needed. With careful direction, he managed to drop us off at our destination on time, with BBQ lunch waiting. The Track, the name of the racing establishment we patronized, is amazing. They don’t really mess around with crappy little cars or make concessions for those with little experience. It’s get in and race. No whining. With our bellies full of Brothers BBQ, we donned gloves, helmets and racing suits, were given the 411 by the track staff and started our engines.

We started with a few warm up laps to get the feel of the karts and the track and then shoved right on in to qualifiers. Andrew, our finance guy, pulled off a dark horse finish and won the poll position. Jeff Baker, Snowboard publisher/editor was in strong second with Christopher Jerard and Matt Harvey in third and fourth respectively. Bradford Fayfield, our esteemed founder, found himself in sixth, looking to move ahead of the pack come finals.

The eight-lap finals was mano e mano. No racing against the clock, this was every kart, man and ego for himself. We took at mellow lap to work our way up to the green flag, felt out the pavement underneath and were on our way at the starting line. Everyone stepped up their game as the honor of the cup was on the line. Lucky Lopez was on point, running people off the track and generally causing havoc. Work is, he’s the catalyst behind Andrew wrecking around lap 5 and causing him a DNF. Not one soul finished without a story to tell about Lopez and his tactics.

With the poll racer out of the way, the field was wide open. Harvey, Baker, Jerard and Fayfield were the front runners and battled back and forth until finally Harvey pulled away and won handily with Jerard coming in second and Fayfield claiming bronze. The cup was awarded to Harvey and he proudly drank his requisite full cup full of beer out of it.

All-in-all, it was a great Thursday with many a backs patted and hands shook. We cruised back to Boulder high on go-karts and stoked to be members of the team.