About the Gold Country Challenge
The Gold Country Challenge (GCC) is a One Loft Race Event that was created in late 2006 and first flown in the fall of 2007. The first year turned out to be a great success and highly competitive with the Top-4 Overall Ace Pigeons coming right down to the final race and all separated by just a handful of points. 2011 will mark the 5th year of the race and we are expecting the number of entries to grow quite a bit in 2011.
The multiple-race-series One Loft events are becoming increasingly popular and have become the way of the future for One Loft Events. As a result, the loft managers of the GCC created the Gold Country Challenge which is at this time the only Four-Race-Series One Loft event in Northern California. The Gold Country Challenge consists of 4 races, each of increasing distance, with a graduated points system for each race. The pigeon with the most accumulated points of the 4 races will be crowned 1st Overall Ace Pigeon of the Gold Country Challenge. The Overall Ace Pigeon Standings will be paid out to the Top-10 Positions, while the final 305 Mile Race will also have payouts to the Top-10 Positions.
We believe the GCC provides the best of both worlds in one loft racing, as you the entrant have the opportunity to win prize money for consistency throughout the four races (Overall Ace Pigeons) and also win prize money for performances in the final 305 Mile Race (like a traditional one loft race.)
The Gold Country Challenge will be flown from the East over the 10,000 Foot High Sierra Mountain Range. All four race stations will be released in the high deserts of Nevada where the birds will encounter several large mountain ranges and possible high temperatures on their return home. Once the birds reach 65 miles from home they will have to climb the massive High Sierra's and then descend to the final destination which is our loft in Garden Valley, CA (elevation of 1700 feet). Our regular 31 mile training toss is from an elevation of 6500 feet and our 60 mile training toss takes place from Mt. Rose, NV (elevation of 8500 feet). As you can see this is a very challenging race course and an excellent judge as to the quality and durability of a pigeon. Speeds on this race course range from 1100 to 1650 ypm., with most races being flown in the 1200 to 1400 ypm range.
About the Loft Managers
The Loft Managers of the Gold Country Challenge are Jon & Matt Hans of Hans Family Loft. Jon successfully managed our club's One Loft Race (Hangtown Classic) in 1999 and 2000, with excellent returns on race day both years. As a competitive racing loft, Hans Family Loft is one of the top performance lofts in the Camellia City Combine and all of California. We have won well over 100 1st Place Club wins since 1997 in addition to numerous Concourse and Combine wins. Hans Family Loft has also won close to 40 National Ace Pigeon Awards. We bred and raced the 1st Place Overall California State Hall of Fame Young Birds in 2003 and 2004. We have experience in successfully managing One Loft Races and as a racing loft we have proven the ability to bring out consistency and continued winning performance in our own pigeons.
As Loft Managers of the Gold Country Challenge we promise to:
Keep a clean loft and do our best to keep your entries as healthy as possible
Train your entries hard and on the line of flight to ensure they are ready for all four races
Feed your entries the best quality feed (Leach Grain)
Improve and maintain the health of your entries with supplements from Racing Pigeon Mall
Regularly update this website with training tosses, results, and a journal to keep you informed of your pigeons
You Can Visit the Personal Website of the Loft Manager's at: http://www.hansfamilyloft.com
We Look Forward to your Entries and Support in the Gold Country Challenge
Thank You,
Jon & Matt Hans - Gold Country Challenge
email: hansfamilyloft@gmail.com