| The Silver State Classic Challenge Races |
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| The Silver State races are closed to spectators. There is only one way that a person can view these events and that is by being a course worker. Amateur radio operators are at the heart of the safety and communications of these events and receive world-wide acclaim for our services. Every effort is put forth to ensure the safety of the race partcipants, however in a high speed event covering a course of nearly 100 miles over rugged terain and with vehicles exceeding 200 miles per hour, the potential for mishaps is always present. Amateur Radio Operators supervise 8 checkpoints and also man a command post, start and finish lines, 2 pit areas,and 2 hazardous locations in the river narrows. We also staff two aircraft as communicator/observers, two race safety official vehicles as communicators, and provide shadow communicators for the Race Director and for the Nevada DOT official in charge. Emergency and other personel from a variety of agencies assist us in these events. Sheriff officers from three counties, four ambulance crews, fire/rescue, Nevada Highway Patrol, Nevada Dot, air evac crews, road crews......all depend upon the amateur radio operators working this event to alert them when a situation arises. While the majority of amateurs working these events reside in the Las Vegas area, we have hams from many western states and even Mexico and Canada work the stages. The Silver State organizers provide Staff Tee-shirts, ball caps, and are planning a special ham radio patch similar in style to the Silver State patch shown at the top of this page for each opeator. Additionally, all amateur radio operators are invited guests of the Thursday Sam's Town Media Luncheon, the Friday Caravan, the parade, the evening reception, Ely events, and the Sam'sTown Awards Banquet...at no cost to to the amateur operator. For more information or to sign up to work one of these events, contact: John Bigley-N7UR Communications Director Silver State Classic Challenge n7ur@yahoo.com Or Charles Kunz-AA5QJ Amateur Radio Coordinator aa5qj@arrl.net |