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Archives for March 2013

Recap of 2013 Canadian skimo racing season: Events, Participation, Rankings

March 28, 2013 By Stano Faban 2 Comments

Believe it or not, the 2013 Canadian skimo racing season marked 10 years of skimo racing in this backcountry skiing obsessed country.
For now, let’s take a close look at the most recent season but more details on the ten year summary are coming soon.
skimo-canada-logo

Events every month

Last Saturday, the Canadian racing season ended with its last event, Ken Jones Classic, held at Lake Louise.
The season’s opener, Vert 180, took place in December 2012 and was followed by Castle Mountain Skimo Race in January which brought ski mountaineering racing to this venue for the very first time.
Third weekend in February was traditionally reserved for ROAM Randonnee Rally at Whitewater Ski Resort. The race is always part of a larger event – Coldsmoke Powder Fest.
The biggest race on the Canadian and North American calendar was planned for mid-March when the classic Dogtooth Dash was relabeled to The GORE-TEX 2013 Continental Skimo Champs.
Last race on the calendar, a week after the Dogtooth Dash, was the above mentioned Ken Jones Classic.

Participation grows

This season was the biggest yet in terms of participation:

  • Overall, 171 people participated in at least one event which breaks down to
    • 119 male
    • 49 female
    • 2 junior male
    • and 3 junior female racers.
  • 55 racers (38 male, 17 female) completed at least one Elite race course, and
  • 31 racers participated in at least two events.

Canadian Skimo Cup

Points for the Alpine Club’s of Canada ski mountaineering competition rankings are collected by racing in the elite category (long courses). Best three results count where one out of the country race could be taken into account.
Top 5 for the 2013 season:

Men:

  1. Stano Faban
  2. Eric Carter
  3. Peter Knight
  4. Brad Schalles
  5. Ben Parsons
Women:

  1. Martha Burley
  2. Michelle Roberts
  3. Marg Fedyna
  4. Sheri Foster
  5. Amber Steed

» Complete rankings file – 2013 Canada Cup Rankings
 

Filed Under: Reports & Results

Report from 2013 Ken Jones Classic: Brad Schalles and Martha Burley win, Eric Carter falls into a tree well

March 24, 2013 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

After three months the Canadian skimo racing season ended yesterday with the final race held at Lake Louise Ski Area. It was the third annual Ken Jones Classic, organized by the Alpine Club’s of Canada Dave Dornian and Ryan Johnstone, and with huge backing from the ski area itself and plenty of enthusiastic volunteers. Thank you!

Conditions + race course

If you are going to race on March 23rd and forecast calls for sunny skies you are thinking about cutting venting holes in your clothes and not freezing your hands off while climbing! Start at 2000 m and at 8.40 am meant about -15 C with promising warming from the rising sun. Any cozy warm temps never came.
Snow was great, either soft packed or 20 cms of lightly wind-affected powder.
The race course was challenging, with four technical descents and plenty of switchbacks on the climbs, plus one long bootpack. In total about 1540 vertical metres of climbing.

Exciting racing – how it all went down

Women’s category goings are in italics.
The night before, at dinner, five of us figured and laughed that it’s really going to be anyone’s race. And it almost was.
A strong trio setup on the first climb (560 m) – Eric Carter, Brad Schalles, Peter Knight – and created a nice gap on Nick Elson and me little further back. With Steve Sellers not far behind me.
In the women’s category, Marg Fedyna lit up the climb and was comfortably leading Martha Burley and Michelle Roberts.

2013-ken-jones-race-report
Eric leading Brad and Peter high up on the first climb. Photo from Lake Louise Ski Area gallery.
The first descent didn’t shake up the men’s order – the trio stayed together, Nick Elson bent a ski pole, and I was unsure whether I skied down the right chute.
The women’s order started to shuffle here but the top 3 were still quite close together.
Up the second climb (230 m), while trying to find my rhythm after last 2-3 weeks of tiredness, I had a front-row seat to watch the fight above. The trio was attacking each other but no one ever got a gap bigger than 2-3 metres. Nick going strong in fourth, me in fifth and Steve looking strong in sixth.
In women’s category, on this and next climb with the two technical descents after each Martha took lead thanks to her amazing skiing. Michelle was settling into second with Marg now third.
Third climb featured a long bootpack with switchbacks leading up to it. The trio was truly sticking it to each other on this section as I narrowed the gap to Nick to about 30 sec by the top transition.
The fourth and last climb (500 m) shook up things the most. First, Brad crashed into a tree just before the bottom transition, and then once on the climb, Eric amazingly fell into a tree well when the skin track gave in under his weight :). Collecting his skis and climbing out took some time and so Brad and Peter were left to fight it out.
Out of the transition, I finally closed the gap to Nick and we had a race on our hands as well. We managed to lose flags and trail for couple of minutes before reconnecting with the skin track once out of the woods. After that, the skinning was getting little tricky and I tried to get away. It worked and I carved out about 40 sec on Nick.
By the top of the climb, I could see that Brad and Peter were still close together with Eric trailing them by about 1.5 minutes.
In the women’s category, Martha was strongly holding onto her lead before the last descent which was going to be her strength anyway. Behind, Michelle was climbing her lungs out to make sure Marg doesn’t catch up.

Results for 2013 Ken Jones Classic

» Elite men
» Elite women
» Enduro men
» Enduro women
At the finish line, it was the first skimo win for Brad Schalles with Peter Knight coming only couple of seconds behind him. Eric Carter rounded out the podium further 2 min back. I came in fourth another 3 min back and about 1.5 min in front of Nick Elson.
Women’s race saw Martha Burley claim the top step once again this season. Michelle Roberts crossed the line in second but visibly worried about closing Marg.

Season’s recap

Make sure to check back in couple of days as I will be writing a recap with interesting observations from this recent Canadian skimo racing season. In short, the sport is growing!
Thank you everyone for participating and wish you wicked spring skiing 😉

Filed Under: Events & Races

Report: The GORE-TEX 2013 North American Skimo Champs – Scott Simmons and Martha Burley clinch titles

March 20, 2013 By Stano Faban 3 Comments

What makes a skimo race great? It’s the ski mountaineering part.
After being consistently rated as the best race in Canada for past couple of years, the Dogtooth Dash, organized by Kicking Horse Mountain Resort and Ian Gale, was selected to be the 2013 North America’s skimo championships. And since consistently great work tends to pay off GORE-TEX® took notice and jumped aboard as the main sponsor!

Race course + conditions

Dogtooth Dash course is designed to include all technical aspects of ski mountaineering without going into absolute extremes. In total, about 80% of the elite course 1600 m (5200 feet) of climbing is spend in technical switchbacks and bootpacks. About 70% of skiing is in steep or free-ride terrain with couple of “better don’t fall” zones.
With storms passing over the Dogtooth range pretty much everyday leading up to the race the organizers had their hands full of work. At the end, they decided to leave out a portion of the original course and replace it with a variation of another lap up Terminator Peak. In my opinion, this made for even more technical route 🙂
Despite the change the total vertical and distance traveled stayed about the same.

How it all went down

As usual, the men’s elite race report is from my perspective but as objective as possible. For the recap of women’s race this time I asked Michelle Roberts (Michelle’s blog) to write the story for Skintrack.
» Elite race course results
» Enduro race course results
Traditionally, the Dogtooth Dash starts with a 100 m dash around the Eagle’s Eye restaurant at 2400 m. Then after a mad skis-on transition continues with a 3 min downhill leading into the first and very crowded skins-on transition.

Men’s elite race:

Recap from Stano’s perspective. I finished 7th.
Brad Schalles won the dash and also was first out of the skins-on transition after the first descent. He was tightly followed up the first switchbacks climb by Peter Knight, Scott Simmons (US), Eric Carter (US living in Canada), Nick Elson, me, Ben Parsons, Steve Sellers, Martin Lafontaine…
The second downhill and uphill were short but small gaps started to appear among the leaders.
When topping the second climb, and only about 20min into the race, I had to fully acknowledge that I am in for one hell of a suffer fest after feeling unusually tired for almost 2 weeks.
The third climb on this classic course is the longest, at almost 600 m, and has it all – switchbacks in tight trees, groomer, more switchbacks up an alpine bowl, then a couloir style bootpack preceding a top-of-the-ridge skinning section.
Right from the bottom of this third climb gaps started to open.
Nick and Ben were trailing Brad, Scott, Peter and Eric by about 10-15 sec.
By end of the bootpack Scott had taken over the lead with a commanding style. Eric was racing at his best with about 1 min behind. Then Peter and Brad following with another 30 sec behind him and between each other.
I started to loose serious time during this climb, even stopping to stretch out my stiff shoulders and legs. I was simply in a state of some kind of a muscle seizure despite not breathing too hard.
Behind me, Martin Lafontaine was reminding me that skimo racing is full of novices with big engines developed in other sports. And knowing he is also a great skier I forced my brain away from negative thoughts to focus only on the very next few steps.

Women’s elite race:

Recap from Michelle Roberts‘ perspective. Michelle finished 2nd.
After the blur of spandex run I was in the lead speeding through the first descent; however, Martha Burley pulled ahead just before transition below the first climb.
While I struggled with my binding Martha took off with several racers behind including Katarina Kuba (a junior in the Enduro category) and I believe Heather Anderson as well.
I picked my way through people on the first ascent trying to catch up to Martha. On this climb, Marg Fedyna aggressively closed the gap as Sheri Foster and Karen McKirdy followed behind.
The second descent was steep and quick and Martha continued to hold the lead.
On ascent #2, I moved into second place as I went with full force up the short 120 meters keeping Martha in sight.  Not too far behind were Katarina and Heather.  Marg continued to close the gap.
Ascent #3 was the longest and, just like men, the women racers started to spread out.
Throughout this climb, I could see Martha ahead and I tried to slowly gain bit by bit on her. Behind me I could occasionally see Katarina and Heather.
At some point, Marg Fedyna pulled into third place, surpassing Karen and Sheri. This either happened on Ascent 3 or 4.
Ascent #4 ambled back up a bowl we just descended and led to a bootpack up onto Terminator ridge base, which was the junction between Elite and Enduro. Martha and I continued to plow through on the ridge to the Terminator Peak.
One of the Elite guys lapped me close to the summit, however, due to tunnel vision I cannot even remember which spandex suit it was. [it was me – Stano]

terminator-peak

On the two laps up and down Terminator Peak Scott was increasing his lead while Eric, Peter and Brad were still within short distance of each other. Essentially, a skin blow up or a fall in the descent would have shuffled the order again.
By the end of the last climb, that brought us back to the finish at the Eagle Eye’s restaurant, Scott Simmons carved out 3 min lead to Eric and became the new North American Skimo Champ. Eric had 1 min on Peter, and Peter 50 sec on Brad. That is a one tight race for medals!
Gaining Terminator Ridge, Marg in third, was mistakenly cut off and sent onto the Endure course.  Heather headed that direction as well.  Later on Karen and Sheri came to the same junction and were let through to continue on the Elite course.
Descent #5 – I followed male spandex suit for a split second, but got caught up in the sketchy rocky traverse.  Sheri managed to catch up a bit to Karen descending into super bowl, but Karen kept strong and kept ahead.
Ascent #5 and descent #6 – Order stays the same.
At the summit of Terminator Peak, I encountered a large party of snowboarders strewn about, vacating the already small space.  They quizzed me about the race, wondering why I was in running tights with tiny skis and then proceeded to cheer me on 🙂
I skied with minimal control and felt some burn in my legs. Brenda (race volunteer) continued to yell and cheer me on, ensuring I endure through the flail fest and the pain cave.
Final ascent – Martha, long gone out of sight, arrived at the finish line in first place.  Appearing a bit later I took second, while Karen came in third couple of minutes behind me.

Final podiums at the Dogtooth Dash – The GORE-TEX 2013 Ski Mountaineering Championships.

Final podiums at the Dogtooth Dash  - The GORE-TEX 2013 Ski Mountaineering Championships.

Filed Under: Reports & Results

Measuring skimo racing success: Focus on small goals rather than results

March 13, 2013 By Stano Faban 1 Comment

Obviously, when we race we care about results. By results, I mean our name’s location on a sheet of paper which determines our state of satisfaction after each event. Or at least that’s how my relationship was with results before I knew better.

Forget the results

For sure I still care about the results, however, I read them differently now. It’s not the most important thing to me despite it giving a very quantitative value of my performance.
Why?
Because results are a statistic. They are raw data and nothing more. And I now find it very misleading to judge something so complex as athletic performance without considering broader context.

Focus on small specific goals

To measure your racing success or satisfaction more properly have three small goals for each race. At the end, put more weight on those than the result.
Here is an example of what kind of small goals you can set for yourself. Try to be quite specific, not general:check-boxes

  • Nailing all skins-on transitions (instead of “nailing all transitions”)
  • Ski the long technical descent smoothly and under control (instead of “ski fast”)
  • Don’t slip on the moguls climb (instead of “climb strong”)
  • Eat a gel after 50 min (rather than “eat two gels”)
  • Layer up and do a 15 min cool down right after finishing (rather than “do a cool down”)

Why only three goals?
Your racing mind will function much better if there is less to think about. And once you accomplish the goal in one race you will replace it with another small one in the next.
Why specific small goals?
The goal size and specificity allows you to focus on the it better because you know with absolute certainty what needs to be done to accomplish it. Also, it let’s you evaluate whether you nailed it or not much more easily than trying to figure out whether you skied fast or not.

Long time improvement

Once you come into peace with the idea that the end result is not as important you are setting up yourself for a long-term improvement. Results only by themselves are a double-edge sword, without reflecting the bigger picture.
And yes, it is true that for lot’s of these goals there won’t be an objective measure but that’s not a problem. You know very well whether you can check off a specific goal based on how you feel about executing it. If you don’t answer that honestly you are only cheating yourself. No progress.

Your next race

Figure out three specific things you want to improve at. Create a sequence of them for your next race. Now go and do your best to check them off.
What do you think, is this gonna work for you?
Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Filed Under: Racing 101, Training, Tricks & Tips

2013 Ken Jones Classic – Skimo race in the heart of the Canadian Rockies – Mar 23, Lake Louise

March 11, 2013 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

Come and race the third edition of the Ken Jones Classic ski mountaineering race around the boundary of Lake Louise ski area. The course has some great skiing and offers amazing views at Rocky Mountain’s most iconic peaks.

Quick facts

  • Elite course climbs around 1500 m (3 uphills include possible 2 bootpacks)
  • Enduro and Youth course 800 m (2 uphills)
  • Race starts at 8.30am on Saturday, March 23
  • Last-second registration at 6.00am
  • Pre-race meeting at 7.00am

» More details and registration info are here:
http://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/skimo/kenjonesclassic.html
» $70 registration includes: race entry + lift ticket + awards

Big prize pool

Thanks to generous sponsors there will be lots of draw prizes for everyone. And even cash prizes for the top four in each men’s and women’s categories over the Elite course!
2013-ken-jones-classic-poster

Filed Under: Events & Races

Exclusive offer: Win a FREE entry and 2 lift tickets when you race The GORE-TEX North American Skimo Champs

March 7, 2013 By Stano Faban 3 Comments

Update on Mar 20, 2013:
The winners are Michael Bestwick and Danielle Coffman. They will be contacted by KHMR to confirm their mailing addresses.
The biggest skimo race in North America this year is set to take place on Mar 16-17 near Golden, BC. The organizer, Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, partnered with Skintrack to bring a generous offer to all US racers to help offset their travel expenses.

» Sign-up here «

khmr-skintrack-promo-600px
» To learn more about this event see The GORE-TEX® 2013 North America Continental Ski Mountaineering Championships.
 

Filed Under: Contests & Giveaways

The 2013 Power of Four skimo race: One man’s three year evolution towards a unified team spirit

March 6, 2013 By Stano Faban 2 Comments

In this well written essay one of our fellow skimo racers, Jeremy Rietmann, shares his candid story of personal evolution that was forced upon him by a “simple” challenge of teams racing.
It’s always moving when people are willing to share their lessons, and especially so when they let us peek into their minds as deeply as Jeremy does here. Stick to the end and it will surely help you reflect on your own racing ups-and-downs.
jeremy-rietmann-300pxIn its inaugural year, Lou Dawson asked if Aspen’s Power of Four was the greatest ski mountaineering race in North America.  Dawson was hyping his local hill, but three years and 75+ racing miles later, I say it is.
There are other North American races with more memorable technical elements, more off-piste terrain or offer better pure skiing. Nevertheless, the mental journey that one must navigate to successfully complete this race is more fascinating to me than the physical undertaking itself.
In the Power of Four, mastering your own mental landscape is the true test.  It’s the ‘Fourth Power’ that makes or breaks you when faced with the three major external challenges this race presents.

Race facts: The three challenges

First is the obvious physical hardship. Nearly 12,000ft of climbing over 25ish miles as fast as you can go is difficult. Pete Swenson found Karl Meltzer’s evil Speedgoat 50k race recipe and winterized it.
The second factor is that it’s March, high in the Colorado Rockies.  The ascent of Highland Peak, topping out at 12,382 feet, can be bitterly cold, yet the snow-reflected high-altitude sun could quickly have you overheating. You have to dedicate additional energy to self-care or simply Mother Nature will have her way with you.
And, it can never be forgotten that this is a skimo teams race! This means you get to go on a delightful journey of low-electrolyte self-discovery with another person doing the same. It’s best to realize this before toeing the starting line.
Each of these challenges build upon each other and can easily overwhelm an underprepared mind.

2011: Poor attention to details

In 2011, I came into the race not fully certain of what I’d gotten myself into. But, I had recently toured the 40+ miles from Eagle to Aspen in a quick overnight with a couple of friends, had a good build-up of training and was reasonably confident in my ability to finish.
I paired up with my regular climbing partner, Doug, and we set out not sure what to expect, but knowing we were in for an experience.
What occurred was an unfortunate – unbalanced pairing of expert mental toughness, internal mastery and proper self-care (on Doug’s part) versus my mental weakness, negative mental dialogue and inattention to the details (water and caloric intake in cold conditions) as minutes turned to hours and hours became several.
Unsurprisingly, I bonked hard mid-way up Midnight Mine road, and lacking a tow rope Doug pulled ahead to let me slog along in my own misery.  Only later did I realize he did me a favor by sparing me his own rage and frustration at my poor attention to nutrition.
Running low on fumes and good sense as we approached the Sundeck I decided this would be a good time to rant that it was not helpful that he had pulled ahead and “left me behind.” But Doug, as the true friend and real climber man-beast of the two of us, ignored my nonsense and we skied down to a respectable finish.
I crossed the line, but he allowed us the finish by dragging me along on his invisible tow rope made mainly of my own desperation in trying to catch up with him to give him a piece of my mind.

2012: Inside ego struggles

In 2012, after a better build-up of training, experimenting, and much more experience with long-endurance racing, I teamed up with another longtime college friend, John.
We went to have fun, work hard and finish strong.  But we were mismatched in a few aspects.
He was training around 25 hours per week (for off-road triathlons) and his general aerobic fitness was superior to what I could attain on my measly 5-10 hours per week.  Yet I knew my specific ski fitness was solid, giving me an advantage on the long down-hills. I also had better transition technique and had the advantage of having completed the race before. Added together, perhaps it could be a good combination after all.
We raced well up and down Snowmass and Buttermilk, but as we roped together with me on tow at the base of Aspen Highlands (as we had planned prior to the start of the race) my ego got the best of me.
My internal dialogue became more deluded with each step upward.  It created an internal conversation wholly toxic to our goals that day. My muddled mind argued: “Why are you struggling? I am the one who has been rando racing all season. I know the technique! I know the lingo!”
Useless.  All of it.
Then came the Congo Trail.  If there’s one thing I am very good at, it’s what I call ‘survival skiing’ – shitty, fast, narrow, scary, tree skiing.  And the Congo Trail is the definition of it.
I dipped in first and my earlier frustrations and inadequacies fueled me all the way to the bottom.  I didn’t look back.
I transitioned at the base of Midnight Mine road and waited. For 10 minutes.  Finally, John arrived upset and thoroughly pissed.  And I was happy to reciprocate.
John had been waiting for me at a road crossing just upwards from me. He didn’t know where I was and was concerned I may have wrecked somewhere uphill from him.  He also didn’t know the course as well, and didn’t know that the true base of the descent was straight across the road from where he was waiting for me.
Also, this is probably a good time to mention that John, my partner, is totally deaf.
It’s a pretty common theme in the Deaf Community that nothing frustrates a deaf guy more than being left out of a conversation or feeling out of the loop. Saying, “never mind” to waive-off the inconvenience of having to explain a super minor thing you have said to someone else in front of a deaf person is the height of rudeness.
So, as one might imagine, leaving your deaf partner behind on a fairly unknown race course was about a million times more inconsiderate.  Oops.
We had a healthy round of shouting, raging and f-bombs, all silently read on my lips by him mind you. And I did include the appropriate body language and facial expressions to be sure he knew where I was coming from.  He let me have it too.
We kept on moving and arguing until we exhausted ourselves, and then didn’t communicate for about 20 minutes.  Eventually I tamed my ego and went back on tow and with each step upwards we climbed back into reality, made peace, and found our way to the finish line.  One hour faster than the previous year with Doug.
Happy to have finished, but with far too much mental strain than was ever necessary.  I resolved to never let that happen again.

2013: Unified team and deeper lessons

In 2013, John and I again teamed up for the Power of Four.  We both had a desire to improve our time from 2012 and I think we both secretly wanted proper redemption for ourselves by tackling this race as a whole and unified team.

John and Jeremy racing the 2013 Power of Four. Together.
John and Jeremy racing the 2013 Power of Four. Together. Photo by Dick Jackson Photography.
I worked long and hard in the year between the two races to find and experience my mental state as it manifested itself during long, grueling endurance efforts.  I grew to be adept at finding it, viewing it within myself and not judging it.  I learned from it and eventually changed it.
2013 was a thrilling race. John knows I need reminded to eat and drink.  I know it too and have become much better at reminding myself.  So he cued it up when relevant, and I did the same.  There was no judgment, no ego, we just knew we needed to look out for each other to make a strong finish possible.
This year we climbed Aspen Highlands separately and didn’t pull out the tow rope.  We simply kept track of each other, reminded ourselves to fuel up regularly and planned ahead.  I carried less water than John and ran out at the top of the Deep Termity lift.  I knew this would lead to cramping and a potential bonk if I didn’t come up with a solution.
Knowing that I would transition faster than John, we agreed that I would ski down as fast as possible, skin to the entrance to the Congo Trail at the final aid station, and do everything in my power to rehydrate and refuel for the long brutal slog up Midnight Mine road.
It was a smart tactical decision. I got a good 10-12 minute lead on John, which gave me plenty of time to fuel up. When he arrived, I waited while he gathered up everything he needed to refuel and prepare for the remainder of the race.
Then, we skied down the Congo Trail – this time together.  John had only been on skis four times this season prior to the race, so the Congo completely destroyed his legs.  The endless wedging-in-the-back-seat isometric contraction sucked the life out of him.
As we started up the road, he began sweating profusely, wondering aloud what the symptoms of heat stroke were and I looked back and saw the panicked look of ‘bonk’ in his eyes.  But, this time we worked together rather than against each other and our minds stayed peaceful and calm.
He asked for the tow rope and we put one foot in front of the other at the same clip without pause all the way to the sundeck.
We even passed a couple of teams and crushed their spirits late in the race. We also finished yet another hour faster than the year before.  It was a beautiful thing.  A positive, powerful mental landscape makes everything in life better.

Struggles keep me coming back

This is what makes the Power of Four the best skimo race in North America.  It’s a monstrous undertaking that breaks a person down to the basics – keeping your mind calm, keeping your ego in check, empathizing with and recognizing the suffering of others, and recognizing your own weaknesses.
I got what I came for.  Overcoming difficult things pushes us to confront and accept even greater challenges in the future. It allows us the opportunity to become more than we once were.
This race, and all the training and hardship necessary to make it possible, has made me a better person.  And that’s what we should all be striving for.

Filed Under: People (Interviews), Reports & Results Tagged With: Jeremy Rietmann

2013 Dogtooth Dash: The Goretex North American Continental Skimo Champs, Mar 16-17

March 1, 2013 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

2013 skimo continental champs Dogtooth DashStakes at the 2013 Dogtooth Dash will be high. After partnering with a major sponsor this year’s individual race will become The Goretex 2013 Continental Ski Mountaineering Championships!
The Dogtooth will be traditionally organized and hosted by the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort near Golden, BC.
If you have never skied at the KHMR then use this chance to race over its amazing terrain and ride the lifts with your friends after.

For only $65.00 you get 2 days of racing, including full day lift tickets!

The Saturday’s individual race will also be the official Canadian Ski Mountaineering Championships, then have fun racing a friendly skimo relay on Sunday.

Quick Facts

» Register NOW for $65 for 2 days or racing and skiing.
» Event website – http://goldenskimo.wordpress.com/dogtooth-dash/

Saturday:

NA and Canadian bragging rights will be awarded on Saturday for competitors racing the Elite course.

  • Race courses: Rec (2000 ft of vertical gain), Enduro (4000 ft), Elite (6000 ft)
  • Elite course features: real steep skiing, technical skinning, and multiple bootpacks
  • Categories: Men, Women, Juniors, Heavy Metal, Split Board, Poker Run

Sunday:

  • Teams of 2, 3 or 4 go head to head on a technical yet fun course.
  • One lap takes about 10-15min to complete.
  • All based out of the Heavens Door Yurt, mid-mountain.
  • Spectator friendly course with BBQ, beer gardens and DJ.

Filed Under: Events & Races Tagged With: Canadian Skimo Championships, Continental Ski Mountaineering Championships, Dogtooth Dash, North American Skimo Championships

2013 Wasatch Powder Keg: 3 races in 3 days, Mar 8-10

March 1, 2013 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

The growth of the Wasatch Powder Keg into a three day event this year is a clear signal that more and more people fall in love with ski mountaineering racing each winter season. Also, it is a true testament to the quality of work its organizing crew has delivered year after year.
This is Powder Keg’s 11th edition and, as of now, it is the largest skimo race in the North America and the second oldest. There were few others that started sooner but have not stood the test of time.

Wasatch Powder Keg 2013 skimo race

Quick facts

All 3 events will be hosted at Brighton Ski Resort, Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah.

Friday:

  • 1 Division
  • Race course: TBD
  • Race Entry: $20

Saturday:

  • Race & Heavy Metal divisions course:  6 climbs, 6,500 feet of climbing, 11 miles
  • Rec division course: 4 climbs, 3,500 feet, 6 miles
  • Race Entry: $70

Sunday:

  • Teams of 2
  • Race course: TBD
  • Race Entry: $70 per person / $140 per team

Registration:

Opened on January 1, 2013 (register by February 25, 2013 to get your technical race shirt).
Register for all 3 events for $150 per person.

More details

For more or to register check out Powder Keg’s website – http://wasatchpowderkeg.com

Filed Under: Events & Races Tagged With: Wasatch Powder Keg

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  • Forest Skis: Innovative, Custom Build, For Backcountry Skiing and Freeride
  • Lighter and Completely Redesigned: New CAMP Ultralight Ski Mountaineering Ice Axes

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About SkinTrack

Travelling through snowy mountains on skis is like flying… and experiencing life at its core.

Gear reviews, interviews, adventures, contests, skills, skimo training, race reports – we connect you to all things related to self-propelled skiing.

SkinTrack.com, created by Stano Faban, was born out of passion for ski mountaineering and ski touring. Over the years, it has become one of the most popular ski mountaineering blogs in North America.

Recent Articles

  • Kilian Jornet Interview: About His New Foundation, His Own Environmental Impact, and How He Wants To Help Athletes and The Outdoor Industry To Protect Nature
  • How Fast Are Glaciers Really Melting? How Will This Affect Your Mountain Adventures? Interview with Pascal Egli
  • Book Review – Art of Freedom: The Life and Climbs of Voytek Kurtyka
  • Forest Skis: Innovative, Custom Build, For Backcountry Skiing and Freeride
  • Lighter and Completely Redesigned: New CAMP Ultralight Ski Mountaineering Ice Axes

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