SkinTrack

Skimo Racing

Skimo News Dec 5 and before: Gaston and Valmassoi dominate in Eldora, Wolf Creek race Cancelled

By Leave a Comment

Welcome to our first week of 2017/18 seasonal coverage for ski mountaineering racing in North America and abroad!
We’ll be doing our best to recap all the events and preview upcoming races. We’re always looking for more contributions so if you’d like to give us the inside scoop on any particular events, just send us a message. We could especially use insight on women’s races in North America.

North Americans racing in Europe

The next World Championships event will not take place until 2019 which means we will likely see a much smaller representation of North American athletes in European races but potentially more competition on the domestic scene.
At the moment, we’re not aware of any athletes planning to complete the full world cup series (but let us know if you are!). It’s likely though that a handful of athletes will head over for select races and Grand Tours.

USA Race News

The snow situation in North America is not quite to the same levels we had last year. As we write, West Coast of Canada has seen quite a bit of ski action but the Canadian Rockies could definitely use more snow.
Colorado has had cold weather (and man-made snow) but little natural snow. California and the Sierra’s appear to be getting their first few snowfalls of the season. Utah seems quite warm and dry although appears to have kicked off the first North American race of the season with their Thanksgiving event at Brighton!
The Wolf Creek race (and first in the COSMIC series) was unfortunately cancelled due to challenging snow conditions. That means the premier Colorado event was this weekend’s Indian Peaks Revenge at Eldora Resort.

Eldora Indian Peaks Revenge – Eldora, CO – Dec 1-2

With a very lean snowpack in Colorado, the COSMIC crew and the staff at Eldora Resort did an incredible job putting on a three race weekend in the Front Range.

Rory Kelly racing the individual race. Photo by Summit Endurance Academy.
Rory Kelly racing the individual race. Photo by Summit Endurance Academy.
Things kicked off on Friday night with a 300 meter vertical race, topping out just under 3000 meters (9800 ft), that men’s winner John Gaston took only 13 minutes to complete. Cam Smith, only an espoir, took 2nd in front of Rory Kelly.
Visiting from Italy, Martina Valmassoi ran away with the women’s victory with Boulder native Sarah Kadlec finishing just 12 seconds back! Jaime Brede finished 3rd.
Vertical Results: https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=121859
Saturday featured an individual and sprint event. With a very civilized start time of 10AM, the individual course was a four lap affair with two ascent routes in the trees and a descent down a groomed run. The descent run was reserved entirely for racers – amazing commitment to our sport from a resort with only three open runs total!
Again, in men’s race, John Gaston ran away with the victory while a trailing pack traded places right up to the final lap. Eric Carter came in 2nd and just ahead of Rory Kelly.
In women’s race, Martina Valmassoi had a wider margin, finishing over 8 min ahead of Nikki Larochelle. Third went to Sarah Kadlec.
Individual Results: https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=121951
The sprint race was held on another closed piste with a course built by the local downhill race team that featured fast descent gates. 25 racers started, including women and a handful of junior racers. The men competed in two semi-final heats with Mark Koob taking both his semi and the overall in the final, though not after being challenged by Rory Kelly and Chris Carr. There were only enough women for a final heat where national team member Sarah Cookler finished first!
 

Upcoming Races

» Visit our 2017/18 skimo events calendar
USA:
Next up is the Irwin Guides individual event near the town of Crested Butte. This unique event in the controlled cat skiing backcountry area usually delivers reliable early season snow. If snow conditions in Colorado improve, expect good turnout from the Colorado crew and despite the distance, some out of state competition at an exciting event.
Canada:
The Canadian season kicks off with the Vert180 in Calgary, Alberta. The race is one of very few within a major city, held at the Canada Olympic Park. Athletes have three hours to complete as many laps of the on-piste course as possible. Athletes can complete the event solo or as part of a relay team (2, 3, 4 persons).
World:
European teams have been busy training at the ski resort of Tignes, France and selecting their world cup roster.
The first event on the docket is in China, potentially a test event for future championships? It remains to be seen how many athletes will actually attend. Past world cups held outside of Europe have been historically poorly attended. The upside is that athletes looking to score world cup points have much better chances if they are willing to travel to China!

Short and Long-term Skimo Training: Training to Train vs. Training to Compete?

By Leave a Comment

It’s appealing to follow the top athletes in our sport as many post all of their training on social media like Strava. It can be also incredibly tempting to try to mimic what Kilian Jornet or  other skimo stars are doing but it would be at a very high risk of failure, injury, or burnout.
While a few select athletes might be able to match the training of the pros, the vast majority of us have jobs, families, and other activities that occupy the portion of our life that pros dedicate to training and more importantly to recovery.
Aside from having the time and resources available to train and recover, it’s important to remember the training base that a professional athlete has to support their current training load. Training is cumulative, especially if volume is maintained consistently.

dfg
Damiano Lenzi (left), age 30, is the current World Champion in both individual and team races, consistently challenging the legendary Kilian Jornet, age 30. Both have accumulated lots training volume over the years. William Bon Mardion (right), age 34, has been known to focus more on quality over quantity and has also reached an impressive collection of victories – but remember he still accumulated a lot of volume in the process.
A 30-year-old professional endurance athlete has probably been training between 700 and 1200 a year for 15 years! The average recreational competitive athlete may have less than half that number of hours in their “training bank”. The accumulated hours provide a support system for the training currently being completed – imagine a pyramid with all the training hours building the base, and the current training load as the very top.
The training bank needs to be maintained both on a long-term scale (many years of training) and on a smaller scale within the training year (maintaining consistency and using sound periodization throughout the year).

Long-term Progression

I’ve found a concept developed by the Canadian Cross Country Ski Federation for their long-term athlete development program to be very useful. During their development, athletes go through stages, one of which is “training-to-train”. This is the process of building a large training bank and is followed several years later by the stage “training-to-compete” where the athlete is focused primarily on training to be as fast as possible.
Ultra-running athletes often find that the volume and intensity of training required to merely complete their first ultra-marathon is considerably more than that needed to complete successive races and also find the recovery period post-race to gradually decrease. This is a good example of transitioning from training-to-train to training-to-compete on a multi-season scale.

Janelle Smiley, racing to first place, spends lots of time moving in the mountains thus by default accumulating big training volume. Photo by Eric Hoff.
Janelle Smiley, racing to first place here, spends lots of time moving in the mountains thus by default accumulating big training volume. Photo by Eric Hoff.
I find it is also important to keep this concept of progression in mind within a single season. For athletes focused on skimo as their primary sport, the summer is primarily base building. At the end of the summer and beginning of the fall, it’s time to build up the intensity training (training-to-train) that will allow you to complete the workouts done when winter begins, that will actually build your race fitness (training-to-compete). Once the race season begins, you enter a new phase where fitness is maintained and racing itself becomes the main priority!

Early Season and How to “train to train”?

Hopefully you’ve been building your training volume through the summer so that by the time fall comes around, you are at a good amount that you don’t need to build too much the rest of the year. It can however be a good time to put in a few final big volume building periods to get up to the level you’re expecting. It’s also a good time to start to focus on skimo specific type training – prioritize uphill training and consider adding roller skiing!
Finally, this is the time to add the interval sessions that will enable you to do even harder intervals in the training to compete period. Focus on longer tempo efforts in the 10-30 minute range with a few short threshold sessions.

Winter Season and How to “train to compete”?

This period is no longer about building volume. Instead focus on adding longer intensity workouts at threshold pace and above. Training should be 100% sport specific and carried out on skis as much as possible. Strength training should be focused on max strength tolerance for downhill skiing.

Training Smarter

Train smarter, not harder. Plan your training progression and give yourself time to train-to-train and then train-to-compete. You will not only be better prepared but also be less likely to experience an injury or setback.
Remember that the pros have also had a lifetime of training-to-train and that matching their training plans is not advisable.

Important Differences Between Training Volume and Training Load in Skimo Training

By 2 Comments

How can two training plans be the same overall volume but be designed for two completely different athletes? How can we quantify training in a sport where the track is always changing?
skimo-training-volume-and-load
You may recognize a few (or all) of the below terms from various training resources. They all refer to the same concept, that of training load or how much work was done during a training session:

  • Intensity Factor
  • TRainingIMPulse (TRIMP)
  • Recovery Time
  • Suffer Score
  • Training Effect

In skimo, we can measure training time, distance of an activity, or vertical ascent. We can also measure training intensity by looking at pace, heart rate, and other measures. Individually, these measures are not particularly useful in telling us the value of our training but combined as training load, we get great insights about what benefits we will see.
Knowing only the distance completed per week is interesting but it doesn’t tell the whole story. If all you know about two athletes is that they each run approximately 40 miles per week, you might assume that they were similar fitness or had similar goals. In reality, a sprinter might run 40 miles per week but primarily on a track at a high intensity while a novice training for their first marathon might run the same amount over a much longer period of time at a very low intensity.
By combining volume (in this case distance) and intensity (in this case pace) we get an idea of training load – how much work is being completed as well as the physiological demands being placed on the athletes and the anticipated effects.

Measuring and Calculating Training Load in Ski Mountaineering

In ski mountaineering racing, pace can be a difficult factor to work with. The variable nature of the snow surface means that pace and intensity are not very well correlated (compared to a sport like road running where pace is highly correlated with intensity):
Deep, fresh snow means an athlete may be working at a high intensity but traveling very slowly and covering little distance. A well groomed low angle piste allows for very quick but fairly easy travel. Also, distance is relative, especially if descents are included in the calculation! For this reason, heart rate becomes the best measure of training intensity that can be easily quantified for skimo.
training-plans-banner-600x260
To measure training volume in skimo, distance is not useful for the reason described above. Vertical ascent is much more appropriate but still significantly influenced by changing snow conditions. Time is the best volume variable to work with.
The rise of modern GPS and heart rate enabled training watches have enabled us to collect a big amount of data on every session as most watches and their accompanying analysis software allow athletes to define their heart rate training zones. Then workouts can be broken down by intensity level: 30 minutes spent in Zone 1, 25 minutes in Zone 2, 18 minutes in Zone 3, or similar.
Each of the training load terms at the beginning of the article take the time spent in a Zone and assign it an intensity value, and then add up the time in each Zone to get a total training load number. The simplest way is to give Zone 1 a value of 1, Zone 2 a value of 2, and so on. From our example before the calculation would be as follows:

  • 30 min of Zone 1 = 30
  • 25 min of Zone 2 = 50
  • 18 min of Zone 3 = 54

The total training load value for the workout is then = 134. For a simple comparison, a two hour workout entirely in Zone 1 would have a training load value of 120, thus, considered physiologically less taxing.
Most estimates of training load use more complicated intensity values that give each successive zone a smaller value so the low intensity zones are not undervalued, but that’s a topic for another post.

Training Plan Progression: Training Volume vs Training Load

Just like the training load of a workout can be calculated, the training load of a week, month, or entire training year can be determined. When developing a training program, it is important to look beyond just the total volume.
Is there a very little intensity (Zone 3-4) training or do you see a lot?
Who is this program designed for?
A novice training program may include a small amount of high intensity training. As the program increases in difficulty and a base volume is reached, volume might remain constant while total high intensity training time increases. In this case, overall volume (measured in time) stays the same but the training load increases, and new fitness levels are achieved!

Skimo Racing in Poland, Stryn Rando 3000 and Lofoten Skimo in Norway: Eric and Stano travelling

By Leave a Comment

Since Eric and I are staying longer in Europe than other North American skimo athletes we searched for some “out of the beaten path” races to attend. He ended up in Stryn, Norway and I went to Poland. Originally, I thought I would make it to a new race in Lofoten – group of islands in the north west Norway – but I opted to stay closer to my family to spend more time with them.

Memorial J. Oppenheim – Central Europe Skimo Cup – close to Zakopane, Poland

This event was the final round (out of 3 races) of the Central Europe Ski Mountaineering Cup which is run by three countries – Poland, Slovakia and Czech Republic – with one race being held in each country. Currently, there are no world class athlete in either country (the last one retired 6 years ago), however, the level and depth of competition is comparable to US.
» See Wikipedia page about Zakopane, Poland
A unique aspect of this race is that the start is about 7km walk, deep into the valley, to a mountain lodge where all racers stay. The race map and profile showed it would be a 25km slog with only 2100m of climbing (7000 feet) but considerable time spend on bumpy alpine ridges and shoulders. Little anyone knew that extreme winds high up would make our progress much slower than anticipated.
oppenheim-start
The race started on a snow dusted logging road with about 1.5km run, then on skins for 10min, then back on foot, and back on skins. After all these transitions we finally stared at a steep snowy boot-pack with crampons that would take us to a long ridge. As soon as we crested the top the wind was relentless but it was nothing compared to what came later on.

Ready to go.
Ready to go.
To make a long story short, the 5-6km ridge line included lots of up and down skinning and about 3km post-holing walk with crampons – all that time wind speed hovered around 40km/h and often gusting close to 80-100km/h. After that we skied back to the valley and completed the first 15km, with another ridge walk awaiting on the other side of the valley 🙂
Not that I was a podium contender, my race went “side ways” as I deliberately chose to prioritize my health and look around for anyone that might need help on that windy ridge. After all, skimo race suits and thin windbreaker jackets aren’t much protection in such conditions. I finished 21st in 3h 43min and well behind the top ten.
My respect goes to all the top racers for pushing on so strongly despite the furious winds. Luckily no one got hurt and rescue wasn’t needed despite 18 racers out of 77 abandoning.
There was also a shorter version for juniors and recreational athletes which brought the total number of participants to over 100.
Results:
» 2017 Memorial Josef Oppenheim

Stryn Rando 3000 – Norwegian Skimo Championships – Stryn, Norway

This race report is from Eric.
As the lone American competing on the World Cup, the Norwegians have been my adoptive team at the races and also pushing me to come for a visit. I decided to head over there last weekend for the Norwegian Skimo Championships – the Stryn Rando 3000 race. I was lucky to be able to stay with one of the Norwegian skimo stars, Lars Erik Skjverheim (6th at recent Pierra Menta).
» See Wikipedia page about Stryn, Norway
Western Norway reminds me a lot of a mix of British Columbia, New England, and old Europe. The fjords and mountains are amazing and fall away dramatically. The forest thins quickly and the treeline is visible not far from the valley bottom. The houses are generally wood and colourful, a bit of a contrast to the stone houses and tiny windows of the Haute Savoie region in French Alps.
The weather wasn’t optimal during my visit but we were both tired from the Pierra Menta and were happy with a few short walks in rain jackets. Luckily, the forecast looked a little better for the weekend so we headed off to the town of Stryn. We arrived early to join the race organizers doing some course marking. The crew of volunteers they had assembled was more than capable but I love seeing some of the top athletes of the country helping out picking the route and placing flags – something I’d like to see more of in North America!
stryn-norway
The original course traverses six summits surrounding the Stryn ski area with about 3000m of elevation gain and looks incredibly spectacular. A big snowfall two days before the race meant the course was switched to plan B: a bit more time skiing below treeline and two of the alpine peaks with about 2300m+ of gain. The course was incredibly well marked – something that was obviously necessary in the not unlikely case of whiteout – big bamboo flags only a few meters apart and there must have been several thousands spread over the route!

Photo by Ole Eltvik.
Photo by Ole Eltvik.
We woke up to clearing skies and a very civilized start time of 11:00am – giving time for avalanche control and weather concerns. A recreational class started a bit before the elite wave, bringing the total number of entrants to almost 150. The race started a bit more mellow than expected with lots of attention given to the big star of the event, Kilian Jornet, with the rest of the field being tentative about pushing it early. Kilian slowly increased the pace while Lars Erik and I chased, not far behind. We started the second ascent (of four) all together and Kilian and Lars Erik opened a gap while I fumbled through some kick-turns in the fresh snow. As we climbed up into the alpine, the views opened up to the nearby summits and the fjords behind us. By the third ascent, I was starting to feel the effort, losing time to the athletes behind me. Dropping into sixth, I struggled staying warm and stopped to put on my wind-breaker. Feeling a bit like a tourist at this point, I was mostly looking forward to the final 1000 meter powder descent to the finish.
Kilian leading Eric and Lars Erik.
Kilian leading Eric and Lars Erik. Photo by Ole Eltvik.
I can’t really say I had a good race. I felt like I started well within my usual pace but just couldn’t keep it up. The residual effects of the virus I caught a week earlier at the Pierra Menta were close in my mind and I know I’m still recovering. It was hard to get down about my result though spending a weekend in a beautiful lakeside cabin with a group of good friends who only occasionally forget I don’t speak Norwegian!
Photo by Ole Eltvik.
Photo by Ole Eltvik.
The following day, we had a big group ski of two more of the summits on the original course and plenty more powder! Kilian led the way breaking trail most of the day without even taking off his down jacket while I sweated along at the back of the track.
After two more days staying with Lars Erik (and finally getting in a rain-free day of skiing) I was back at the airport, regretting not having booked an extra week. I can’t wait to go back!
The below race promo video showcases the terrain and environment:

If you are interested in visiting Norway for skimo, I’d highly recommend it. Any of the Norwegian Team athletes would likely be very helpful resource but I can say that the skimo scene is strong. Areas like Sogndal, Romsdal, and Trondheim host a series of races and have tons of training options. A car is probably the way to go but the trains are pretty useful. Spring seems to be the best time to visit (April and May) but you risk rain just about any time of the year it seems. The only downside is that Norway is expensive – food, gas and just about everything are expensive by European standards and the exchange rate does not favour North Americans.
I would highly recommend the Stryn Rando 3000 event. The organization was on a World Cup level and put this year’s World Championships to shame. The backup course options were well planned and kept the spirit of the race. The track setting and marking was excellent and the volunteers were plentiful and helpful. Definitely put it on your list!
Results:
» 2017 Stryn Rando 3000
lofoten-arctic-triple-logo-2

The Arctic Triple – Lofoten Skimo – Lofoten, Norway

This is an event and destination I would like to definitely visit in the future as Lofoten is one of the most beautiful places in the World. This event is not necessarily trying to attract the pure skimo racer, seeking just competition, but rather is for those that like a big outdoor challenge in a unique destination.
The original route was planned to cover 36km and climb around 4000m, running from north to south. Due to stormy weather in the days leading up to it organizers were forced to shorten the route to about 28 km and 2600m – still a big course. Shorter course covered 14 km and climbed about 1000m, and went on pretty much as planned.
Two French athletes, Mathèo Jacquemoud and Lèo Viret, finished together to take the win in just over 4h. Italian Skimo Team member Martina Valmassoi (we will bring you an interview with her soon) was the best female crossing the line in 4h 25min. The female winner of on the short course was Anja Millerjord while the men’s race was won by Edvard Vea Iversen.

Martina Valmassoi battling arctic elements.
Martina Valmassoi battling arctic elements.
Leo Viret followed by Matheo Jacquemoud.
Leo Viret followed by Matheo Jacquemoud.
Original course map - click to enlarge.
Original course map – click to enlarge.
lofoten-skiingResults:
» 2017 Lofoten Skimo results – The Arctic Triple
And what does the Article Triple mean?
The Arctic Triple consists of three annual races. 2017 is the first year with all three races set up and Lofoten Skimo was first out in week 11. Next comes Lofoten Ultra-Trail in week 22 and the triple year is final with Lofoten Triathlon in week 33. For more information visit http://www.thearctictriple.no/

Recap of Stage 4 of 2017 Pierra Menta: Smiley & Young seal 4th overall, Gaston & Taam top 20, Lenzi & Eydallin and Roux & Forsberg victorious!

By Leave a Comment

Although today’s stage could not have gone over the mythical Grand Mont summit, due to still elevated avalanche danger, the melt-freeze conditions allowed organizers to layout the stage just below, with athletes crossing Col de Forclaz three times. The atmosphere there, or “ambience” as the Euro’s say, was absolutely electric with perhaps close to 1000 people being glued to their “seats” there for the whole day!
Today’s stage included three boot-packs with required use of crampons and via ferrata kits on some of them. The total gain for this final stage was just over 2600m covering some spectacular alpine terrain.

Third climb today provided fine Mont Blanc views!
Third climb today provided fine Mont Blanc views!

News from the Lead Pack

Men’s race today

Two Italian teams created a coalition and pretty much raced together the whole day. They even crossed the finish line together. With that, the overall win went to Damiano Lenzi and Matteo Eydallin, not a surprise as we predicted in our preview few days ago. The younger Italians Nadir Maguet and Michelle Boscacci shared the win with Lenzi / Eydallin today and finished 3rd overall. All four are great skiers and very proficient on technical sections.
The ultra-running and ski mountaineering legend Kilian Jornet (SPA) and his partner Alexis Sevennec (FRA) were in third place and about 2min behind 2/3 throughout the stage. Ultimately, they finished 3rd today and 2nd overall.

Skimo veteran, Florent Perrier (43), finished 6th today and 9th overall. Showing here how to transition and rehydrate at the same time.
Skimo veteran, Florent Perrier (43), finished 6th today and 9th overall. Showing here how to transition and rehydrate at the same time.
Fourth over the line, and further 4min back, were Valentine Favre (FRA) and Filippo Barazzuol (ITA) who must be very happy how well they raced this Pierra Menta! They finished 4th overall.
William Bon Mardion and Xavier Gachet (both FRA) managed to finish 5th today and with that to seal their 5th overall. They probably won’t be very happy with their performance, however, any North American team would be above the clouds with such a result. Different levels, different satisfaction.
Today’s stage didn’t go so well for Lars Erik Skjervheim (NOR) and Nejc Kuhar (SLO) as they were lingering just outside of top 10 most of the day, ultimately crossing the line in 12th. However, this was still enough to hold on to 6th overall. The only higher Norwegian Pierra Menta finish was by Ola Berger who partnered with Alexander Pellicier (my guide yesterday) in 2007.

Men’s overall after Stage 4

  1. Lenzi / Eydallin
  2. Jornet / Sevennec +13:19
  3. Maguet / Boscacci +16:11
  4. Favre / Barazzuol +22:54
  5. Bon Mardion / Gachet +35:11

Women’s race today

With a big enough time cushion in the overall standings, Emelie Forsberg (SWE) and Laetitia Roux (FRA) could enjoy today’s technical final stage. They won 3rd day in a row, thus, cementing their overall victory.
The winners of the 1st stage, Swiss team of Severine Pont Combe and Jennifer Fiechter, came in 2nd today 3min behind Roux / Forsberg making sure to keep their 2nd overall position.
severinne-pont-combe
About 5min behind across the line were the French duo Axelle Mollaret and Lorna Bonnel in 3rd, confirming their future potential and securing the last podium step in the overall.
Fourth place, and best result in this Pierra Menta, went to a sister Italian team of Annie Bieler and Katrin Bieler.
US women’s team, Jessie Young and Janelle Smiley, weren’t as strong as in the previous days and finished 5th today. However, by keeping their 4th place overall they set a new standard for best North American women’s performance at Pierra Menta. Big congrats for this achievement!

Women’s overall after Stage 4

  1. Roux / Forsberg
  2. Pont Combe / Fiechter +18:30
  3. Mollaret / Bonnel +33:43
  4. Smiley / Young +1:03:21
  5. Fabre / Riba +1:21:39

USA and Canadian Teams News

Kudos to Canadian women’s team, Kylee Ohler and Michelle Roberts, after their first Pierra Menta! They spent the most time out there of all the NA teams and had to dig deeper as recovery time was shrinking for them each day. They finishing 13th overall.
After Carter / Elson abandoned yesterday, all eyes were on John Gaston and Max Taam to see how high they can climb in the final standings. They had a reasonably good day, crossing the line in 20th, which was good enough to move into 17th overall. Great achievement despite finishing 2 spots lower than in 2016.

John giving in to my teasing in one of the transitions today :)
John giving in to my teasing in one of the transitions today 🙂
Tom Goth and Teague Holmes had their best stage today and finished in 26th which bumped them up to 27th overall. A great performance but this team definitely can do a couple of spots better in the future.
North Face athletes, Rob Krar and Mike Foote, delivered a solid performance on today’s technical course and finished 31st. They placed 39th overall and just like Goth / Holmes they can definitely improve on this in the future.
Jon Brown and Rory Kelly had their best stage today and were looking good through the feed one. 37th place today was good enough to lift them up to 46th overall.
Rory and Jon looking composed and on their way to the best finish.
Rory and Jon looking composed and on their way to the best finish.

Results – Stage 4 and Overall

» Stage four finish order
» Overall after Stage 4

Janelle and Jessie heading out for the 3rd climb.
Janelle and Jessie heading out for the 3rd climb.
Teague Holmes giving me a surprised look after I kept appearing at random places during the whole Pierra Menta :)
Teague Holmes giving me a surprised look after I kept appearing at random places during the whole Pierra Menta 🙂
Emelie Forsberg looking more relaxed than during the previous days.
Emelie Forsberg looking more relaxed than during the previous days.

Recap of Stage 3 of 2017 Pierra Menta: Smiley & Young close to 3rd, Gaston & Taam 16th today, Carter & Nelson abondon

By 3 Comments

Overnight cooling, some light winds high up, and a 7am start allowed organizers to finally take the athletes into the alpine today. These conditions also delivered very breakable crust on the first 2 descents, however, by 9am the sun was beating down on everyone once again.
Today’s stage brought about 2500-2600m of climbing – about 300m more than yesterday – but on steeper terrain, thus, covering less distance than Stage 2. There were also 3 boot-packs on fairly exposed ridges, with some parts being rope assisted.
I don’t have any photos of NA racers today as I was feeding them and that was the priority. I only got pics of other teams since they were someone else’s duty 😉

Magical view of the Mont Blanc massif today.
Magical view of the Mont Blanc massif today.

News from the Lead Pack

Men’s race today

I saw the racers only at one spot today really (at the feed zone where I helped a bunch of North American teams) as I had an early morning start with one of skimo’s legends Alexandre Pellicier  – 2008 World Champion and 3rd at 2007 Pierra Menta. He is only 35-years old but long time retired from high level racing, yet after today’s experience I would guess he is good enough for top 20 in PM any day!

Alex's 2008 world champs teams race partner, Florent Perrier, finishing top 10 again today. At 43-years of age. Phenomenal!
Alex’s 2008 world champs teams race partner, Florent Perrier, finishing top 10 again today. At 43-years of age. Phenomenal!
From spectator’s point of view, it appeared that Damiano Lenzi and Matteo Eydallin didn’t want any close finishes like yesterday and went out hard from the gun. They already had a substantial lead halfway through and by the finish their gap on the 2nd place was close to 5min. The stage was very technical with some tricky snow conditions on the descents and that suits this team.
Kilian Jornet (SPA) and Alexis Sevennec (FRA) were in second through the feed zone (halfway more or less) but not too far ahead of their pursuers.
By the finish line, only 30sec separated 2nd from 4th with order being – in 2nd were Favre/Barazzuol, in 3rd were Maguet/Boscacci, and 4th went to Jornet/Sevennec.
A great performance today came from young Catalan’s Oriol Cardona and Coll Nil Cardona who placed 5th, about 20sec ahead of William Bon Mardion and Xavier Gachet (FRA).
pierra-menta-stage-3
Lars Erik Skjervheim (NOR) and Nejc Kuhar (SLO) finished 7th today, only 4sec behind Gachet/Bon Mardion.
Anton Palzer (GER) and Remy Bonnet (SWI) head to pull out before the stage due to knee pain for Bonnet.

Men’s overall after Stage 3

  1. Lenzi / Eydallin
  2. Jornet / Sevennec +11:15
  3. Maguet / Boscacci +16:11
  4. Favre / Barazzuol +17:18
  5. Bon Mardion / Gachet +28:03

Women’s race today

Emelie Forsberg (SWE) and Laetitia Roux (FRA) enjoyed another day in the front and comfortably won by 8min again. I have two observations regarding this team and Roux:

  • It seems like Laetitia Roux is so strong that if you want to win women’s Pierra Menta than you have to race in a team with her, or wait until she retires.
  • I am not sure why Roux continues towing Forsberg every day since they are winning stages by 8min (except the first one). I know win is a win, but wouldn’t it be nicer to see how other teams really compare without one dominant athlete making most of the difference? Now they have 15min lead in the overall so I am curious whether Roux will tow again tomorrow.
Laetitia and Emelie through the feed zone.
Laetitia and Emelie through the feed zone.
Second like yesterday, the Swiss duo Severine Pont Combe and Jennifer Fiechter had a solid day and finished 8min behind the above mentioned and 5min ahead of 3rd placed young French Axelle Mollaret and Lorna Bonnel.
Only 3min behind the French girls, and racing with a real shot at the podium today, were US ladies Jessie Young and Janelle Smiley. They looked good today when I fed them some drinks in the feed zone and I hope that if tomorrow’s stage is technical enough then they will be able to perhaps reached the podium tomorrow. Overall, they are enough behind 3rd that they won’t be able to move up though, but bigger surprises have happened before.

Women’s overall after Stage 3

  1. Roux / Forsberg
  2. Pont Combe / Fiechter +15:18
  3. Mollaret / Bonnel +25:49
  4. Smiley / Young +39:46
  5. Fabre / Riba +57:52

USA and Canadian Teams News

Canadian ladies were suffering and had another long outing today. Kylee Ohler and Michelle Roberts finished 13th and are still doing quite well, however, today’s recovery will be crucial. Keep it up!
kylee-michelle-stage-2
The bad news in the North American camp this morning came from Eric Carter who fell ill and pretty much spent the whole night between bathroom and bed. He and Nick Elson had to make a difficult decision and didn’t line up for the start. A real bummer for this duo that has been training specifically for this race since October.
On the other hand, John Gaston and Max Taam got to show some descending skills today and went on to finish 16th. Still a great result, although, it meant they dropped one spot in the overall, sitting in 18th before the final stage but within striking distance of 17th and 16th.
Our ultra-runners, Rob Krar and Mike Foote are going better every day which is a sign of quick learning skills since they definitely have the engines. Today, they cracked top 30 finished 29th and only 6min behind Gaston and Taam!
Another NA team wasn’t far behind – Tom Goth and Teague Holmes – finishing in 32nd an currently sitting in 28th overall as the second best NA team. Great going indeed!
Jon Brown and Rory Kelly had another solid day and are arguably the most consistent and best matched NA team in this Pierra Menta. They are giving all but are pacing well and truly having a blast. I am really enjoying cheering these two athletes! Today, they finished in 56th and are in 52nd overall, with only 1min behind the top 50.
Unfortunately, Steve Sellers and Scott Archer had to pull out about halfway through the stage as fatigue from sleep-less nights really caught up with Steve. However, they learned a lot and will go out to enjoy spectating the final stage tomorrow.

Results – Stage 3 and Overall

» Stage three finish order
» Overall after Stage 3

Tomorrow

The famed Grand Mont stage won’t probably run as planned due to high avalanche danger as it quickly warms up early in the day. However, athletes will be passing just around there a couple of times and the spectators’ spectacle is surely on track!
I will be again doing some feed zone duties for the NA teams, tacking photos, skinning around, and getting a sun-tan or a sun-burn depending on whether I forget my sunscreen again 🙂

Lars Erik of Norway is going stronger tha ever and has a chance of cracking top 5 overall tomorrow!
Lars Erik of Norway is going stronger than ever and has a chance of cracking top 5 overall tomorrow!

Recap of Stage 2 of 2017 Pierra Menta: Smiley & Young holding 4th, Gaston & Taam 12th today, Kilian Jornet forcing the pace, Emelie Forsberg is back

By 1 Comment

All that new powder snow racers were enjoying in Stage 1 yesterday turned into watery mush overnight as freezing level moved above 2500m. Rainy morning was quickly replaced by sunny skies and the challenge of the day was written on the wall – staying hydrated.
Today, Pierra Menta athletes climbed about 2200-2300m again, however, covering a longer distance than yesterday, with the final big climb going up a very sunny side of a mountain. There was also about 2.5km of road running today as athletes passed through the Areches town in the morning and ran to the finish at the end.

News from the Lead Pack

Men’s race today

Always ready to fight, Kilian Jornet (SPA) and his partner Alexis Sevennec (FRA) went on a mission to crack the Italians – Damiano Lenzi and Matteo Eydallin (both ITA) – and if not to crack them then at least to try to win a stage. Halfway through, Kilian was still forcing the pace as Alexis was digging deep to keep up. Damiano and Matteo were right on their tails and most likely strategizing. Atop the last climb (last skins-off transition), the Italian duo showed up first but had only about 50sec lead. They managed to keep that gap to the finish and won in front of Jornet’s team – a very close race indeed!

Kilian looking comfortable while putting the hammer down.
Kilian looking comfortable while putting the hammer down.
A bit of a surprise, a pleasant one, was the third place going to Valentin Favre (FRA) and Filippo Barazzuol (ITA) who were not considered a podium threat, however, after today’s performance they are only 1min off the 3rd place overall!
Filippo in last skins-off transition.
Filippo in last skins-off transition.
Favre and Barazzuol came to the last climb’s transition right with 2nd place finishers from yesterday – the young Italians Nadir Maguet and Michelle Boscacci – who couldn’t keep up with them to the line and finished 4th today, only 5sec behind.
Anton Palzer (GER) and young Remy Bonnet (SWI) picked up their pace today and stayed much closer to the top favourites than yesterday, ultimately finished in 5th again but only 4min off the winning team.
International team of Lars Erik Skjervheim (NOR) and Nejc Kuhar (SLO) went on to place 6th today – a truly strong performance by an underdog team!
William Bon Mardion and Xavier Gachet (both FRA) likely had a rough day out there and finished only 7th, about 6min behind Palzer & Bonnet.

Men’s overall after Stage 2

  1. Lenzi / Eydallin
  2. Jornet / Sevennec +5:57
  3. Maguet / Boscacci +11:15
  4. Bonnet / Palzer +11:51
  5. Favre / Barazzuol +12:33

Women’s race today

Emelie Forsberg (SWE) was looking much better today and was a more equal match to Laetitia Roux (FRA) than yesterday, with the latter still helping by some towing though. After 2nd place yesterday, they won quite comfortably Stage 2 by about 8min.

Laetitia helping Emelie who looked much better than yesterday.
Laetitia helping Emelie who looked much better than yesterday.
Swiss athletes – Severine Pont Combe and Jennifer Fiechter – didn’t appear to suffer too bad but the hot day was difficult for everyone. They came in 2nd today.
Further 3min behind, third place went to a young French team of Axelle Mollaret and Lorna Bonnel, who seem to be well matched. Look out for this team in the near future as they can definitely win Pierra Menta one day!
Lorna Bonnel atop last big climb.
Lorna Bonnel atop last big climb.
Highly motivated by their fourth place yesterday, Jessie Young and Janelle Smiley (both USA) balanced their energy levels well today and looked good on the last climb. They finished 4th again about 6min behind the French team.

Women’s overall after Stage 2

  1. Roux / Forsberg
  2. Pont Combe / Fiechter +6:51
  3. Mollaret / Bonnel +12:38
  4. Smiley / Young +23:39
  5. Fabre / Riba +32:40

USA and Canadian Teams News

Canadian ladies – Kylee Ohler and Michelle Roberts – are continuing to add to their skimo stage racing experience and despite suffering in the heat they made it through the cut-offs with lots of time to spare. Kylee is helping Michelle on the climbs but both are playing their team’s roles well. Keep it up ladies!
kylee-michelle-stage-2
The order for North American men’s teams shuffled slightly from yesterday as John Gaston helped Max Taam (both USA) with some pulling on the climbs to save him for the descents (both are great at those). Max will be looking for his best form in the coming days to equal their performance. They finished 12th in today’s stage, a great result, but for unknown reason (to me) acquired a 3min penalty and thus are sitting 20th in the overall.

Max and John about 5min from the top of the last climb.
Max and John about 5min from the top of the last climb.
Today didn’t go so well for Eric Carter (USA) as he suffered in the heat, with Nick Elson (CAN) helping him slightly on the last climb. However, they are equally matched and are motivated to push higher in the rankings next two days. Today, they finished 20th after yesterday’s 17th place, but are keeping their 17th overall position since many other teams suffered even more today – they are about 3:30 in front of Gaston / Taam.
Eric feeling the heat under the beating sun with Nick setting the pace.
Eric feeling the heat under the beating sun with Nick setting the pace.
I believe Tom Goth and Teague Holmes (both USA) had a pretty good day out there, crossing the line in 27th (30th yesterday) and about 5min behind Carter/Elson. Teague is digging deep to keep up with Tom on the climbs but seems to be recovering so far.
After yesterday’s slightly “disastrous” showing (placing just within top 100th teams), the Canadian/USA ultra-runners – Rob Krar and Mike Foote – had a much better going today as their are finally finding their rhythm in this race. They finished 35th, about 6min behind much more skimo experienced team of Goth / Holmes. Overall, they moved up to 59th now and I believe they have a real chance to crack the top 40 by the end.
Mike Foote chasing his teammate Rob Krar to the last transition.
Mike Foote chasing his teammate Rob Krar to the last transition.
Jon Brown and Rory Kelly (both USA) should be happy with their performance in Stage 2 as they were only 2min behind Krar / Foote and looked good on the last climb. They came in 43rd, after 58th yesterday, and moved up to 50th overall. They are likely to climb another 5 places by the last day.
The best cheering of the day came from Jon Brown's girlfriend today: "Go Go! I love you Jon Brown!"
The best cheering of the day came from Jon Brown’s girlfriend today: “Go Go! I love you Jon Brown!”
Canadian/USA team of Steve Sellers and Scott Archer aren’t having their best going in this race so far, placing 178th today and 164th yesterday. Steve seems to be suffering from sleep-less nights after jet-lag is getting the best of him. Regardless, they are soldiering on and still have two more days to find their rhythm.
Scott and Steve fighting up the last climb.
Scott and Steve fighting up the last climb.

Results – Stage 2 and Overall

» Stage two finish order (scroll down for first)
» Overall after Stage 2

Tomorrow

Tomorrow will bring another warm day for the Areches-Beaufort region and so everyone is waiting whether organizers will figure out a way to take athletes into the alpine while the avalanche danger is likely to stay fairly high. Overnight temperatures will be high as well with freezing levels lurking around 2000-2500m!

Eric and Nick on real descent #2 today, about halfway through the stage.
Eric and Nick on real descent #2 today, about halfway through the stage.
Young Catalan team of Jordi Alis and Joan Reyne Magret are continuing to impress with their performance at this Pierra Menta.
Young Catalan team of Jordi Alis and Joan Reyne Magret are continuing to impress with their performance at this Pierra Menta.
 

Recap for Stage 1 of 2017 Pierra Menta: Smiley & Young 4th in women, Carter & Elson 17th in men, Lenzi & Eydallin and Fiechter & Pont Combe win

By Leave a Comment

Janelle Smiley leading Jessie Young on their way to 4th place today!
Janelle Smiley leading Jessie Young on their way to 4th place today!
With almost a metre of fresh snow on the ground, local organizers had to revise their plans for stage 1 due to high avalanche danger. Thankfully, the stunning mountains and meadows surrounding Areches-Beaufort offer endless options for big long race courses no matter what mother nature decide to do.
Therefore, today’s stage still covered over 2200m of climbing spread over multiple ascents, including two big ones – 700m and 900m, for a total of 2200m. Skiing was as good as it gets, although, it was less fun for racers than spectators on fatter skis 😉

News from the Lead Pack

Men

There was no surprise with the first place as the race’s big favourites – Damiano Lenzi and Matteo Eydallin (both ITA) – started to set the pace from the beginning. They continued increasing their lead by a small margin on every climb and ultimately stretched the gap to 3min 30sec by the finish.
Second across the line was a young Italian duo of Nadir Maguet and Michelle Boscacci who deserve lots of respect for their performance today! They managed to hold of the famed Kilian Jornet (SPA) and his new partner Alexis Sevennec (FRA) who jumped into this team to replace an illness-stuck Matteo Jacquemound.
Fourth went to locals William Bon Mardion and Xavier Gachet (both FRA) who are probably still looking for their best form this season. Fifth across the finish were Anton Palzer (GER) and young Remy Bonnet (SWI).
Race for the podium is wide open with only 4min 30sec separating 2nd from 5th!

William Bon Mardion on the first big climb. La Plannay ski resort behind him.
William Bon Mardion on the first big climb. La Plannay ski resort behind him.

Women

Arguably, this Pierra Menta will bring the closest race ever as all three teams were within 30sec on the day’s last big climb! At that point, Laetitia Roux (FRA) was vigorously pulling her teammate Emelie Forsberg (SWE) while still in the first position.
By the finish, the order shuffled with two experienced Swiss athletes – Severine Pont Combe and Jennifer Fiechter – taking the win by about 1min ahead of Roux/Forsberg. Third place went to a young French team of Axelle Mollaret and Lorna Bonnel, only 15sec further back.
The news of the day for North America was a fourth place by Jessie Young and Janelle Smiley (both USA)! Although, they finished 7min behind the 3rd team it’s refreshing to see a strong women’s North American team at Pierra Menta once again.

USA and Canadian Teams News

Beyond Jessie’s and Janelle’s 4th place there were other well performing North American teams in this first stage.
Canadian ladies – Kylee Ohler and Michelle Roberts – managed their energy well today in order to dig deeper in the coming days. They finished 15th in the women’s category and about 35min behind the strong US female duo.
ohler-roberts
Eric Carter (USA) traditionally pairs up with Nick Elson (CAN) for big teams races as the two often train together and live within one mile of each other. Today, Eric and Nick finished in 17th place, about 23min off the winners. They probably wished for a higher placing, however, they looked pretty good on the last big ascent and are poised to climb higher in the standings over the next 3 days. They finished 15th overall in 2015.
nick-eric
Second NA men’s team (both USA) didn’t have their best going today as Max Taam was visibly struggling to find his legs while John Gaston was looking pretty comfortable – they finished 26th and about 8min behind Carter/Elson as Gaston broke a ski on the final descent. However, this is an experienced team and definitely not a one to give up, so expect to see them fighting for higher places tomorrow and beyond.
max-taam
A very solid performance came from Tom Goth and Teague Holmes (both USA) who crossed the line in 30th and only 2min behind Gaston/Taam. Both are great descenders but Tom had to do a bit of pulling as Teague was digging deep to keep up.
goth-holmes
Kudos for today need to go to Jon Brown and Rory Kelly (both USA) who both have strong engines but are looking for experience at such a big race. They finished a respectable 58th but only 12min behind the Wasatch shredders Goth/Holmes.
Due to multiple issues with failing skins, the Canadian/USA duo of ultra-runners – Rob Krar and Mike Foote – cannot be satisfied with their 94th place today. They can definitely go into the top 50th in the coming days as long as their gear management improves. Otherwise, both looked pretty fresh in the finish.
rob-krar
Another Canadian/USA pairing – Steve Sellers and Scott Archer – raced well within their limits today in order to easy into this big race as they don’t have much experience with skimo stage racing yet. Placing 164th will put them at the back of the start line tomorrow so they are likely to dig deeper on day 2 to avoid a clog in the coming days.

Scott enjoying his debut at Pierra Menta.
Scott enjoying his debut at Pierra Menta.
Full results are only available as Facebook post right now:

Tomorrow’s stage

The athletes’ briefing will begin in about 1h so we don’t know the details yet, however, it is likely to stay within tree line and on meadows as we all wait for the avalanche conditions to improve.

John Gaston on the first big climb signalling he was feeling well.
John Gaston on the first big climb signalling he was feeling well.
Florent Perrier, a skimo legend and a local cheesemaker, is arguably the most favourite racer with Areches - Beaufort locals as he is still going string past 40. Today his team finished 12th!
Florent Perrier, a skimo legend and a local cheesemaker, is arguably the most favourite racer with Areches – Beaufort locals as he is still going string past 40. Today his team finished 12th!
 

Relay Race – 2017 Skimo Worlds – Mar 2: Switzerland wins men, France wins women, USA and Canada no luck today

By Leave a Comment

Traditionally, last day of the Championships belongs to relay races which are always lots of fun as so many technical aspects of skimo and all transitions are packed into a 10min lap – consisting of 80m skinning, then descent, the skinning before a 20m boot-pack, the followed with more skinning and a final descent to the finish. Both descents had race gates and both ascents had some technical skin tracks.
» Click here for previous day – Vertical Race – 2017 Skimo Worlds – Mar 1

Relay Race – Men (Senior & Espoir) – 4 person teams

Swiss athletes are known for speedy transitions and being great sprinters. Today, Iwan Arnold (who won sprint few days ago) set them up with a small lead during the first leg and the Swiss managed to hold it until the finish, ultimately beating Italians only by 4 seconds. Third place went to Spain with Kilian Jornet moving them up in the third leg, coming in 20 seconds behind Italy.

Swiss winning team. ISMF photo.
Swiss winning team. ISMF photo.
USA and Canadian men:
Neither the US nor the Canadian teams had anything special up their sleeve today. All athletes raced well and gave all but it simply wasn’t enough to really compete with the Europeans. At the end, Team USA finished in 8th and the Canadians in 12th.
The athletes competing for the USA were Mike Foote, John Gaston, Rory Kelly and Max Taam. For Canada, the four were Peter Knight, Stano Faban, Matt Reid and Travis Brown.
» Full results – men’s relay

Relay Race – Women (Senior & Espoir) – 3 person teams

With the return of Laetitia Roux to the Championships (she went for a quick trip to Russia after the individual) it was France’s race to loose. Ultimately, the French team won with a 1min gap on Spanish, with the third place going to Italy only 10 seconds further back. The Swiss were in the mix for long time as well but their efforts didn’t materialize at the end.

France's women winning team. ISMF photo.
France’s women winning team. ISMF photo.
USA and Canadian women:
Just like for NA men, the women teams were perhaps a bit tired and didn’t deliver their best performances. However, Janelle Smiley took it by the horns leading some early parts during the first leg. After all dust settled, they finished 8th but only 20 seconds behind the 7th Swedes.
Canadian ladies went out hard as well with Kylee Ohler on the first leg. At the end, all had a fairly clean race to finish 9th.
» Full results – women’s relay

Relay Race – Youth – 3 person teams combing both genders

The youth relays include 2 men and 1 female athletes, and combine both junior & cadet categories. This setup was put into place a couple of years ago after only very few countries could seed full 3 or 4 person teams in each gender or category.
Swiss athletes won quite convincingly with silver going to France and bronze to Italy.
USA relay team:
The US relay team consisted of Morgan Fortin (female cadet), Quinn Simmons (male cadet), and Ian Clark (male junior). They went on to finish 9th in their very first ever relay race.
» Full results – youth relays

Tonight and Tomorrow

We are just about to head over to the final ceremony and some beers. Tomorrow, everyone packs up and most of the skimo caravan heads to France for Pierra Menta.
Thank you for following!

Vertical Race – 2017 Skimo Worlds – Mar 1: Kilian Jornet and Andrea Mayr claim gold, John Gaston 11th and Kristi Knecht 15th for North America

By Leave a Comment

Today, most of us were waiting whether Kilian Jornet and Emelie Forsberg can pull off a double as a couple, or whether it will be Damiano’s Lenzi third gold medal of these World Championships. At the end, neither scenario came to fruition as Austria’s Andrea Mayr (former Olympic marathon runner) basically just showed up for a day and won the women’s title, and Lenzi claimed silver behind Jornet.
» Click here for previous day: Sprint Race – 2017 Skimo Worlds – Feb 28

John Gaston moving up the field after a cautions start. Photo by Matt Reid.
John Gaston moving up the field after a cautious start. Photo by Matt Reid.

Vertical Race – Men (Senior & Espoir)

Today’s race was always going to be contested between this season’s fastest four skimo athletes – Jornet, Lenzi, Palzer and Werner. Kilian Jornet (SPA) had a 12sec gap over Damiano Lenzi (ITA) in the finish, with Werner (SWI) further 20sec back, and Palzer (GER) another 15. Jornet and Lenzi established themselves early on and then just extended their gap. Top espoir was Remi Bonnet (SWI) in 6th.
It is worth noting that today’s vertical was one of the most competitive ones in recent history due to many top guns sitting out yesterday’s sprint because of the rain and opted to focus on the vert instead.

Eric Carter with Mike Foote slightly behind him on the right. Photo by Matt Reid.
Eric Carter with Mike Foote slightly behind him on the right. Photo by Matt Reid.
USA and Canadian men:
Given such top competition, John Gaston’s 11th place – only 1sec behind 10th – is even more impressive than if it occurred in a “regular” World Cup race. Mike Foote and Eric Carter perhaps started a little too fast and faded slightly by the end, yet still finishing in 26th and 27th respectively – a great result. Tom Goth wasn’t too far behind Mike and Eric to place 36th. An espoir Cameron Smith finished very respectable 43rd.
Best Canadian placing came from Peter Knight who had a great personal performance to claim 38th. Nick Elson and Rob Krar were couple of seconds behind after not having their best day, finishing 42nd and 46th. As for myself, I hopped for better than 57th although short non-technical races are exact opposite to my strengths.
» Full results – men’s vertical
Peter Knight and Stano Faban - same painful grin couple of minutes apart. Photo by Matt Reid.
Peter Knight and Stano Faban – same painful grin couple of minutes apart. Photo by Matt Reid.

Vertical Race – Women (Senior & Espoir)

As for men, today’s women’s vertical was going to be one of the most competitive ones in recent history since there are many female athletes in their best form at these Championships. Furthermore, absence of Laetitia Roux suggested that the race will be wide open.
Emelie Forsberg (SWE) and Axelle Mollaret (FRA) were the likely two favourites but at the end it was a seasoned mountain and road runner – Andrea Mayr (AUT) – who surprised them all to take the win in a convincing fashion, more than 30sec ahead of Forsberg.

Forsberg fending off Maude Mathys and Axella Mollaret. Photo by Matt Reid.
Forsberg fending off Maude Mathys and Axella Mollaret. Photo by Matt Reid.
USA and Canadian women:
Along Gaston’s, another notable US performance came from Kristi Knecht who finished in a fantastic 15th place, and only about 30sec from top ten! Janelle Smiley came in 20th while Jessie Young finished 25th – probably feeling a bit tired by now considering, that she entered all events so far.
Not far behind Jessie, for North America, was a Canadian Kylee Ohler with a great performance in her least favourite discipline to finish 27th. Nikki Larochelle finished one down on Kylee with the rest of Canadian team behind her – Michelle Roberts in 40th and Caroline Reid in 41st.
» Full results – women’s vertical race
Kylee Ohler enroute to another top 30 finish with Caroline Reid in her first World Champs. Photo by Matt Reid.
Kylee Ohler enroute to another top 30 finish with Caroline Reid in her first World Champs. Photo by Matt Reid.

Vertical Race – Men (Junior & Cadet)

Racing on the same course as seniors, a 19-years old junior Davide Magnini (ITA) threw down a truly impressive gold performance which would have saw him place 13th if he raced with the senior men! After wining the individual few days ago, he now has two world titles. Second junior, Stefan Knopf (GER), was 40sec behind but still would have placed within top 20 in men’s race. Bronze medal went to Maximilien Drion du Chapois (BEL) who claimed bronze in yesterday’s sprint race as well.
In cadets, racing on a shorter course, it was time for Swiss athletes to dominate with Leo Besson and Aurelien Gay (who won sprint yesterday) taking two top podium spots. Matteo Sostizzo of Italy claimed bronze.
USA and Canadian men:
Ian Clarke was the only junior racing for North America and placed respectable 22nd.
US Team cadets trio – Quinn Simmons, Henry Boyd and Henry Hanes – were racing again. Many eyes were on Quinn to see whether he can repeat yesterday’s bronze sprint race run. Although, he was with the top guns for some time he faded a little later on to finish 9th. Boyd and Hanes gave their all, finishing few minutes behind, in 17th and 18th respectively.
» Full results – juniors and cadets

Quinn Simmons (cadet) and Ian Clarke (junior) - both very talented cyclists trying their hand in skimo in the winter. Photo by Matt Reid.
Quinn Simmons (cadet) and Ian Clarke (junior) – both very talented cyclists trying their hand in skimo in the winter. Photo by Matt Reid.

Vertical Race – Women (Junior & Cadet)

In junior category, adding to her medal collection (now two gold and one silver), it was Russia’s Ekaterina Osichkina to claim the win with an impressive 1min 15sec lead on the second Guilia Murada (ITA) – who also now has one gold and two silver medals. Third place went to Malaurie Mattana (FRA).
In cadets, the order shuffled a bit compared to previous days, with Italy’s Samatha Bertolina winning gold. French Justine Tonso had to settle for second this time around, with bronze going to Caroline Ulrich of Switzerland.
USA and Canadian women:
The only women competing in youth categories was a cadet Morgan Fortin (USA) who continues to gain experience, finishing 8th today.
» Full results – juniors and cadets

Tomorrow

The last day of these Championships will see athletes competing in relay races – in teams of four and three, depending on the age category and gender.