The Grand Piano Race

Glenmore to Cairngorm Mountain Base Station; 21st June 2009

Ideas and plans for The Big Race are evolving all the time, so check back often to see what’s new. Here is the format as it stands at the moment…

The Grand Piano Race is a team event. The challenge for each team is to reach the finishing point at the Cairngorm ski car park from a starting point in Glenmore in the shortest possible time….while manhandling a grand piano on a trolley!

The race will take the form of heats, each heat being a three team race against the clock, but with staggered starts to avoid congestion! All being well there will be two or more pianos heading up the hill at any one time. The draw for the heats will be made at the welcoming party in Aviemore on the evening of 20th June (horse trading allowed if the charities benefit). The elapsed time from start to finish will be the team’s score. If the final number of entries is high, heats may be seeded and the format changed to a knockout competition with semi-final and final.

The race will take place in Glenmore, Aviemore, in the heart of the Cairngorm National Park. It will follow the smooth metalled Cairngorm mountain road throughout, and will finish at the CairnGorm Mountain Ltd. base station at the upper end of the ski area car park. The starting point has yet to be fixed, but the furthest it will be from the finish is the Hayfield car park in Glenmore (approximately 4km distance and 300m of ascent).

The trolley will be designed and built by an engineering project team, and will be based on a standard roadworthy trailer chassis. The piano will be mounted on purpose built cradle fixed to the trailer.

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