Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Ryan Brewster and Isaac Abernathy stood amid a crowd of hundreds of racers and spectators at the Cardboard Classic on Mount Werner Saturday afternoon.

They wore cardboard helmets, but said their beer was their protection. Their entry, "Green Line," was made of empty Heineken 12-pack boxes and other cardboard boxes from the liquor store. Their "co-pilots" were life-sized cardboard cutouts of beer models.

And while beer was a common theme in the Cardboard Classic, not all racers were drinking.

A group of youngsters created the "Alligator" racer. One of them, Adam Parke, 12, said, "We're the only ones who won't be swerving. We're the only ones who will remember the race."

Another group of racers, Colorado Mountain College engineering students, had built Cletus the Calculator. Why a calculator?

"Because we're nerds," racer Dave Hayward said.

His team estimated that they used 660 yards of duct tape on their craft, which they built complete with calculator buttons that popped up to convert into seats for the racers.

In the race itself, some crafts made it down the hill in one piece, but most did not.

The racers were judged mostly on creativity. Speed down the slope simply helped their overall score.

Overall winners for "best individual craft" were "The Pimps."

Dressed in authentic pimp apparel, complete with feathers in their hats and cigars in their hands, their Cadillac-style racer made it down the hill fast and in one piece. Theirs was just one of two to make it all the way into the padding at the bottom.

"This is awesome," Pimp Woody Helgerson said after winning the race. "It was well deserved."

"It took lots of commitment, dedication, practice and teamwork," teammate Kevin Lee said.

Other winners included "Chopper," a cardboard motorcycle with a wheel that actually turned, "Nordic Gold" for being "most creative," and "Dream Island" with the "potpourri" award for being the only one to race carrying a keg of beer inside.

-- To reach Nick Foster call 871-4204

or e-mail nfoster@steamboatpilot.com