About
The goal of the Dirksen Derby is to bring the Snowboard and Sit-Ski communities together for an incredibly fun and memorable weekend full of fast race times, strong friendships and fond memories while donating money to good causes.
The first Dirksen Derby Snowboard Rally Race was held at Mt. Bachelor in Oregon on December 1st, 2007. The event had 3 divisions, 58 total racers, and raised $1,160 for the local snowboarder Tyler Eklund, who was seriously injured while competing 8 months earlier at the USASA Snowboard Nationals in California.
With only 12” of snow on the ground that first year, the Dirksen Derby 1 course consisted of a single 30-second run down the dirt halfpipe with metal fencing poking out of the turns and hay bales to ollie over before hitting a jump at the finish line. The manual stopwatch timing system started between two large trees at the top and finished when the rider landed the final jump on the course.
The event has come a long way since then. Our 100% hand-dug Parallel Banked Slalom courses challenge the racers with a slow but technical race that rewards consistency and penalizes even the smallest mistakes. Our world-class timing system (run by CJ Timing) combines riders times down the Red Course (more difficult) and the Green Course (more friendly) for a final combined time at the end of the weekend. Fastest combined time wins.
As of 2022, the Dirksen Derby LLC has hosted 15 individual events (Snowboard, Sit-Ski, and Splitboard), "dropped-in" over 5000 competitors, and donated over $300,000 to numerous Non-Profits and Friends (in need). The Dirksen Derby is not a 501(c)(3) organization, we are an LLC business that pays our bills, pays our taxes, and donates a lot of money to charity. The Dirksen Derby is also a proud member of 1% for the Planet (https://www.onepercentfortheplanet.org/). Our original inspiration, Tyler Eklund, still participates each year and even had a podium finish in the Sit-Ski division in 2010!
Thank you to everyone who has raced, participated, worked, volunteered, helped-out or hung-out at the event over the years. We hope to host many more.....
