2008 was a difficult year for racing at Crystal Ridge and the Alpha Trails. After over 100" of snow and flooding rains in spring, the trails really took a beating. We had 2 mudslides off of the ski hill that went across the trail, and the lower singletrack was either covered in mud or had rain ruts cut across. Parts of the Alpha Trail remained under water all summer. Weather forced us to cancel the 2008 race on the morning of, as the rain which started about 5AM continued to fall. We rescheduled the race for August 23, and for those that raced, they were challenged by a dry, fast course fo about 5 miles in length. The Alpha Trail was still too wet to use for the race, parts were still under water. We did finally get to race on the Alpha Trail for our Night Race on November 1. With some course modifications and new trail, we could use a similar course layout for the 2009 Metro Challenge.