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Dani Arnold's New Speed Record on Grandes Jorasses and Beyond

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Dani Arnold has been rising up as a speed climbing star following Ueli Steck’s path and over the last couple of years he has accumulated a number of record achievements.
After Ueli’s accident and death on Everest’s west peak, Nuptse, in May of 2017 it was another Swiss taking over the speed climbing world.
Just like Ueli, he has now climbed all three big north faces in the Alps in this unique style.
Dani Arnold was born in 1984 (8 years later than Ueli Steck) and is a Swiss mountain guide.

Grandes Jorasses – July 27, 2018

While the news and video broke to public only recently, it has been almost a month since Dani Arnold climbed Grandes Jorasses in 2 hours 4 minutes via the famous Cassin route (also know as Walker Spur).
The 1200m route is a rock climb starting at 3000m. Its difficulty is rated at around 5.9 (UIAA VI). Apparently, he climbed it without wearing a harness or bringing a single carabiner.

Matterhorn – April 22, 2015

Dani Arnold’s second speed record in the north face trilogy came in 2015 when he successfully climbed the Matterhorn’s north face in a new record time of 1 hour 46 minutes.
His time was 10 minutes faster than Ueli Steck’s in 2009. Dani climbed the Schmid route, same as Ueli, but with a different variation higher up the mountain.

Eiger North Face – April 20, 2011

After Ueli Steck’s unimaginable speed record on Eiger’s north face in 2008 via the classic Heckmair route – he climbed in 2 hours 47 minutes – it was Dani Arnold’s time to try in 2011. Choosing a period with more traffic on the route than during Steck’s attempt, Dani climbed it in 2 hours 28 minutes.
In 2015, Ueli Steck “The Swiss Machine” came back and took more of Dani’s approach and reclaimed the record by about 5min, which is standing to this day at 2 hours 22 minutes.

 

Roller-ski Training For Skimo: Video, Drills and How-to tips

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Should I be including roller skiing in my summer and fall skimo training? And what should I even be doing?
If you have been wondering about the benefits of roller-skiing as part of your fall skimo training then we have some how-to tips. Eric provided most of the advice while Stano added some details as well. And we even shot a video to show you some drills 😉
For full descriptions of drills in this video, read the lower part of the article.

Who should consider roller skiing for skimo?

Before we get into specifics, let’s find out who will benefit the most and who can get by without it.
For most recreational competitive skimo racers, the best summer and fall training option is your favourite summer sport. Trail running, mountain biking, cycling, paddling and others provide excellent training stimulus that translates pretty well over to winter skimo fitness, especially when combined with a bit of skimo-specific training early in the season. Generally, for these athletes, we don’t recommend roller-skiing as a must.
Highly competitive athletes, for whom skimo racing is their primary sport and specific training occurs year round, might consider using roller skis in specific workouts to supplement their summer training. This group will reap the most benefits, especially if they need to perform at high levels from the very beginning of the skimo season.
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How to choose and setup your roller skis for skimo training?

First, choose a pair of roller skis that is designed for classic skiing and not skate skiing. This means that the rear wheel has a racket that allows it to only roll forward. This will allow you to mimic a skimo stride as if you were on snow using skins (gliding only forward).
Some athletes mount the roller skis with a tech binding toe pieces, thus, allowing them to use their skimo race boots. This seems like a good idea, as it is more sport specific, but in practice it’s not the best option for everyone. The primary issue is that skimo boots are much longer than cross country ski boots, therefore, especially for guys with big feet, the toe piece must be mounted further forward to fit on the roller ski. That affects balance of the ski, impacting both technique and downhill ability. Without space to mount a heel piece, having only a toe piece to hold you into the ski, means that descending is extremely dangerous. Skimo boots are also much warmer than a cross country ski boot and with increased sweating your feet will be more prone to blisters.
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Since we don’t see significant upsides to using a skimo boot, we recommend athletes use a classic cross-country (xc) ski boot and binding. These can be found pretty cheap at ski swaps and if you are buying a used roller-ski, it likely already has a binding. A slightly less supportive xc boot will also exercise your ankle stabilizing muscles and strengthening them in the process.

Terrain for skimo roller-skiing

The challenge with roller-ski training for skimo is finding the right terrain. Cross country ski terrain is rolling and fast, yet skimo is all about the long and comparably steep ascents.
While rolling country roads are ideal for simulating long cross country skiing stride, very few paved roads are built steep enough to replicate the grade of ski mountaineering racing tracks. If you are lucky to have a hill that is long and steep enough to properly mimic skimo technique, it might be quite the challenge to descend. Alternate methods of descent may be necessary such as hiking down, pre-placed bike, hitch hiking, etc.
Quality of the paved surface is important as well. Just like for roller-blading, the best surface is smooth paved road without much debris on it. However, these days you can also buy “off-road” roller skis with bigger wheels that perform quite well on gravel roads or less smooth pavements.

Maximizing the training benefit and Specific workouts

After the rant above, we recognize that roller skiing is not completely worthless so let’s discuss some specific details if you want to incorporate into your training.
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Zone 4 intervals:
Even a short steep hill can provide a good place to do short, hard intervals (something like 6 x 3 min in Zone 4). These intervals can be used in the intensity phase of your training and will serve to help sharpen both your anaerobic threshold as well as your ski-specific upper-body strength.
Technique and strength drills:
Roller skis are also useful for ski-specific core and upper body training. By double poling instead of striding, it becomes a much more core-intensive workout. One of my favorite sessions is a ski-specific strength workout on a flat or slight uphill that includes 10 x 30sec of “single-stick” alternate poling (a striding motion using the arms but not the legs), followed by 10 x 30sec of core-only double poling, and finishing with 10 x 30sec of full body double poling (a crunch motion that cross country skiers use on flats).

Final advice

Our advice for most athletes is that it is not worth the time and expense to include roller-skiing in your summer training. Most will see more gains by sticking to their primary sports and adding a skimo-specific strength routine in their gym strength sessions – see our Manual For Ski Mountaineering Racing and 12-week training plan for skimo strength routine and more detailed winter training.
For some athletes, however, especially former cross country skiers who already have the equipment, roller skiing can be a useful but still somewhat small component of their overall training for skimo.
And be careful on those descents! 🙂
 

Report: Tromso Skyrace – Tromso, Norway – August 4, 2018

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This race report was submitted by our friend and summer SkinTrack contributor Shaun Stephens-Whale.
The Tromso Skyrace is a technical trail/mountain running race held outside of Tromso, Norway. At 58 kilometers in distance and with over 4400 meters of climbing, the race has become a part of the new Sky Extra discipline – a merger of the Sky Extra and Sky Ultra disciplines in the Migu Run Skyrunner World Series. Designed and organized by ultra running legends Kilian Jornet and Emelie Forsberg , it should be of no surprise that this race is advertised towards highly experienced competitors with mountain knowledge.

Photo by David Gonthier.
Photo by David Gonthier.
The course itself traverses through a wide array of terrain: from the lower valley swamps and rivers to the upper scree climbs, narrow ridgelines and alpine lakes. Two distinct mountains, Tromsdalstind mountain, climbed twice, and Hamperrokken mountain are the focus of the event. Jornet and Forsberg flag the course days in advance and often chose the most efficient line – whether that is traversing a narrow ridgeline or a 50 degree slope. This constant up-down assault on the legs favors the stronger athletes; perhaps, it should be of no surprise then, that the course record is held by Great Britain’s Obstacle Course Racer Jonathon Albon.
The 2018 edition of the Tromso Skyrace returned for its 3rd edition on August 4th . In addition to the featured 58 km distance, the race offered a vertical climb and a 32 km event, providing a more modest challenge to those unready to face the full distance.
» Tromso Skyrace website

How the Race Unfolded

Within the first hour, a group of three men emerged from the pack on the cloud soaked slopes of Tromsdalstind – Jonathon Albon alongside fellow countryman Andy Symonds and Russian Dimitry Mityaev. As they crested Tromsdalstind, the three were still within striking distance of one another but on the steep descent a conservative Albon began to gap his rivals. Scarce course markings encouraged participants to craft their own lines down into the valley below, likely benefiting Albon and his past knowledge of the course.
As Albon continued to extend his lead, the podium battle behind him was shifting, with Symonds relinquishing his podium position to Pere Aurell of Spain. After an accident the previous year, a section of the rocky Hamperrokken ridgeline had been removed from the course – a decision that shows how delicate the balance between masterful course design and inevitable injury is. Pere Aurell began to pull away from the Russian on the slopes of Hamperrokken, while Symonds continued strong, in fourth position. As participants crested the mountain, the usual snow covered gully that brought racers back to the valley floor had been replaced by a jagged boulder field, which would prove one of the most challenging sections of course.
Despite a mounting gap, Albon continued to push up the final climb and was rewarded with an incredible 15 minute lead by the top. On the last downhill this lead was only extended and Albon finished in a time of 7:04:06, only three minutes slower than his course record set the previous year. Aurell continued to run in second, out of sight of his nearest competitors. While after slipping down to 6th position on the perilous downhill, Symonds maintained confidence in his climbing legs and began moving up the field, cresting the final climb of Tromsdalstind within reach of Mityaev. On the final descent, the two battled for the final podium spot, with Symonds gritting his teeth and capturing 3rd , in 7:32:54. Pere Aurell was not to be challenged in 2nd , finishing in 7:28:56.

Women’s Race

The women’s race proved a closer battle for the top podium spot, with US Hillary Gerardi battling Spain’s newly minted World Trail Running Champion Gorgia Tindley onto the slopes of Hamperrokken. Though Tindley had been outclassing Gerardi on the early descents, Gerardi was able to pull away from Tindley on the slopes of Hamperrokken and never looked back, cruising to the finish in a course record time of 8:14:09. This time, incredibly, was good enough for a top ten overall position in a deep male field. Fellow American Brittany Peterson, was having a successsful day, keeping both Hillary and Gorgia within minutes of her all the way to the final climb of the day; she was rewarded with a 3 rd place result of 8:40:38 – over an hour clear of the next competitor. Gorgia Tindley held on for a strong 2 nd place finish, in 8:27:13.

Full Results

For full results see here.

Tantalus Range Traverse – 40km, 5000m, 18 hours: Eric Carter, Greg Hill, Ross Berg

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Despite being one of the most spectacular places in the Sea-to-Sky corridor (between Vancouver and Whistler, BC, Canada), Tantalus Provincial Park is one of the least well traveled. This is partially due to problematic access – the vast majority of users use helicopter – and partially due to the difficulty of the terrain.
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Over many trips into the area, I’ve become more familiar with the terrain throughout the Tantalus Range. Single routes no longer seem as daunting of an effort and the appeal of the area is no longer just getting there and doing something, but trying to string chains of routes to maximize the time in the alpine and technical terrain covered.

2016: First attempt – Eric Carter with Nick Elson

In 2016, Nick and I had our eyes on the Tantalus Traverse. This route starts at the north end of the range (at the Sigurd Creek trailhead) and climbs over the shoulder of Pelion Mountain before ascending the North Ridge of Tantalus (a classic climb in south-west BC) and then descending to the south past the Haberl Hut, and down past Lake Lovely Water to the Squamish River. All said and done, we traversed Mount Tantalus from car-to-car in just under 11.5hrs.
While the trip was an incredible adventure and a proud accomplishment, it was hard to shake the feeling that we had run past a lot of summits that we really should have tagged. As Peter Croft says: “summits do matter!”, and almost immediately the seed was planted. What if we followed the same route but tagged as many summits as possible along the way? There’s no shortage as more than 16 named peaks lie in the vicinity of the park.

2018: Second attempt – Eric Carter, Greg Hill, Ross Berg

Length: 40 km, Elevation gain: 5000 m
Strava file: https://www.strava.com/activities/1722423067
An obvious loop follows the divide that is seen from the Tantalus highway viewpoint on Hwy 99 (just north of Squamish). This includes five summits:

  • Mount Pelion
  • Mount Tantalus
  • Mount Dione
  • Mount Serratus
  • Mount Alpha

Fast forward a few years of practice scrambling and climbing in the mountains and the “complete” Tantalus Traverse was still on my mind.
The Arcteryx Alpine Academy comes to Squamish every summer and with it, an influx of some of Canada’s raddest athletes. I’ve known of Greg Hill for his reputation as a skier for some time. In 2013, Nick and I broke his long standing record skiing around the Spearhead Traverse. This season was the first time we’ve actually crossed paths in person though. After an introduction from Adam Campbell and the assurance from local guide stud Ross Berg that snow conditions were still optimal, we decided to give it a go.
With the hope that we could do the whole traverse in less than 20hrs, we debated start times but settled on a “reasonable” alpine start of 2:30am. After stumbling through a backcountry rave being held at the trailhead, we were off up the Sigurd Creek Trail by headlamp. After climbing up northern slopes on Pelion, we emerged from the tree-line and started climbing open moraine, slabs, and glaciers. The first amazing view comes crossing the East Shoulder of Pelion. After a 2000m ascent, you get to see the full Tantalus Traverse laid out in front of you. It’s inspiring and daunting at the same time – there’s a lot left!
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We scrambled a loose gully to gain snow slopes on the north side of Pelion up a beautiful crest to the summit. Descending back to the shoulder, we regained the standard route and crossed down towards the Tantalus-Zenith Col. After saying a brief hello to a heavily laden group doing a multi-day trip in reverse, we continued towards Tantalus.
The North Ridge presents some glacial difficulties but then gives way to excellent alpine scrambling on a sidewalk in the sky. Views are incredible down the steep Rumbling Glacier with Squamish and Howe Sound to the south, the Ashlu-Elaho Divide to the north, and the Sunshine Coast to the west. We romped along up the ridge and tackled the final 3rd class pitch that leads to the summit slopes. The sub-summit and final scramble to the peak are some of the most engaging and exciting climbing on the route.
With our second summit under our belts and generally feeling pretty good, we started the most complex portion of the day, descending off Tantalus. Luckily, having guided it many times, Ross’ experience here was invaluable for quickly locating the four rappel stations and moving as efficiently as possible. Despite taking our time, we quickly found ourselves back on snow and then it was just a short out and back scramble to summit three – Dione.
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Low on water, we moved as quickly as we could down the roasting hot Dione Glacier towards the Haberl Hut. We gulped as much water as we could at the first melt-water stream we crossed, and then stopped at the hut to quickly boil some instant noodles. The salt was incredible and gave us a much needed boost.
The West Rib of Serratus was one of the few sections of the day I hadn’t actually previously done. It’s pleasant 4th class scrambling on good rock. We’d already spent so much of the day on that type of terrain, however, that we just hoped we could get through it quickly. Soon enough we were on the summit, polishing off the remains of our food with only Alpha remaining to the East.
The North Face of Serratus is a classic steep ski descent but had softened up nicely in the afternoon sun so we made quick work of it, boot skiing down to the lower glacier with just a few crevasses to avoid. From here, we had to drop surprisingly far down to gain the Serratus-Alpha Col. With the feeling that the day was in the bag, we plodded up the West Face of Alpha (3rd class) in what was the hottest and most unpleasant climb of the day.
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Luckily the unpleasantness of climbing Alpha was completely washed away by the psych that we felt on reaching the summit. We had accomplished our goal of five peaks and were on track to get back to the river before dark if we moved quickly. It’s all downhill from here! We made quick work of descending the East Ridge of Alpha and nailed the route back to Lake Lovely Water. It’s poorly marked and often not much of a footbed so we were a little nervous we could get off track there. From the Lake, the trail down is good (compared to the rest of the day) and we put our heads down and pushed hard to get to the river. Fatigue was showing and we each had several wipe-outs.
We put on headlamps just as we arrived at the Squamish River cable car station and stopped our watches after about 18hrs of mountain travel. All that remained was to cross the river and walk a few short km to our car. Unfortunately, this was what we were worried would be the crux of the day. With the cable car itself locked up on the far side of the river, our options were swimming, which seemed needlessly dangerous, or tightrope walking on the haul cable while clipped in to the upper cable above our heads, via ferrata style. Greg launched off first so he could get a head start on the trip back to the car so Ross and I sat on the near station and cheered him on (heckled). The upper cable that you clip your tethers to has four metal cones anchored to it for aircraft visibility. They require that you kind of push around them after clipping past but we’d heard recent reports that several of the cone had wasp nests in them so we were pretty nervous. We were wearing all our rain clothing in the hopes it would protect us from bites.
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When Greg passed the first cone, we held our breath, hoping there wouldn’t be any wasps. He made it past without any bites but not without losing his balance and bowing way out towards the river with his feet on the lower cable. After that, he got in a rhythm and pretty quickly, it was my turn. I got clipped in and started walking. There may have been some whimpering and self doubt but Ross reminded me that there was no other option so I’d better get on with it! Soon enough, I found my rhythm as well and before I knew it, I was back on terra-firma waiting for Ross.
While it will be a few weeks before I really feel like I need to deal with crossing that river again, I still have unfinished projects in the Tantalus Range. I know it won’t be that long before I’m back.
A big thanks to Greg and Ross for prodding me to join them for the day. It was a great crew and we had a really good time!

Gear Notes

I used Scarpa Iguana approach shoes for this trip. They were really good for climbing and decent to run in, but terrible on snow (as they are not built for that). Even with crampons that fit (Petzl Leopard), they aren’t very stiff so being comfortable climbing steep snow is important.
The new Ultimate Direction SCRAM pack is going to be awesome. It’s designed with this exact type of trip in mind. Stay tuned.
Because we only anticipated making rappels (4 x 30m on Tantalus and 2 x 30m on Alpha), we brought skinny ropes. The Petzl RAD Line is awesome for ski mountaineering and rappelling but using such skinny cord on rock is a bit disconcerting. It’s important to ensure that the ropes are running correctly over the rock edges and that they won’t roll along the edge as you move along the rappel, causing damage.

Route Notes

The Tantalus Traverse and many of the peaks we tagged are described in the book Alpine Select by Kevin McLane. This is firmly alpine climbing territory and shouldn’t be considered running. GPS tracks can be found online and are helpful for some of the macro-route finding. Micro-route finding is also a challenge (especially sections like the descent off Tantalus but even the shortest route through the Zenith Col or down to the Russian Army Camp) so being able to assess and move efficiently is key.
I wouldn’t recommend the full traverse without getting some shorter trips in the range first and obviously having the right combination of skills.

Report: The Hardrock 100 Mile Endurance Run – Silverton, Colorado – July 20, 2018

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This race report was submitted by our friend and summer SkinTrack contributor Shaun Stephens-Whale.
The Hardrock One Hundred Mile Endurance Run (Hardrock) is perhaps one of the most challenging endurance races ever conceived. Since its inception in 1991, Silverton Colorado has played host to the 100 mile course that features a staggering 66,050 feet of elevation change (20,000 m). What’s perhaps more impressive still is that Hardrock runs at an average altitude of around 11,000 feet – peaking beyond 14,000 feet, making merely functioning, let alone racing, a challenge – perhaps this is why Hardrock is called a “run”, rather than a race.
In Hardrock, the first challenge is to be amongst the 140 participants selected to compete. With a pool approaching twenty times its capacity, prospective participants can earn tickets to enhance their chances of being selected. This system has been criticized for its nepotism towards former participants, watering down the potential pool of elite athletes who might compete. Despite this fact, Hardrock has been host to an international contingent of accomplished athletes.

Photo by Hardrock 100.
Photo by Hardrock 100.

Favourites

On the men’s side, Killian Jornet has been the victor for the past four years; yet, on June 20th, he chose not to attempt a 5th straight victory, leaving the door open for someone new to capture the title. Among those most likely to win is Xavier Thévenard, a man who had won the UTMB twice and has broken 24 hours on the Hardrock course in the past.
The race began as many expected, with Xavier Thévenard taking a commanding lead as the front runner with Jeff Browning – who finished 4th at Hardrock in 2016, and Brendan Trimboli holding the other podium position. By the Ouray aid station at mile 43, Xavier had opened a near hour lead over Browning, and after a quick stop, he was on his way.

Disqualification From 1st Place

In Hardrock, there are 10 rules that must be obeyed in order to consider oneself a finisher – some of the rules are curt and masochistic, such as Rule 8: Enjoy yourself!!!, while others speak to the tradition of the run, such as Rule 10: You must kiss the Hardrock upon completion of the run. Rule 5, however, limits athletes to taking on supplies only within 400 yards of an aid station.
Two miles outside of the Ouray aid station, Xavier was seen at his crew car, receiving ice and water. Since this incident occurred outside of the 400 yard radius, it was in violation of rule 5 and after careful review by a committee, grounds for disqualification. While all this was occurring, Xavier Thévenard continued to push a punishing pace and was on track to once again break 24 hours on the course. At Cunningham Gulch – the final aid station on course at Mile 91, the news of his disqualification was made public and Xavier retired from the course.
In a Facebook post following the race, the Hardrock committee emphasized that the decision was made without malicious intent and encouraged Xavier to join the lottery for a future Hardrock. Xavier Thévenard was evidently disheartened by this news and posted on Social Media that the rule was “excessive” and the committee’s decision “unfair” and that he would have difficulty when looking to the future.

Seizing Opportunity

While this drama was occurring up front, Jeff Browning continued to strengthen his hold on second position. In an interview with IRunFarMedia, Jeff says that he lost track of the flagging in the dark and had to backtrack 2 kilometers down a ridgeline. While doing so, he ran into Troy Howard, who was making his own bid for glory; after a quick exchange, Browning surged to re-establish a gap over Howard. When Jeff reached the Cunningham aid-station he was informed of Xavier’s disqualification; according to Browning on his new found fortune, “[the] race dynamic changes and mentality changes – you have to roll with whatever opportunities present themselves”. On hearing this news, Browning quickly shed all excess weight, took 2 gels and promptly returned to the course.
Heading up the final big climb of Hardrock, Browning noticed a light following him up the switchbacks – this was from the late charging Jeff Rome who was having a special day and had moved up into second position. Despite Rome’s efforts Browning was not to be caught and finished in a time of 26 hours and 20 minutes. Rome finished 14 minutes later, in 26:34 while Troy Howard held on to third place, finishing in 27 hours and 9 minutes. On IRunFarMedia, Browning said that “out of all my wins, this is the most special”.

Women’s Race

On the Women’s side, Sabrina Stanley was focused completely on the Hardrock race. Prior to the race, she posted on social media that she wanted to win and break 30 hours. Taking the lead early on, she established herself as the clear favorite; at the Chapman aid-station, Stanley was feeling strong and with Nikki Kimball on her tail, pushed hard up towards Oscar Pass, building a substantial lead. As the day progressed, Stanley kept getting stronger and stronger and finished just outside her goal, in 30 hours and 23 minutes. For Kimball, who had been dealing with injury earlier in the year, second place was a strong result – especially after experiencing altitude sickness early on in the race; Kimball finished in 32 hours and 18 minutes. Darla Askew, who has twice podiumed before at the Hardrock race finished in 3rd, in 32 hours and 52 minutes.

Full Results

Full results can be found here.

Guide to Qualifying for the US and Canadian Teams for the 2019 Ski Mountaineering World Championships

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It might be the middle of the summer but for top athletes it’s time to start thinking seriously about 2019 Ski Mountaineering National Teams selection. Here, we have analyzed how the U.S. and Canada choose their men’s and women’s senior teams, and what are you best chances to qualify.
World Championships will be held on March 9-16th, 2019 in Villars sur Ollons,Switzerland. Both the U.S. and Canada have mandates to bring strong teams to the World Championships and based on successful results in 2017, and have the opportunity to be competitive among the traditional alpine nations.

Janelle Smiley and Jessie Young racing to 4th place in women's team race at 2017 Worlds. Photo by Mark Smiley.
Janelle Smiley and Jessie Young racing to 4th place in women’s team race at 2017 Worlds. Photo by Mark Smiley.

US Team Qualifiers

The U.S. World Championship (WCH) team is objectively the more difficult one to qualify for with a large pool of athletes capable of contending for spots. It has also more stringent criteria for qualification thanks to the competitive depth.
The U.S. system is nearly 100% based on two qualifying race weekends held at Arapaho Basin, Colorado on the 15-16th of December 2018, and at Sunlight Mountain, Colorado on the 5-6th of January 2019.
The two qualifying weekends will host the following races:

  • Two Individual events (one each venue)
  • One Vertical event (A-Basin only)
  • One Sprint event (Sunlight only)

Specifics of qualifying are linked below but for the four spots available in the Individual event, the first and second place finishers at A-Basin automatically qualify. The third spot goes to the first finisher in the Individual race at Sunlight (presumably this actually means the first finish who hasn’t already qualified). The final place is reserved for “coach’s choice”.
This leaves some room for interpretation by the USSMA but they do qualify it by saying that the spot will likely go to the “fourth finisher at Qualifier #2”. We assume this is actually a bit of an error in that it won’t actually go to the fourth place person overall but the first finisher who didn’t already qualify (for example, if the two A-basin qualified athletes didn’t race Sunshine, presumably the top two finishers at Sunshine would then get both spots rather than jumping to the fourth overall finisher).

Jon Brown with Rory Kelly. Both qualified for 2017 Worlds in different disciplines.
Jon Brown with Rory Kelly. Both qualified for 2017 Worlds in different disciplines.
For both the Vertical and Sprint events, the top three finishers in the the respective qualifying races auto-qualify with the fourth space reserved for Coach’s Choice. It’s almost certain that the fourth place finisher will be given that spot as with no other vert or sprint races on the calendar in that time frame, so unless an athlete is away at a World Cup (and dominating), it would be difficult for the “USSMA to determine that there is an unequivocally faster athlete who could fill the spot”.
The Team event criteria is one of the most interesting. The top two athletes from the A-Basin Individual Qualifying Race automatically gain Team Race spots. The remaining six places go to the top six finishers at Sunshine (excluding the two who already qualified). Where this gets complicated is if a strong athlete finishes third at A-Basin but is unable to attend Sunshine. According to the rules, it’s conceivable that an athlete could beat the remaining 6 athletes at A-Basin but because they didn’t attend Sunshine, they would not be named to the Team. There’s no Coach Choice for this one so better be sure you place correctly!
If all this sounds particularly complicated, the take-home message here is unless you’re pretty sure you can be in the top two at A-Basin, you better make pretty sure you are able to attend Sunshine and are feeling strong!
A few things to consider while trying to qualify for the US Team is that both qualifying races are in Colorado at altitudes of ~10,000 feet. This requires a significant acclimatization period prior to both events for athletes traveling from lower elevations. The criteria also allow for an athlete to attempt to qualify in as many events as they wish (at the 2017 WCH, only one male raced all four events). It may however be wise to choose events strategically that give you the maximum chance of qualifying.

Canadian Qualifiers

The Canadian WCH qualifying criteria are considerably more subjective. As detailed in the document linked below the team selection committee takes into account the following variables and weights them differently:
50% – Previous season’s National Ranking (final ’17-’18 rankings have not yet been released)
30% – Current results at specified ranking races
20% – Special Considerations

Lori Anne Donald running away with first place in the sprint and qualifying for Canadian world's team.
Lori Anne Donald running away with first place in the sprint and qualifying for Canadian world’s team.
While we haven’t seen the final ’17-’18 Cnd National Ranking List, presumably we will soon and this is something you won’t be able to work around. If you didn’t compete and get ranked in 2018, you’re at a distinct disadvantage but you’re not out of luck. Athletes wanting to show their worthiness will need to compete at either the Vert 180 or Castle Mountain Skimo races in Canada in January and probably need to reliably beat athletes who are currently well ranked. This is a bit of a long shot but not impossible. The final criteria for “special considerations” is probably only of use to a well ranked, well known athlete who performs inordinately poorly at, or is unable to attend one of the early season races.
The Canadian system does not outline how actual race starts will be allotted to selected athletes but in the past it has been a combination of coach’s determination and athlete desire. It’s likely that those athletes ranked higher on the list will have greater priority in the events they wish to participate in.

Best Chances to Qualify

An athlete trying to compete for a spot on either team would be wise to:

  • Strategically target specific qualifying race(s) with a (very) strong performance.
  • Design a training plan to focus specifically on the demands of the qualifying race.
  • Ensure a training peak at the time of the qualifying race.
  • Develop strategies to cope with specific challenges of qualifying race locations (altitude, travel, etc…)

If you want to give yourself a serious chance to qualify then designing a training plan to help you prepare will be crucial. Contact us for custom training plan design or click on over to our coaching partners at Ridgeline Athletics to get you on your way!

Differences between the US and Canadian systems

While the American system is quite objectively based, it is heavily focused on current fitness level and is somewhat unfavorably weighted towards a small number of events. A poorly timed illness or mistake during a race could cost a deserving athlete a spot on the team.
The Canadian system is considerably more subjective with no clear explanation of how starts are assigned but also favors more consistent athletes who are ranked well the previous season over many races.

Official Documents with Selection Criteria

USA: https://ussma.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/2019-World-Championships-Selection-Criteria-and-Guide-v07.1.pdf
CANADA: http://www.skimocanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/SkimoNationalTeamSelectionCriteria2019-2.pdf

Skimo News – April 11, 2018: Final World Cup in Italy, Racing in the US, and in Lofoten Skimo in Norway

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Skimo racing season is wrapping up around the World. The Canadian Cup is complete and the final World Cup was contested over the weekend. Just a few races remain to be held in the US including a postponed Irwin Guides event, and several events in the Sierras.
Most skiers in the Pacific North West and Rockies are turning their eye towards big spring objectives and steep skiing while athletes in Colorado and the East Coast are already thinking about the start of their cycling and running seasons.

USA and Canada Race News

Cody’s Challenge – Steamboat Colorado – April 8, 2018:

Max Taam was challenged by Charlie Macarthur but ultimately stayed ahead by slim two seconds while it took another five minutes for the third place finisher to complete the 2 hour course. Sarah Cookler was unchallenged for the female win and Grace Staberg finished in second. Alex Pond rounded out the men’s podium.
> Full Results

International Race News

ISMF World Cup – Italy – April 6-8, 2018:

Italy continues to dominate in the final World Cup of the season on their home turf. The racing in the Italian Dolomites, at Madonna di Campiglio, was incredibly beautiful and a perfect example of why skimo is such an amazing sport.
Individual Race
Robert Antonioli sniped Michele Boscacci for the final individual win with Matteo Eydallin rounding out the Italian podium. William Bon Mardion was the lone Frenchman in the top five. There were many notable absences including Kilian Jornet after breaking his leg at Pierra Menta, and Anton Palzer citing “health reasons”. Americans Cam Smith and Rory Kelly made the trip to Europe racing to 41st and 42nd respectively.

Robert Antonioli building his lead ahead of Michele Boscacci, the most consistent and the most winning athlete this season.
Robert Antonioli building his lead ahead of Michele Boscacci, the most consistent and the most winning athlete this season. ISMF photo.
...and downhill boot-pack right the other side. Simply spectacular setting in the Dolomites.
…and downhill boot-pack right the other side. Simply spectacular setting in the Dolomites. ISMF photo.
The French had better luck in the women’s race with Laetitia Roux winning both the individual and sprint, reminding the field that she’s not ready yet to step down from the podium. Her French teammate but Pierra Menta rival, Axelle Mollaret finished almost four minutes behind with Alba DeSilvestro taking the final step on the podium.
Laetitia Roux returned to the top of the podium in both races. In this photo, second (left) went to Axelle Mollaret and third (right) to Alba DeSilvestro.
Laetitia Roux returned to the top of the podium in both races. In this photo, second (left) went to Axelle Mollaret and third (right) to Alba DeSilvestro. ISMF photo.
Sprint Race
Michele Boscacci and Laetitia Roux won their categories in the sprint event. Cam Smith had a respectable finish in 31st, just out of qualifying, while Rory Kelly placed 37th.
> Full Results

Lofoten Skimo – Lofoten Islands, Norway – March 10, 2018:

This race recap was sent to us by the local organizing committee.While this event took place a month ago, it is worth including it in our report as the route and scenery are truly spectacular.
The second edition of The Arctic Triple – Lofoten Skimo was on Saturday March 10th. The race is organized in “the world’s most beautiful archipelago” – the Lofoten Islands in northern Norway, and the participants are overwhelmed by the experience. The weather was perfect and happy athletes finished what turned out to be an amazing arctic adventure.
Lofoten Skimo consists of two distances and there were both national and international participants at the first edition of the race. On the longest distance the racers cross 8 mountains tops and ridges and 4000 height meters in spectacular terrain. The shortest distance takes the athletes across 2 mountains and 1200 height meters.
lofoten-skimo-2018
The French athletes Mathèo Jacquemoud and Lèo Viret won both distances on the men’s side, while Norwegian Kristin Brandtsegg Lome was the best female on the long distance. The shorter distance on the women side was won by Chloè Guellerin. The winner time by Matheo for the Lofoten Skimo 4000 was 5 hours and 29 minutes. Leo won the shorter distance in 1 hours and 29 minutes, which is a new course record. The winner times on the women side was 7 hours and 19 minutes and Chloe spent 2 hours and 31 minutes finishing Lofoten Skimo 1000+.
“It was a really beautiful race. The race course, the friendly crew and the amazing nature in Lofoten really blew me away.” –  Mathèo Jacquemoud, France (winner of Lofoten Skimo 4000+)
Three races – three seasons
The Arctic Triple consists of three annual races set in week 11, 22 and 33. 2018 is the second year with all three races set up and Lofoten Skimo was first out. Next comes Lofoten Ultra-Trail in week 22 and the triple year is finalized with Lofoten Triathlon in week 33.
“We think Lofoten represents a unique arena for adventure races and with our concept we offer three amazing adventures in three different seasons in the arctic. Lofoten Skimo is in the middle of the northern lights season, Lofoten Ultra-Trail in the midnight sun season and Lofoten Skimo in the beautiful late summer.” – says Director Frank Hagen.

Upcoming Skimo Events

All that remains of newsworthy events is the bi-annual Patrouille de Glaciers! We’ll be watching closely the weather to see if the Patrol will be held as several North American teams plan to contest the route. Download the PDG app to follow along with your team of choice!

Skimo News – Mar 28, 2018: Tour du Rutor, Pan-American Ski Mountaineering Championships, and more…

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It was a relatively big weekend in the skimo world with athletes competing overseas at the Tour du Rotur in Italy, and on this side of the Atlantic at both the Pan-American Ski Mountaineering Championships at Lake Louise and the gnarliest cross-country ski race out there, the Grand Traverse in Colorado.

Kylee Ohler on her way to winning Pan-Am Championships sprint race.
Kylee Ohler on her way to winning Pan-Am Championships sprint race.

USA and Canada Race News

Pan-American Ski Mountaineering Championships – Lake Louise, AB – Mar 23-25:

With top US athletes currently spread out all over the world Lake Louise still attracted a strong group mainly coming from Colorado and Montana. The Canadians were out in full force for both men and women.
Make sure to check out our link to full results as there were also Junior and Cadet categories.
Vertical race – Friday:
The men’s race was a tight affair most of the way as Rory Kelly (USA) was only slowly building his lead over Eric Carter (USA but living in Canada) and current Canada’s fastest skimo athlete Nick Elson. Peter Knight (CAN) came in fourth after putting in a strong showing.
In the women’s race, coming off a fresh win at Shedhorn the previous weekend, Sierra Anderson took a dominant win over  Michela Adrian and Jaime Brede (all from USA). Fourth went to the first Canadian Michelle Roberts.
> Full results – vertical
Sprint race – Saturday:
Saturday’s sprint race attracted less athletes than anticipated yet still provided for a great event for the resort skiers. All top favorites cruised to the finals without much problems.
The men’s finals featured a strong pack of six and delivered an exciting race. While Nick Elson took off right from the start and build about 10sec lead by top of the boot-pack, the rest was swapping back and forth. Eric Carter was able to away by the top transition and then hold on to second place while Rory Kelly just held off Chris Carr (USA) for third. Travis Brown (CAN) and Jon Brown (USA) took 5th and 6th respectively.

Nick Elson building his lead while a battle was raging behind him
Nick Elson building his lead while a battle was raging behind him
From left: Carter, Nelson, Kelly
From left: Carter, Nelson, Kelly
 
The women’s final featured a similar script when Kylee Ohler, Canada’s top skimo athlete the last few years, went on a mission and convincingly won. The battle for second was a bit tighter with Michela Adrian coming ahead of Sierra Anderson at the end. 4th went to Lori Ann Donald (CAN), 5th to Jaime Brede (USA) and 6th to Martha Burley (CAN).
Women's podium, from left: Adrian, Ohler, Anderson.
Women’s podium, from left: Adrian, Ohler, Anderson.
The junior and cadet categories delivered great spectating as well and provided an insight into the talent pool in both countries.
> Full results – sprint

Individual race – Sunday:
With great weather and good racing temperatures it was time to take on a big and technical course the organizing committee laid out throughout the best terrain of the Lake Louise Ski Resort – over 1700m vertical spread over 5 climbs and a distance of over 20km to cover.
The first 30min of the men’s race was quite close as the weekend’s familiar trio of Rory Kelly, Eric Carter and Nick Elson was keeping things together. However, after the first descent, long time training partners, Carter and Elson started to pull away and kept building their lead even when breaking trail – they know how to do this very efficiently. They tried to break each other on the last ascent yet both failed so everything was to be decided in the last descent. Skiing together, Elson took a pretty big fall so Carter stopped to check on him. While Elson was fine the two decided to it was safer and more fair to finish hand-in-hand to tie for first. Kelly was able to secure his third place despite the closely following Peter Knight who put in another great performance.
In the women’s race, all eyes were on Sierra Anderson, Kylee Ohler and Michela Adrian – the first two being favourites on paper. After 2h 20min of racing the difference between the winning Andreson and second Ohler was only 1min 47sec, although, Andreson was in the lead the whole way. Third place went to Adrian who stood on the podium on each of the three days.
> Full results – individual

Grand Traverse – Crested Butte, CO – Mar 24:

The following recap was sent in by Nikki LaRochelle, who represented USA at the 2017 World Championships. Thank you very much Nikki!
After weeks of Crested Butte having clear, sunny skies, a storm rolled in on Friday – the day before the midnight start – forcing race organizers to switch the course to the “Reverse” format to mitigate potential avalanche danger. This course profile is similar to the proper course, with climbing 6,000 ft on a 34 miles long route.
Conditions on the course were variable – once racers exited Crested Butte Ski Area, they traversed through East River which had very thin coverage and plenty of grabby sagebrush. Luckily, the snow bridge creek crossings were intact and the snow quality improved as racers ascended up Brush Creek to the Friends Hut aid station. Just past this checkpoint, athletes ascended up towards Star Pass and then turned around to descend back down Brush Creek. This made for tricky downhill skiing as there was two way traffic in a dense forest with fast conditions. Once racers navigated this low angle descent, they had to skate and eventually run down Brush Creek Road to the Upper Upper trail which circumnavigates the south side of Mount Crested butte. Here the conditions were exceptionally thin and athletes had to decide between skinning and running. There were extensive dry patches along the way making this decision a tough one.
The race was led from start to finish by the men’s team, Cam Smith and Sean Vanhorn. These guys were on fire and seemingly untouchable by the rest of the field. Teams in second through fifth place were back and forth for the first half of the race but ultimately spread out after the descent from Star Pass. Laird-Sullivan team were able to make up major time in the second half and were able to overtake Greydanus-Jordan for second at the very end of the race. The co-ed team Brad and Nikki LaRochelle was in the front pack mix the first half of the race and settled into fourth for the second half. The women’s team Smith-Susla won uncontested with the second place women’s team 32 minutes back.
The following recap was sent in by Cam Smith, who also represented USA at the 2017 World Championships. Thank you very much Cam!
Crested Butte has had a tough winter. We are close to record low snowfall. Most of the lower elevation sections of the course were totally dry. But as luck would have it, the biggest storm of the season came in the day before the race. 2.4in of SWE fell at backcountry weather stations, forcing the course to be “reversed” back to Crested Butte. The course was in surprisingly good shape given the weather. Organizers and volunteers did a great job. We were on skis for about 32 of the 35 miles, and despite the challenging weather they were able to mark things very well. We did do a fair bit of trailbreaking at the front for most of the race. Since the course was flatter than normal we felt comfortable taking it out a little harder than we otherwise would.
We were at the front right away and nobody came with us. So we just kept moving at a pace we thought was sustainable, which ended us giving us a sizable lead for most of the race. We made a point not to look over our shoulders so didn’t know the next team was 1 minute or 30 minutes behind us. We knew that no matter the lead if we let up or made a mistake the teams behind us would be happy to take advantage. The highlight of the race was skiing back down the two way traffic. We were cheering for the uphillers while they were jumping out of the way and cheering right back. It was a pretty neat race experience. I even saw my sister on her way up, as well as other friends out completing their own races.
The GT is an amazing community event, it’s so cool to see your friends and neighbors out on course. Even though you’re deep in the backcountry there are folks out cheering your names in the middle of the night. There are hundreds of people preparing the course, organizing the event, and giving up a night of sleep to support the racers. It really brings the community together which is a big part of why we love the race so much. The volunteers and race staff are the real heroes of the weekend.
> Full Results

NE Rando Race Series Finale – Bromley, VT and Sunday River, ME – Mar 17 and Mar 24:

Contributed by East Coast SkinTrack.com Correspondent Jonathan Shefftz. Thank you Jonathan!
On March 17th the NE Rando Race Series returned to Southern Vermont for its fourth of five USSMA-sanctioned races. Bromley provided conditions that were the perfect antidote to the rapidly diminishing snowpack at the NE Rando February 24 race at Berkshire East, MA following a week of temps in the 60sF and even 70F, followed by the groomer-fest at the SkimoEast March 3 race at Jay Peak VT. Instead, after over six feet of snow during the first half of March, Bromley served up descents of cut-up powder interspersed with some tight moguls.
The approximately 5,000 feet layout started with a loop around the edges of the resort boundary and then three cycles of an inner circuit comprising a full skin, short ski, short boot, and full ski. Milan Kubala took his second NE Rando win of the season, followed by Abe Meyehofer and Alex Nichols. For the women, Katie Vadasdi also took her second NE Rando win.
In the age classes, for Masters, Race Director Jonathan Shefftz took the win, ahead of Cameron Chalmers and Thomas McHenry in third, while Barbara Tardiff took her second win of the season for women. Stratton Mountain School nordic racer Asa Chalmers took his second win of the season for U17. Alaskan nordic racer Canyon Tobin took the U20 win while also just barely missing the Open podium an shocking the entire field by leading the first ascent … on regular touring gear, all borrowed!
The season wrapped up on March 24 at Sunday River, Maine: by far the most expansive course layout in the East, starting at one end of the resort, zig-zagging up and down the lower mountain to the other end, then finally working its way back by zig-zagging up and down the upper mountain. Almost all of the 5,600 feet of vertical comprised steep tight bump runs.
Ed Warren took his second NE Rando win of the season, followed by Jan Wellford and Brian MacIlvain (“fresh” from the Pierra Menta). Whitney Withington smoked all of the bump runs to take the win over Jen Downing. Race Director Jonathan Shefftz won for the Master’s.
> Full Results

International Race News

Tour du Rutor – Italy – Mar 23-25:

After coming off a very strong showing at Pierra Menta where they placed 10th, we were all awaiting how will the team of John Gaston and Tom Goth (both USA) fair in another famous European stage race. Tour du Rutor takes place every second year and is always attended by many very fast teams.
Here’s a very nice video from the second day:
Racing between the top 3 men’s teams was very close every day and ultimately the overall differences were small. Italian’s Michele Boscacci and a yound Davide Magnini won by only 3min over their countrymen Matteo Eydallin and Nadir Maguet who had another 3.5min over over a French team William Bon Mardion and Xavier Gachet (3rd at recent Pierra Menta as well). Tom Goth and John Gaston had very even placing every day (11th, 10th and 10th) to score another top 10 result at a prestigious European skimo stage race. Congrats!
In the women’s race, it was the recently crowned European Champion Axelle Mollaret (FRA) partnering with Jennifer Fiechter (SWI) to take all three stages and ultimately the overall with about 6min over second placed Italian team Alba de Silvestro and Katia Tomatis (Axelle Mollaret partner at Pierra Menta). They had a significant gap over third placed Lorna Bonnel (FRA) and Severine Pont Combe (SWI).
> Full Results

Upcoming Events

With the skimo racing season coming to a close soon there are still a couple of events worthwhile considering. Check out our calendar and hop on the start line for one more challenge!

Mike Foote Interview: 24 Questions For The New 24-Hour World Record Holder

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We are super excited to bring you this detailed interview with Mike Foote today!
We will talk about his training, preparation, nutrition and the 24-hour attempt itself.
For those that don’t know… Mike became the new world record holder to climb 61,200 vertical feet or 18,654 metres in 24 hours on skis. He chose to do it on a fairly short climb – 1020 feet or 310 metres – which he lapped 60 times. And all of this at his “home” ski resort Whitefish Mountain Resort in Montana, USA.

About half way through his attempt.
About half way through his attempt using The North Face custom race suit.
For many, Mike might be unknown but in the endurance trail running world he has achieved some incredible results over the years such as a podium at the famed Ultra-Trail Du Mont Blanc and 3x second place at Hardrock 100. Mike is also The North Face Athlete, member of the US National Ski Mountaineering Team, raced Pierra Menta in 2017 and placed 26th in a vertical race at the 2017 World Skimo Championships.

The Interview

Q1: First of all, huge congrats to you Mike!
On Sunday morning of March 18, 2018 you had finished a massive effort to set a new world record in the most vertical climbed and skied in 24 hours.
How, when and why did you come up with an idea to try this?
I first came up with the idea after running the Hardrock 100 last year. I love longer and lower endurance events like that which take around 24 hours, and there was nothing in the skimo world, which compared. So I began wondering if I could run 100 Miles in a day, what could I do on skis in 24 hours.
Q2: What was the previous record? How did you realize that you might have a shot?
An Austrian named Eckhardt Dolshlag did 60,000 feet on the dot in 2009 in Austria at a 24-hour event at Bad Gastein Ski Area. Then the famous ski mountaineering racer Florent Perrier did 59,893 feet in 2011 in his home town of Areches, France in the Alps.
These were the two efforts that felt like the benchmark for me. I didn’t know if I had a shot, but I did know that if they could do it, I may be able to as well!

Split times for each of Mike's 60 climbs.
Split times for each of Mike’s 60 climbs.
Q3: What was the weather like during your attempt? Seems like it cooperated well.
The weather was really nice. Sunny and warm during the day and mid 20’s (F) at night. This however made the surface conditions of the snow really bad due to melt-freeze which plagued me most of the night with really slippery skinning.
Q4: This is going to be a longer question but perhaps the most interesting one… Let’s talk about selecting the right conditions and venue for something like this:
Can you elaborate on how crucial the right angle and length of the slope is, I know that you switched to a less steep climb from the one you originally wanted to use?
Why did you choose only a 310m climb (1020 feet)? How steep was it?
Altitude was not a factor, right?
And while all the above is important, I have a feeling you didn’t choose Whitefish Resort only based on calculations.
I’ll say it right at the beginning that I chose Whitefish because I have a community there. And I knew I would need support to pull this off. I used to ski patrol there. It’s also the place where I began uphill skinning. Lastly, one of my biggest inspirations in the skimo world was a friend Ben Parsons, who passed away in an avalanche in Glacier Park last year. The uphill route on the mountain was named after him, and there was nowhere else I wanted to try for this record.
As for slope length and angle, I’ve thought a LOT about this. I think something in the 32-34% grade range that was very consistent and was about 1500-2000ft in length would be perfect for something like this. Also, to have a lit on-piste run to ski down is really helpful.
Q5: Did you use any special gear, or your usual skimo racing equipment and clothing?
I used my normal skimo gear – Dynafit DNA skis and Pierre Gignoux boots. It’s what I know and train on and I didn’t want to mess with it. The North Face and I worked together to design a ski suit with some textiles often used in the bike racing world. The first time I used it was on the day of the attempt so I was quite nervous, but it ended up working great.
Q6: What did you eat and drink during the 24 hours? Did you have a specific fueling schedule? Did your tastes change at any point?
I just planned to eat a little bit each lap, and I totally stuck to that plan.
I had a wide variety of food such as Gu gels, sweet potato and bacon rice ball, corn cakes, drink mix, maple syrup diluted into a water bottle (I drank almost an entire quart!).
Towards the end I was also drinking warm soup broth and coke. I was eating around 400 calories per hour, which is insane! In training I often don’t eat at all or only about 200 calories an hour. It was working though to eat a lot so I kept eating!
Q7: Do you know how many calories you burned overall and how much did you drink?
I don’t know. Maybe 15-20,000 calories burned? I drank a lot of liquid. Every lap. And I may have been over-hydrated because I had to go to the bathroom a lot towards the end!
Q8: How many people did you have helping out during your attempt, and what were their roles? How many pacers did you have?
I had a HUGE support crew!
I had friends feeding me and giving me drink, and drying gear, and switching skins at the bottom. I also had friend at the top taking a picture and documenting my times for each lap.
In the second half of the day I had friends swapping out and pacing me for multiple laps trying to keep me on target for the record. It was a total team effort and I’m so lucky to have had the all time crew that I did. I would not have been able to come close to my goal alone.
Mike's amazing support crew. We are proud to call many of these people friends as well.
Mike’s amazing support crew. We are proud to have many of these people as friends as well.
Q9: What was your pacing strategy for the 24 hours? Most of the time, were you ahead of the world record schedule, or where you behind at any point?
You knew you would be fading slowly but it seems like you were able to have some surges.
I made a decision early on in the day to go by feel and not get too lost in numbers. I looked at my watch only a handful of times over the course of the 24 hours.
With that said, I was hopeful to build up some padding in the first half of the day without blowing up too much. I was able to ski about 33,500 ft in the first 12 hours and then skied about 27,700 in the second 12 hours. It was much slower but still enough to get the record.
The surges came with pacing. I just kept trying to hang onto the back of Luke Nelson’s skis the last 6 hours. Some laps I could do it and we would post a really good time. Other times I could barely stay focused and I really slowed down.
Luke pacing Mike in the early morning hours.
Luke pacing Mike in the early morning hours.
Q10: When did you have your toughest moments? How did you push through?
The hardest part for me was the first 5 laps. I didn’t feel great, and I was feeling negative and not confident. I was worried that so many friends put their lives on hold to help me out and that I was going to fail. However, I just kept reminding myself I had a long day and that giving up wasn’t an option. After 7-8 laps I began feeling better and was able to fall into a really good rhythm.
Q11: How did you take care of your feet? Or your training prepared them for it?
Umm….I didn’t take care of my feet. I planned to switch boots and socks to dry them out but never did. And I paid the price. They hurt!
Mike's feet after 24 hours of skiing!
Mike’s feet after 24 hours of skiing!
Q12: Do you feel like that you reached your life-time best fitness? Or do you think such a long endurance effort is highly dependent on one’s mental state and overall mindset?
Definitely the latter. I know I could do better.
I also know that conditions are really important as well as mindset. I would like to think I will keep getting stronger every year at least into my 60’s 🙂
Q13: Something tells me that the 24h record attempt was only a very small portion of the whole project, so let’s talk about your training and preparations now…
Obviously, you are a very fit athlete year-round so you didn’t start from zero, but when did you specifically started to train for this?
I started training specifically for this late last fall around November.
Q14: Did you design a whole training plan towards your 24h attempt, or did you come up with a couple of specific key workouts and just plugged them into your usual schedule?
My training plan was specific to the attempt for sure I still wanted to race a bit, but my priority was to be the best prepared I could be for the 24 hour attempt.
I worked with Scott Johnston of Uphill Athlete and we devised a plan together that naturally focused a lot on volume and vert. The biggest thing to work on was to be really good at doing long slow days that weren’t too tiring so I could go out and do them again the next day.
It took work, but I had to get really good at operating at really low output in training so that I could boost my aerobic capacity which paid dividends once it was time for the 24 hour effort. My body was very used to “Race Pace”, which is slow and steady, by the time of the attempt.
Q15: Since you live a little ways from bigger mountains, and being a runner, how much were you running still? What other activities did you use for training?
I pretty much just skied. I have a couple areas I can drive to within 20 min from my home and we had a great winter, so I was lucky there.
I ran about a day a week for an hour. I also did some easy afternoon 1 hour spins on the bike trainer, and went to the gym 1-2 times a week for some light-to-moderate core work. I did harder gym workouts in the fall, but once the season started I backed off of all hard leg workouts in the gym.
Q16: While the focus was on volume during your training, I am wondering whether you incorporated also some higher intensity intervals, apart from jumping into few races?
Pretty much I just did 4-5 races, and then a handful of Zone 3 longer workouts – I would do 3x 20 min or 4 by 10 min at about 80 percent effort.
Q17: In the weeks prior, you did a couple of 8 hour ski sessions to climb a lot of vert. How many did you do and how much did you climb?
My two longest days were back-to-back 8 hour days and I did 20,000 the first day and 22,000 the second. Before that I did a handful of 15,000 days and probably 10-12 times 10,000 days.
A "regular" training day.
A “regular” training day.
Q18: I know you were training a lot on the original climb – named Benny Up after our good friend Ben Parsons – in the Whitefish Resort. It has some really steep sections so you wanted to feel it out. Do you remember how many times have you climbed it this winter?
Oh man, good questions. I don’t know. Maybe 50-60 times?
Q19: Since there was lots of vertical to be climbed on the D day, every gram would matter. Did you try to loose some body weight, or you were not too concerned about it?
It’s something that’s always on my mind and causes me concern at times. There is no debating the physics of hauling mass uphill.
I’ve tried losing weight in the past and have failed to do so. What I’ve realized is that it’s healthier for me to focus on being strong, healthy, consistent and injury and illness free. I’m better at those things than a lot of people, so if I’m a few pounds over my goal weight it’s worth it to me.
Q20: Was this the most challenging athletic thing that you have ever done? How would it compare to the battles at Hardrock 100 trail race, or some of your other adventures?
In many ways this reminded me of running 100 miles, but it was much harder because all the pressure was on me. I had no competitors. It was a clock, a mountain and me. I’ve never experienced that.
Also, it was up to me to set up the logistics of the event with the venue and to get all my friends to volunteer their time. There were many added stressors, which made the experience as a whole both more challenging but ultimately more rewarding.
Mike racing Pierra Menta in 2017.
Mike racing Pierra Menta in 2017.
Q21: Having this amazing experience under your belt, what would you change that you think could have made a reasonable impact on your performance?
I will start by saying I wouldn’t change my experience for anything. With that said, a longer slope that was extremely consistent at 32-33% grade would be perfect. Also, the melt-freeze conditions were hard for going up AND going down. I would have loved to have had some nice new snow for this attempt!
Q22: What would you recommend universally to an athlete that might be thinking of doing this? Or is it too person-specific?
I would say to anyone to let go of your preconceived notions. You would be surprised what you can accomplish just by walking uphill all day!
Q23: Coming from the trail running background, what first steps would you recommend other trail runners to do if they are thinking to pick up skimo?
Do a race. They aren’t as scary as you think. Also, buy the SkinTrack Manual For Ski Mountaineering Racing. I did and loved it. It’s a great resource!
Q24: You now have collected some great achievements in trail running and skimo. What are your future personal and athletic goals?
I am always working to just enjoy the process. I like mixing up my goals and sports. This has been fun but I am excited to get back to big mountains and racing next winter.
I will be running the Hardrock 100 this summer and will likely have some big running adventures planned before and after that to.
I am just going to do what inspires me, even if it’s a bit out of the ordinary. That strategy worked really well for me this winter as I really enjoyed preparing for the 24 hour attempt.
Thank you very much Mike for your time with these questions!
Stano

Skimo News – Mar 20, 2018: New 24h World Record, Pierra Menta News, Upcoming Pan American Skimo Champs, and more…

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Last couple of days have been the busiest and the most exciting for the skimo world in all of this season. Let’s not waist screen space and dive right into it…

Upcoming Pan American Ski Mountaineering Championships – Mar 23-25

We want to bring your attention again to the upcoming Championships that will take place over three days in the beautiful Lake Louise Ski Resort in Alberta, Canada.
The event will features three different races – vertical on Friday, sprint on Saturday, individual on Sunday – and is expected to attract the fastest athletes from US, Canada and maybe even Mexico and South America.
The prizes are plenty, there is quite a bit of new snow at the venue, and athletes of all levels are welcome to line up along National team members either on the same courses or shortened versions.
For all event’s details and for registration please go here.

Mike Foote Sets a New 24h Record!

On the morning of March 17, after months of training and preparation, Mike Foote started to climb his first of the 60 laps in an attempt to set a new 24 hour world record in the most vertical climbed and skied. The next morning, he would become the new world record holder with a total of 61,200 vertical feet or 18,654 metres climbed!
As our friend, we cannot be more proud and happy for him! Yeaaah! 🙂

Mike set his record on a fairly short 310m climb at his "home" resort in Whitefish, Montana which happens to be one of our favourite places as well.
Mike set his record on a fairly short 310m climb at his “home” resort in Whitefish, Montana which happens to be one of our favourite places as well.
For many, Mike might be unknown but in the endurance trail running world he has achieved some incredible results over the years such as a podium at the famed Ultra-Trail Du Mont Blanc and 3x second place at Hardrock 100. Mike is also The North Face Athlete, member of the US National Ski Mountaineering Team, raced Pierra Menta in 2017 and placed 26th in a vertical race at the 2017 World Skimo Championships.
We will have more details coming about Mike’s training and his record attempt in an interview in the next couple of days.

2018 Pierra Menta: Joy and Sorrows of Champions

Mid-March is traditionally reserved for the iconic 4-day stage race in the beautiful mountains surrounding Beaufort and Areches villages in France.
United States fielded arguably their strongest team ever – John Gaston (previously 15th at this race) and Tom Goth – who ultimately placed in the top 10 overall to set a new men’s North American historical benchmark at PM.
> Overall results are here our day-by-day recap below will provide the full story.

Men’s race recap:

While last year’s supreme winners, Italy’s Damiano Lenzi and Matteo Eydalin, were the biggest favourites on paper there were other three teams that could seriously thinking about winning.

While the unfortunate accident took out Kilian Jornet nothing should be taken away from Michele Boscacci winning his first Pierra Menta with his father Graziano, a winner of the 2002 Pierra Menta, watching from the sidelines. A truly grand family achievement! (Pierra Menta photo)
While the unfortunate accident took out Kilian Jornet nothing should be taken away from Michele Boscacci winning his first Pierra Menta with his father Graziano, a winner of the 2002 Pierra Menta, watching from the sidelines. A truly grand family achievement! (Pierra Menta photo)
The first day went super well for a local French team, William Bon Mardion and Xavier Gachet, who were the underdogs coming into the race, as they took the win by a couple of seconds ahead of Italians Robert Antonioli and Michele Boscacci. Only a minute behind, third place went to the famous Spaniard Kilian Jornert and his new teams race partner Jakob Herrmann from Austria. Time gaps were very small between the top three teams. Lenzi and Eydalin struggled to fourth place with almost five minutes down on the victors.
> John Gaston and Tom Goth eased into the race to place 16th.
On day 2, traditionally hosting the longest stage, things started to get really interesting when Jornet and Herrmann forced the pace most of the day to take the win. Lenzi and Eydalin abandoned the race as they didn’t feel up to the task. Boscacci and Antonioli battled the whole way but ultimately finished second again, yet loosing only 4 seconds to the winning team. The French team conceded over 4 minutes and it was safe to assume they fell out of contention for the overall win.
> John Gaston and Tom Goth delivered a great performance to claim 10th in the stage and moved up to 12th overall.
Boscacci and Antonioli started the day 3 in “pole position”, leading Jornet and Herrmann by about a minute in the overall. However, thanks to Jornet’s experience and motivation of his teammate they pushed the pace in grand fashion to win the stage by over 3 minutes ahead of the Italians, and claiming the overall lead by about 2 minutes. Gachet and Bon Mardion finished safely in 3rd.
> Gaston and Goth continued with their measured effort to place 11th in the stage and staying 12th overall.
The final day brought the biggest disappointment in skimo’s recent history and a bag of mixed emotions. As Jornet and Herrmann were on a mission once again, the Spaniard suffered a fall in a descent mid-stage and broke his lower leg. He is fine otherwise. Heavy wet snow was coming down since the morning to make conditions really challenging. Behind them an amazing battle for the stage win unleashed as Bon Mardion and Gachet found their legs from day one. At the end, they beat the Italian team by only 12 seconds with Boscacci and Antonioli collapsing in the finish to claim the surprising overall title.
> The US Team rallied into 8th place in the stage and jumping to 10th overall.

Women’s race recap:

The women’s race was a little less exciting but it did bring a surprise. The strongest team on paper, French Laetitia Roux with Sweden’s Emelie Forsberg, uncharacteristically struggled to even match the duo of Axelle Mollaret (FRA) and Katia Tomatis (ITA), and kept loosing minutes in the first three stages. Only on the last day did they prevail to claim at least one stage. On the other hand, Mollaret and Tomatis delivered a spectacular performance to win three stages and the overall title by 11 minutes over Roux and Forsberg.

Katia Tomatis and Axelle Mollaret full of joy. (Pierra Menta photo)
Katia Tomatis and Axelle Mollaret full of joy. (Pierra Menta photo)
Third place was never really contested as Spanish team of Mireia Miro and Marta Garcia put in a solid effort every day to always place 3rd.
Of note, is the fourth place of a purely Swedish team consisting of Ida Nilsson and Fanny Borgstrom.

USA and Canada Race News

Marmot’s Revenge – Jasper, AB – Mar 17, 2018:

The Canadian Cup came together for the third weekend in a row at Marmot Basin in Jasper, AB for the very first time of this event. Fresh snow day prior to the race made for soft conditions along with warm temperatures. The Canadian Rockies snow-pack is deep at the moment and with a mid-mountain start, racers were treated to excellent skiing. Unfortunately, dense fog rolled onto the course making for challenging race conditions. Racers in the elite course covered five ascents and descents totaling approximately 1800 meters of climbing.
Peter Knight, the devious course designer, broke trail up the first climb. After the first descent, Nick Elson, feeling strong after two recent wins at Panorama and Squamish, pushed off the front with only Eric Carter following his track. The two swapped the lead through the remaining race until Elson opened a gap on the final boot-pack and transition, skiing into the finish with a 10 second lead.

As a "revenge", for designing such a tough course, Peter Knight was left to break trail on the first climb. All in good spirits ;) Marmot Basin photo.
As a “revenge”, for designing such a tough course, Peter Knight was left to break trail on the first climb. All in good spirits 😉 Marmot Basin photo.
Kylee Ohler remains the undisputed women’s leader and won, also taking 5th overall, with more than 30min gap over second place Marg Fedyna. The third step on the podium went to Courtney Post.
> Full results

Shedhorn Race – Big Sky Montana – Mar 17, 2018:

With arguably the scariest course on the North American skimo circuit this race is no joke! The big terrain of this unique resort provides a spectacular setting for a proper ski mountaineering event.

Big Sky ski patrollers always put on a great course! Photo by COSMIC (Joe Risi).
Big Sky ski patrollers always put on a great course! Photo by COSMIC (Joe Risi).
While we don’t have the backstory from this race we will mention the winners on the elite course and you can find out the rest in the results below. First place in the men’s category went to Max Taam, who is US Skimo Team member and one of the best skimo athletes on the continent when it comes to technical courses. In the women’s category the top prize went to Sierra Anderson from Breckenridge, CO.
> Full results

East Coast races:

We don’t have any reports from that side of the country this week.

Upcoming Events

Grand Traverse
Those not attending Continental Championships in Canada will likely be competing at the Elk Mountain Grand Traverse from Aspen to Crested Butte. It’s a bit too early to make any predictions about weather conditions but we do suspect that repeat champions, John Gaston and Max Taam will be tough to beat, even with John likely tired from his amazing performance at Pierra Menta. Or is Max coming to race in Lake Louise? Who do you think will put up the best fight? What do you expect to see from the women’s teams? Let us know what you think!