After almost a month of waiting for final results, Newtown’s Winterset Ski Club has finally learned it finished first in the 2013 Winter Carnival. The Annual event, hosted by the Connecticut Ski Council, was held at Okemo Mountain in Vermont, March 1-3. This was the first time Winterset won the event, after having participated for more than 20 years.

Winterset competes against many other Connecticut clubs (16 this year), in a weekend event set up by the Connecticut Ski Council. Events include a full slate of downhill races, including events for children under 10; a junior division of 11-17-year olds; snowboarders; women only; and team racing. Other events include a scavenger hunt on the mountain; volleyball tournament, fun race and a tug-of-war — all done in ski boots — and a cross-country ski race.

This year’s Winterset team included more than 65 skiers and riders of all ages, from 5-year-old Lassen Ando (who competed for the first time) to Andy Lapati (age 79) who was competitive in the Club Downhill and the Super G.

The team took First Place in four of the 11 events: the Super G, the Snowboard Race, the Ski Rally Scavenger Hunt, and the Fun Race.

Newlyweds Chris and Meghan Del Sole sped to a first place finish in the Super G on Friday, with Chris finishing fifth overall and Meghan finishing as the second-fastest female racer. Chris was also the fastest snowboarder on the mountain, combining with Rick Ando to take First Place in the Snowboarding event.

In the Ski Rally Scavenger Hunt, a team of 20 skiers combed the mountain in singles and pairs for answers to a dozen questions hidden on the mountain.

Cheryl Jensen, team organizer, handed in the winning entries in record time. 

The Fun Race is quite a different type of race, one that changes each year. This year’s event included giant plastic bowling pins and skis, and provides some comic relief to the weekend. The Bovaird and Wolf families took their best shots at snow bowling and came out in first place.

The best part of the weekend — and lesson learned — was just what Woody Allen said: “Eighty percent of success if just showing up.”  Winterset fielded a team for every event of the weekend, and demonstrated great teamwork.

Newtown’s Winterset Ski Club was founded in 1970 to promote skiing and snowboarding. The club offers many day bus trips, weekend, and weeklong trips in New England and out west, plus social events during the year, to encourage member skiing and camaraderie. For more information, go to www.wintersetskiclub.org.