SO, STANDING ON THE DECK at Black Mountain last Saturday afternoon, as Rek-lis rocked on and racers blasted past as part of the up-and-down race at the Granite Backcountry Alliance’s third annual Wild Corn Shindig, I felt a connection to spring events of the past here in the shadow of Mount Washington.
As I saw spacesuit-attired race director Andrew Drummond of Ski the Whites/GBA lead the pack of racers as they freeheeled their way up the course at Black, I thought of the infamous Spring Shampagne Stampedes of the 1980s and ‘90s, which set costumed teams running through North Conway’s village streets on scavenger hunts.
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