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2017 Skimo World Cup Calendar, World Championships, La Grand Course + Update on IOC recognition of ISMF/Skimo

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Recent International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF) annual meeting brought many important decisions and updates regarding our sport. The meeting took place last week in Albufeira, Portugal.

Update on IOC recognition of ISMF

ISMF President  Armando Mariotta presented that “…the full recognition of ISMF as an Olympic Federation will be taken at the beginning of August, during the 2016 Rio Olympic Games opening   working session.”
Should IOC recognize ISMF as an Olympic Federation then this would be a major step for skimo racing to be included in the Olympic Games at some point in the future, perhaps even in the next few years.

2017 World Cup calendar and new La Grande Course (long course) arrangement

A new format is being designed  between ISMF  World Cup  and LGC circuit. This should be an important development for all serious (international level) skimo racers.
The ISMF vice president, Lluis Lopez said: “We believe in keeping the link strong, but we don’t want to impose any format. The aim is to share the same path in the sake of ski mountaineering and the desire to continue collaborating has been the priority from both sides”. Pierre Dupont, representing the French Federation, has been in charge of conducting the new arrangement and added that “the Grande Course will no longer be a part of the World Cup, but will remain under the spirit of ISMF.”

2017 ISMF World Cup and La Grande Course calendar:

ismf-logo-300x120WC = World Cup
LGC = La Grande Course (under ISMF)
grande-course-logo-300x210
January 14-15: Suggested dates for countries for their National Championships
January 21-22: Font Blanca WC (Andorra)
– individual (day 1)
– vertical (day 2)
January 28-29: Alp d’Huez WC (France)
– individual (day 1)
– sprint (day 2)
February 11-12: Turkey WC (Turkey)
– individual (day 1)
– sprint (day 2)
February 23 – March 2: ISMF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – Transcavallo (Italy)
– exact race schedule is yet to be determined
March 8-11: Pierra Menta LGC (France)
– 4-day stage race
– Wednesday to Saturday
– total climbing close to 10,000 m
March 24-26: Mondole Ski Alp WC (Italy)
– vertical (day 1)
– individual (day 2)
– sprint (day 3)
April 2: Adamello LGC (Italy)
Most likely courses:
– for men: 4000m ascent, 4380m descent
– for women: 3100m ascent, 4380m descent
April 8-9: Val d’Aran WC (Catalonia, Spain)
– individual (day 1)
– vertical (day 2)
April 16: Easter weekend (no international racing)
April 23: Mezzalama LGC (Italy)
– classic route from Breuil-Cervinia to Gressoney
– alternative dates in case of cancellation are April 29, 30 and May 1

New way of ranking

There will be a World Cup winner which will be, year by year, the best performer in the ISMF World Cup races, according to the three disciplines – individual, vertical and sprint. Furthermore, there will be a World Ranking, rolling up on yearly basis, which will take into account the athletes’ points earned from the ISMF World Cup, the Champs(World and Continental), the LGC and the ISMF series.
“By doingso, we want to stress the importance of all the races, including the ISMF series which will become more appealing also for top level athletes”, says  Marco Mosso, vice president, marketing   & communications.

Skimo Road to Olympics: ISMF Press Release

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This is an official press release issued by International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF) couple of weeks ago that landed in my spam box and I only found it now. It summarizes the latest positive developments of ISMF efforts in making skimo an olympic sport:
ISMF delegation will meet the Committee in Pyeongchang and attend the Asian Series to work on a showcase for 2018 Games. Meanwhile, by next summer the International federation hopes to receive the final recognition by the IOC
It is grand and it is big: it is the Olympic dream of Ski mountaineering. “Skimo people” have been chasing a common goal in recent years, committing themselves to achieve the target of entering the five circles family of the Winter Olympics Games.
Ski mountaineering is one of the few winter sports that records a growth in the last years. Numbers and statistics show an opposite and positive trend compared to other sports, not only with the number of athletes, but also with weekend fan, who approach this discipline to experience the unique emotions that only mountains can give.
Therefore, parallel to the agonistic side of ski mountaineering, the strength of ISMF, international Federation, is focused to fulfill the International Olympic Committee requirements in order to be part of the Games.
The IOC has already agreed that Ski mountaineering is an interesting discipline and in April 2014 a provisional assessment was assigned to ISMF.
A further step is expected next summer when the IOC Session will decide whether to grant the ISMF the full recognition.

The road ahead is still long – says Armando Mariotta, ISMF president – but there are many reasons why the dream could come true.

One of the most important aspect is the sustainability of this sport: the main ingredient of any ski mountaineering competition is just nature, and, as the IOC recommends, all the facilities needed on site can be removable, temporary and environmental friendly.

The disciplines we hope that will be promoted at Olympics – adds Lluis Lopez, ISMF Sport and Events vice president – are three: the Vertical, the Sprint and the Individual race.

The idea the federal board is working on, is a showcase to be organized in South Korea, during the Pyeongchang Olympics Games in February 2018.

That would be a perfect stage to show what Skimo is made of and which are the values that lay behind our way of competing”, explains Marco Mosso ISMF Marketing Vice President.

In these past three years much has been done regarding the development of the sport. First of all, the World cup has become more and more international with several events throughout Europe and many important links to other circuits all around the world.
The new web site www.ismf-ski.org has now become a reliable instrument of information. With good connections also to socials and you tube channel, the emotions of Skimo have been spread throughout the web and traditional media and press.
Furthermore, the new partnership with Infront, leader company in sport advisory, has allowed a professional step forward in marketing and communications skills.

The Swiss-Italian company will enhance our strength in promoting ski mountaineering. – adds Mariotta – They will be in charge of TV production and broadcasting highlights of many races and will also take care, on our behalf, of the media rights distribution and sponsorship in some of the venues.

Finally, next March, ISMF will be on tour in South Korea to attend the Asian series races. The delegation, including president Mariotta and Gil Orriols Jansana, technical director, will cooperate with the local organizers of the two events on stage – a Vertical and an Individual race – and they will also meet up with the Vice president of the South Korean Olympic Committee in Pyeongchang, in order to set up a master plan regarding the skimo showcase during the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.
At SkinTrack, while I think these are truly exciting developments for the sport I also believe that skimo community as a whole needs to care about what form of skimo will ultimately be featured at the Olympic Games. Here is my article from two years ago where I expressed my concerns about skimo becoming an olympic sport due to economical forces that also shaped cross-country skiing over the last decade. 

April 1-12 Skimo Racing News Shorts: Tour du Rutor, Shedhorn SkiMo, Ski Ecrins

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Our skimo racing recap from last two weekends here in North America and Europe!

USA

Shedhorn Race at Big Sky, Montana – April 9:

Over the last weekend, and for second year in a row, the Big Sky Resort in Montana hosted the Shedhorn SkiMo Race which is now arguably the most technical race in North America. Boasting serious steep descents, plenty of boot-packs and close to 3000m of vertical gain spread over 6 climbs it is shaping up to become a beast of an event going into the future.

High consequence boot-pack. Photo by Myke M
High consequence boot-pack. Photo by Myke Hermsmeyer.
In the men’s race, it was Eric Carter and Tom Goth who took it by the horns during the first big climb. Unfortunately, not long after Tom broke his boot and abandoned the race. From there on, Eric, was pretty much unchallenged and was able to enjoy the beautiful course set by the local ski patrol team and COSMIC series team. He won in 3h 52min with Teague Holmes and Ellio Barcikowski completing the podium.
In the women’s race, we are not sure how it exactly went down as we don’t have regular (or even occasional) correspondent, but overall everyone enjoyed the raced as well! Meredith Edwards took the win in 4h 58min and was followed home by Inge Perkins and Michela Adrian.
Here is what Eric Carter had to say after returning home from Big Sky and as he was just literally changing bags to jump on a flight to Europe to do Patrouille des Glaciers later this month:

It was definitely a super fun race over big terrain! The skiing was full on. I even stopped to pull out my ice axe after I dropped into the first descent. It was steep and long ways down should you fall… Now, over to Euroland for PDG. We have a good team and some goals! Will see how it goes, will be in touch!

» Full results for Shedhorn Skimo race

Europe

Tour du Rutor stage race – Long Distance World Cup – April 1-3:

Just like the more famous Pierra Menta in France, Tour du Rutor is a cool multi-day skimo stage teams race. It takes place over three days every second year at the well-known Valle d’Aosta, a region in northwest Italy.

Matteo Eydallin during the second stage. Photo by Stefano Jeantet.
Matteo Eydallin during the second stage. Photo by Stefano Jeantet.
There were no surprises in the women’s race as the very strong French team of Laetitia Roux and Axelle Mollaret confirmed their domination by winning every stage. Overall, second place went to a Swiss team of Jennifer Fiechter and Severinne Pont Combe and third, after a bit of a rough first day, went to Italians Elena Nicolini with Laura Besseghini.
In the men’s race, there were multiple favourites but no team was really standing out as they were a mix of strong upcoming generation matched by experienced partners. In the end, the Italian team of Matteo Eydallin and Michele Boscacci delivered a flawless performance to win overall after winning first two days and finishing third on the last day. Our SkinTrack chips were on the “dark horse” Swiss duo as the well experienced Martin Athamatten teamed up with strong but still very young Remy Bonnet. They finished second but watch out for Bonnet to start winning World Cups by next year! Third place went to a team of great French skiers, a cheese maker William Bon Mardion and ski lifts electrician Xavier Gachet who’s father won the 3rd Pierra Menta.
» Overall and single day results can be found HERE
» Here you can watch couple of videos from the race.

Ski Ecrins stage race – ISMF series – April 9-10:

This is a two day French skimo stage teams race that Eric Carter and Pascal Egli (SWI) managed to win last year.
This year’s Ski Ecrins race saw wins of Gary Ozeray and Steven Blanc in men’s category and Laetitia  Roux and Tania Naville.

Final 2015/16 Canadian Skimo Racing Rankings

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With the conclusion of skimo racing in Western Canada last weekend in Lake Louise, our governing body Ski Mountaineering Competition Canada (SMCC) has released the final rankings for this season. We will take a look at how the rankings are compiled and what it means.

Rankings and How they work

Canadian Cup Rankings:

This season’s Canadian Cup consisted of the six races (at five venues) that were sanctioned by the SMCC – those that conform with the International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF) and SMCC rules. For the first time ever, one of these races was a sprint event. No vertical races were held this year and so the other five were individual events.

Kylee Ohler on racing to her win.
Kylee Ohler racing on to her win at Canadian Nationals.
The Canadian Cup ranking list seeks to reward performance within these Cup events. Rankings are determined using the ISMF World Ranking system. Athletes of all nationalities are included as well as anyone who competed in any of the events – racing the long/elite events. Points are assigned to each place in the race results (1st = 100pts, 2nd = 80pts, 3rd = 60pts, etc…). Overall placement on the ranking list is the sum of the athlete’s best four results.
Top 3 Men:

  1. Eric Carter (USA) – 380 pts
  2. Travis Brown (CAN) – 330 pts
  3. Peter Knight (CAN) – 280 pts

Top 3 Women:

  1. Kylee Ohler (CAN) – 360 pts
  2. Michelle Katchur-Roberts (CAN) – 320 pts
  3. Melanie Bernier (CAN) – 300 pts

» Canada Cup Overall Rankings (PDF)

Canadian National Rankings:

The Canadian National Rankings are made up of a so called “Points List” that is designed to accurately rank athletes in comparison one to another using any possible race results for the purposes of aiding (not finalizing) in national team selection for next season.
The Points List results were compiled from all Canadian Cup races, US nationally sanctioned races (e.g. US Nationals or Powder Keg Continental Championships), and World Cup or ISMF events.
The points system was derived from that used by the Canadian Nordic Ski Team. Athletes are assigned points that represent the percentage of time they finished behind the leader. Points are handicapped by the ranking of the race winner – this means athletes who finish near the front of a highly competitive field will be rewarded with better points than finishing near the front of a weak field. For example, finishing within 20% of the winner (say Kilian Jornet) at a World Cup would be worth more points than finishing within 20% of the winner at a Canadian Cup race. The average of an athletes top three points is taken to be their overall ranking. If the athlete has only one or two races, a slight penalty is applied to their average (see notes in the below PDF sheet).
Top 3 Canadian Men:

  1. Nick Elson – 0.8803
  2. Rob Krar – 0.8383
  3. Peter Knight – 0.8080

Top 3 Canadian Women:

  1. Melanie Bernier – 0.8847
  2. Kylee Ohler – 0.8601
  3. Michelle Katchur-Roberts – 0.7828

» Canada National Points List Final (PDF)

What does it mean?

Canadian Cup:

The Canadian Cup does not seek to identify the absolute fastest Canadian skier, but rather any skier with the best and most consistent results within the Cup races. A good example of this is seen in the women’s ranking with Melanie Bernier winning every race she entered (3) but finishing ranked third because of her missing a fourth result. Had she raced one more and finished at least 3rd, she would have won the Cup.
The Vert180 appears to be a good place to get points. Only 2 of the top 8 attended. Similarly, Fernie and Nelson were less well attended than Castle or Lake Louise. It is interesting that Castle was so well attended as it is far away from almost everyone (but it’s closer for the Montana athletes). This suggests that the double race weekend – holding the sprint and individual race – is very attractive to many. Absolute ideal would be to see a minimum of two events at every race weekend in the Canadian Cup. Holding a vertical or a sprint, along an individual, does not add too much extra work for the organizers while greatly increasing attractiveness for racers from further away to attend.
Special mention should go to the very few athletes who attended every Canadian Cup race – by our count, this is only Michelle Katchur-Roberts, Travis Brown, and Peter Knight (forgive us if we missed anyone).

National Points List:

The current points list can be skewed in the event of a race like what happened at Nelson. With new snow and no set tracks, a large group of racers skied together, finishing much closer to the leader than shown in other races, thus, gaining more points than if there were well established skin tracks. This underlines the need for properly set courses and forerunners in the case of new snow. In our experience, as race organizers and athletes, we believe that a forerunner should be a must. Setting out about 1.5-2h before a race starts it gives this person plenty of time to refresh the tracks set day before and to repair any course markings that perhaps got buried or blown away overnight.
However, the points list provides valid information to the SMCC for national team selection purposes. A good example of this is Rob Krar (an accomplished ultra-runner) who is presumably hoping to race for Canada at the 2017 World Championships. With only one race in Canada (though a strong 2nd among Canadians at Nationals last week), his US results support his ranking of second fastest Canadian.

Mar 15-28 Skimo Racing News Shorts: World Cup, Grand Traverse, Canadian Nationals

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Canadian Rockies showing all their beauty during the Canadian Nationals. Photo by Osmosis Photography.
Canadian Rockies showing all their beauty during the Canadian Nationals. Photo by Osmosis Photography.
The past two weeks were full of skimo racing in North America and Europe! Here is our recap of what happened in the skin tracks.
» For previous weekend’s racing news see here.

USA West

Elk Mountain Grand Traverse – March 26, 2016

To a mix of both disappointment and relief, the race organizers made a last-minute decision to modify the 2016 Grand Traverse into an out and back course from Crested Butte rather than continuing to Aspen. A risk of skiing in high country during early spring, as large storm had deposited significant amounts of snow, was causing major concerns for the organizers and athletes.
As expected, John Gaston and Max Taam continued their team winning streak and comfortably won ahead of Rob Krar and Marshall Thompson who crossed the line 10min behind. One of the most impressive performances was of Ben and Nils Koons, who took third using Nordic ski gear!
Another noteworthy performance came from Lindsay Plant and Jessie Young who won the women’s event and finished 7th overall, however, only 3 min behind was another ladies duo of Larochelle – Hagen at 8th overall!
» Full results are HERE
Want to see more coverage of women’s racing? We need a female correspondent! Send us an email if you’d like to contribute!

8e9db461-0ecd-40e8-b569-c009c6ba4284Upcoming:

Next up on the COSMIC schedule is Cody’s Challenge in Steamboat Springs, CO on April 2nd.
Also make sure to save the date on April 9th for the Big Sky Shedhorn Skimo race. This promises to be an exciting one, with crampons, ice axe and whippet on the mandatory gear list! Check out their Facebook Page for more info and updates as well as registration.

USA East

Bolton 24 Hour, Sugarbush, Pico

Whoops, all three of these Vermont venues were cancelled in their inaugural season in this “historical” New England ski season. The Bolton Valley 24 race lost all the backcountry snow required for its daytime ascent route. Sugarbush still claimed an impressive trail count but unfortunately continued its prior attitude toward skimo from when it co-hosted a race with neighbor Mad River Glen. Pico would have been closed for two weeks by the time of the scheduled race date yet retained plenty of snow cover: the outside organizer was still 100% all set to go, but resort management wouldn’t allow the race to be held. 🙁

Bromley VT – March 19, 2016

All three cancellations further north left Bromley in southern Vermont as the last traditional race of the season on March 19. The upper mountain had been closed during the week but reopened for one final weekend after a major snow moving effort by the resort groomers on Friday. Jerimy Arnold took the win despite a hundred-foot slide on one descent past about half as many visiting ski patrollers for a training event. Brian MacIlvain finished only several seconds behind, slowed down somewhat by responsibly checking that Jerimy was somehow still okay. Alex Nichols eventually broke free from what was initially a tight pack of six racers to claim his first skimo podium.
» Results and Photos HERE

Bolton Citizen Skimo Series & Stowe Topsy Turvy Derby

As mentioned in previous news round-ups, this season the Catamount Trail Association (“CTA”) debuted a weeknight citizen series of hour-long crit-style races at Bolton Valley, VT. Attendance was strong for most of the season with participation averaging around 40 racers per night, peaking at over 80. Each week of “winter” brought new challenges in piecing together sections of skinable and skiable terrain into a race course layout that resort management would approve. Not once did participants compete on the courses originally planned by organizers at the onset of the series! But the CTA and Bolton always came up with something, and the really fun – albeit short – courses provided a lot of transition practice.
Then on March 26, the CTA closed out the Eastern U.S. skimo season with the evening Topsy Turvy Derby, the first time any skimo event has ever been held at Stowe, VT. Conditions were challenging on the 700’ vertical criterium-style course with icy moguls and refrozen corn. QT2 Systems triathlon coach John Spinney won with five laps commenced within the 55-minute cut-off.

2017 Preview:

Perhaps eager to forget the 2015-16 “winter” even as it still sputters to a close, several race directors have already started hashing out a schedule for the 2016-17 season. The Catamount Trail Association will continue the Bolton weeknight criterium-style races, and also hopes to offer several Saturday night races at both Sugarbush and Stowe. Discussions are already underway with potentially promising venues in both VT and NH. Check back at the link above (clicking through to future months in the Google calendar) for updates on other races as we move closer to the 2016-17 season and as the forgettable 2015-16 season is hopefully forgotten.
Submitted by Eastern correspondents Jonathan Shefftz (NE Rando Race Series) and Greg Maino (Catamount Trail Association)

Canada

Ken Jones Classic and Canadian Skimo National Championships – March 19, 2016:

Held at Lake Louise Ski Area, this year’s edition of KJC was one of the most competitive Canadian skimo events in recent history!
Organizers prepared a great race course with the race starting up a groomer climb to the top of the ski area before descending to the back wilder side. There awaited one beautiful switchbacks climb and one long and steep boot-pack climb, both followed by steeper couloir descents. From here, racers sped down a groomer for the final long climb and a big descent to the resort base with a long skating second section.
After an initial sprint off the line by Peter Knight, Nick Elson took the lead and set a strong pace up the 1st climb with Eric Carter in tow while Rob Krar, the ultra-runner, was chasing close behind. Nick and Eric skied together most of the race until a bottom section on the final climb where Eric pulled away for the win. Rob Krar took third with Ben Parsons chasing hard but missing out on the podium at the very end.
On the women’s side, Kylee Toth-Ohler easily skied away from the field, winning handily with Michelle Katchur-Roberts in second and Katarina Kuba in third.
Nick Elson and Kylee Toth-Ohler were named National Champions and Canadian-only podiums were presented in addition to overall race podiums. This wraps up the Canadian race calendar for 2016!
» Full results are HERE
Thanks to OsmosisPhotography.com for great images from the race:

Europe

Mondole Ski Alp World Cup – March 18-20, 2016:

At risk of sounding like a broken record, Kilian Jornet again dominated the World Cup Vertical and Individual races at the Prato Nevoso ski area in Italy. Laetitia Roux was the first to cross the line in both races as well but was given a 15min penalty in the individual race due to skis that did not meet the ISMF weight requirement so the victory was awarded to Swiss Jennifer Fiechter. In the sprint race, Robert Antonioli and Roux won, clinching their season sprint titles.
USA had one athlete competing in Mondole – Rory Kelly from Colorado raced to 27th in the vertical race, 28th in the individual, and 35th in the sprint.
» All results can be found here
All photos by ISMF:

Upcoming:

All that remains are Long Distance World Cup races. The next to come is the bi-annual Tour du Rutor in Italy at the beginning of April followed by the Patrouille De Glaciers on April 22-23rd.
ISMF Racing News
Check out our big 2015/16 skimo calendar for upcoming events this week and into the future.

March 1-14 Skimo Racing News Shorts: Powder Keg, Five Peaks, Pierra Menta, Skimo East

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It was a busy two weeks of racing in North America and Europe! Read on to if you have missed anything.
» For previous weekend’s racing news see here.

USA West

Wasatch Powder Keg – March 4-6, 2016

The Wasatch Powder Keg and North American Ski Mountaineering Championships held at Brighton Ski Resort brought together some stiff competition for the racers and big challenges for the race organization.
The Friday night sprint race was a big success with Tom Goth from Salt Lake City and Kylee Toth Ohler of Calgary taking home the North American Sprint Championship titles. The sprint race course was a 107 meter (353 feet) climb with a flat start, several switch backs, a boot-pack, and another short climb followed by an 8 downhill gates descent. The fastest men’s time for any lap was Tom Goth’s 3:18 winning lap. The fastest women’s time was a tie between Kylee’s winning lap and Gemma Arro’s qualification lap in 4:08.

The individual race was held on Saturday in beautiful spring conditions. Tom Goth again took the North American Individual Championship title while Stevie Kremer of Crested Butte drove late into the night to race and win the Women’s title. The winning times were 2h 13min for Tom and 2h 35min for Stevie.
The 2016 Powder Keg individual race was held on a new course that utilized less in-bounds terrain and was enjoyed by all racers. The course conditions were challenging with a hard refreeze on Friday night leading to some very hard and icy climbs early in the day. We were excited to have our largest junior showing to date with 6 male and 3 female athletes ranging in age from 9 to 16.

Why the teams race was cancelled!
Why the teams race was cancelled!
The race organization had been watching the weather closely all week and were anticipating a Sunday morning storm. Contingency course plans were set in motion on Saturday afternoon, however, Sunday morning brought a much stronger storm than expected. The organizers and volunteers headed out on the course and 5 minutes prior to the race start made a difficult decision to cancel the event. Snow was falling at more than an inch per hour, ridge top winds were sustained at over 35 mph and gusting to 75 mph, making snow-pack stability quickly deteriorating. While disappointed, all racers were supportive of the decision and most made the best of it with their own in-bounds team vertical to the top of the Millicent Express Lift.
Results HERE
Thanks to Mike Foote, Chad Brackelsberg and Nick Francis for their contribution!

The Five Peaks – March 12, 2016:

Breckenridge Resort held the annual Five Peaks teams race despite somewhat sparse snow conditions. Marshall Thomson and Rory Kelly went relatively unchallenged on the men’s side while Stevie Kremer and Lindsay Plant stayed almost 10min ahead of Jessie Young and Jari Hiatt.
The Five Peaks RESULTS
The Five Peaks Photos

Jessie Young and Photo: Climbbetty.com
Jessie Young and Jari Hiatt on one of the boot-packs. Photo: Climbbetty.com
Want to see more coverage of women’s racing? We need a female correspondent! Send us an email if you’d like to contribute!

8e9db461-0ecd-40e8-b569-c009c6ba4284Upcoming:

Next up on the COSMIC schedule is Cody’s Challenge in Steamboat Springs, CO.
Also make sure to save the date on April 9th for the Big Sky Shedhorn Skimo race. This promises to be an exciting one, with crampons, ice axe and whippet on the mandatory gear list (!?). Check out their Facebook Page for more info and updates as well as registration.

USA East

Jay Peak – March 5, 2016:

Photo: Stephenie Cote
Photo: Stephenie Cote
The longest-running skimo venue in New England since 2005, the Jay Peak race was totally revamped two seasons ago by Quebec Dynafit rep Jeff Rivest, now co-director of Skimo East. Although entirely in-bounds, racers were appropriately challenged by difficult boot-packs and steep descents, sometimes even in tight glades. And unlike the rest of New England during this “historic” “winter” season, Jay Peak actually had lots of snow! Long-time Quebec champion and former professional cyclist, George Visser took the win, followed by Northern NH trail runner Andrew Drummond in his skimo season debut, and Boston-area Brian MacIlvain in his first major podium. Skimo East co-director and former Canadian Olympic cyclist Lyne Bessette was the top woman and also finished fifth overall, only several seconds off the podium.

Owl’s Head – March 6, 2016:

Although various Presidential candidates might object that Owl’s Head is on the other side of any pending border wall, this Quebec stop in the Skimo East series the following day was combined with Jay Peak for the weekend standings. George Visser and Andrew Drummond once again took the top two spots, but Northern NH famed mountain man Tristan Williams made the podium in only his third skimo race. Lyne Bessette dominated the female field as always, placed fifth overall in only a little over a minute off the podium, and took third overall for the combined weekend results. In the combined weekend’s highly unofficial Nations Cup, the United States avenged its split decision against Canada over a month earlier at Burke by winning on all four conceivable measures.
Photos by David Moore

Magic Mountain – March 12, 2016:

Although the nation moved the clocks ahead a mere hour on the weekend, New England seemed to skip a month ahead with the final weekend of operations for many ski resorts. Fortunately, Magic in Southern VT had just enough remaining snow for long efficient skin tracks and some decent skiing. As for the boot-pack, who needs snow for that, right? Jerimy Arnold took the win followed by Josh Flanagan, with QT2 Systems triathlon coach John Spinney on his first podium in his skimo season debut.
Skimo East Results HERE

Photo: Stephenie Cote
Photo: Stephenie Cote

Upcoming:

Pending ski resort closures and dwindling terrain options have led to a game of musical chairs for the remaining races. The disappearance of the Northern VT backcountry snowpack has cancelled the Bolton Valley 24-hour race and the Sugarbush traditional race, so the Southern VT Bromley race has been moved ahead to March 19 to take advantage of the resulting opportunity in the schedule and the remaining snow. The Northern VT Stowe evening crit-style race on still on for March 26, as is the Central VT Pico race for March 27 even though the resort will have been closed for two weeks by then.
Thanks to our Skimo East SkinTrack.com correspondent Jonathan Shefftz for the write-up!

Canada

No racing took place in Western Canada since our last update (good for the Coastal guys who have been enjoying lots of powder lately) but we are looking forward to Canadian National Championships – the Ken Jones Classic in Lake Louise, AB. This is shaping up to be potentially one of the most competitive skimo races in Western Canada in recent history. A strong contingent of skiers from the Coast will be looking to challenge the Rockies locals but registrations are coming in from the US as well.
Nick Elson will be trying to take his second and consecutive National Championship title but will have a couple of serious challengers. There are the usual suspects like Peter Knight, Travis Brown, Stano Faban… but Rob Krar, an ultra-running champion, will be looking to see where he stacks up among the Canadians if he plans to make a National Team bid for next season. On the women’s side, Kylee Toth Ohler is skiing very strong at the moment but with Melanie Bernier back on this side of the Atlantic, the two will most likely fight it out.
If you are looking for a reason to visit the gem of Rockies, book a ticket to Calgary, come race at Lake Louise and then shred pow in Rogers Pass the rest of the week!
Registration is LIVE

Europe

Photo: Pierra Menta Facebook Page
The classic ridge climb to the summit of the Grand Mont. Photo: Pierra Menta Facebook Page

Pierra Menta – March 9-12, 2016:

It’s the mythical Pierra Menta – four days of racing in beautiful Areches-Beaufort, France. We would have written separate articles for each stage if we had a correspondent in attendance (like last year) but here’s a quick summary:
Killian Jornet and Matheo Jacquemond dominated by winning three of the four stage and by 10 min lead over 10 hours of racing. The Italian favourites (last year’s champions) dropped out with an ear infection while the other Italian team – Michelle Boscacci and Robert Antonioli – skied to a strong 3rd place overall finish. They were bested to second place by the French team and hometown favourite cheese maker William Bon Mardion and Xavier Gachet.
For the women, the ‘Queen’ of skimo Laetitia Roux paired with her young French phenom teammate Axelle Mollaret and really dominated the race, winning the overall by 50 min over 13 hours of racing!  This must have been a bit of a pill to swallow for Roux’s long time Pierra Menta teammate Mireia Miro who was competing with her Spanish teammate Claudia Galicia and finishing in second. The Italian team of Katia Tomatis and Martina Valmassoi rounded out the podium.

Pierra Menta 2016 Champions. I just don't understand how that is not the skin suit of the Canadian National Team - flannel and jeans!?
Pierra Menta 2016 Champions. We don’t understand how that is not the official skin suit of the Canadian National Team, flannel and jeans, eh? 🙂
While the Canadians didn’t field any teams this year, USA sent the Colorado dream team of John Gaston and Max Taam as well as Scott Simmons and Paul Hamilton (making his debut on the European skimo circuit). Gaston and Taam raced well the entire week, maintaining a steady position, and finished in 15th, tying the previous best men’s North American finish. Simmons and Hamilton went very well the first three days but botched the last day. Yet they still finished with a very respectable 41st place.
Videos and Results HERE

Upcoming:

The ISMF calendar continues with a vertical, individual, and sprint event in Mondole, Italy at the Prato Nevoso ski area. Hurting badly for snow earlier in the year, Prato Nevoso is looking good to go. Don’t expect Kilian Jornet to slow down and Laetitia Roux will likely continue to dominate with the loss of several top women to injury.
The next Grande Course race to come is the bi-annual Tour du Rutor in Italy at the beginning of April.
ISMF Racing News
Check out our big 2015/16 skimo calendar for upcoming events this week and into the future. Still lots of racing left this season!
 

February News Shorts: Skimo racing in USA, Europe and Canada

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Tom Goth on Guide's Ridge at US National Championships. Grace Owens Photo.
Tom Goth on Guide’s Ridge at US National Championships. Grace Owens Photo.
We’ve been a bit behind with our news updates, mostly because we’ve been busy racing. See what has been happening in skimo racing over the last month!
» For previous weekend’s racing news see here.

USA West

Santa Fe Fireball:
In New Mexico, racers met at the Santa Fe ski area to compete in the COSMIC race Santa Fe Fireball.  The race is primarily inbounds with ~4000ft of climbing. More sparsely attended than some COSMIC events, the Fireball featured the veteran Pete Swenson who took the top step ahead of ultra-runner turned skimo racer Paul Hamilton. The women’s race was handily won by Stevie Kremer almost uncontested with Sarah Stubbe finishing in second and Kate Ferlic in third.
Results
US Nationals:
The focus of North American skimo turned to the town of Crested Butte in mid-February for the US National Championships event featuring a vertical race as well as an individual and teams race, both on the infamous Guide’s Ridge course. Conditions in CB were firm and sunny throughout the weekend with uncharacteristically warm temps for February in Colorado’s high country. With a starting elevation of ~10,000 feet, altitude was a major factor in all races.
In the Vertical, John Gaston and Rory Kelly pulled away from the field with local Marshal Thompson chasing strong. Megan Kimmel gave a strong performance on the all-groomer course with a healthy lead above Sara Kadlec and Stevie Kremer. SkinTrack’s Eric Carter came in 5th.
Vertical Results

The youngest competitor at US Nationals: 12 year old Max Kilcoyne racing the vertical. COSMIC Photo.
The youngest competitor at US Nationals: 12 year old Max Kilcoyne racing the vertical. COSMIC Photo.
Saturday’s Individual race featured a long, icy, mogul climb to start with (wouldn’t be racing in the US without at least one of these) and followed by several shorter descents and ascents leading towards the final boot-pack onto and up the Guide’s Ridge. The ridge is ~400 ft of granite rock steps with climbing rope fixed the entire way. Racers use both via ferrata and a handled ascender to scramble up the 4th class terrain. Most find this difficult in the least with some ending up fumbling with their gear or completely gripped. Tom Goth pushed the pace from the start but John Gaston showed his abilities quickly moving into the lead. Max Taam skied from ~10th place up to 2nd by the end of the final descent, with Goth rounded out the podium. In women’s race, Jessie Young stayed well ahead of the field with an almost four minute lead over once-again-strong Janelle Smiley and Stevie Kremer. Also of note is the U-23 and U-18 categories who had strong representation from local collegiate athletes!
Individual Results
The Teams event featured much of the same course as the individual with less climbing and more time on flat terrain but still finishing on the Guide’s Ridge. Marshall Thompson and Rob Krar took off hard from the start while John Gaston and Max Taam lurked behind until taking the lead on the second climb, continuing their unbeaten teams-race streak. Ultra-runners Mike Foote and Paul Hamilton had a strong performance, skiing well into second place! The women’s field had only three teams with the Meredith Edwards – Janelle Smiley duo ending up off the course and receiving a DQ. Jessie Young and Lindsay Plant took the women’s podium (finishing 13th overall).
Teams Results
Want more coverage of women’s racing? We need a female correspondent! Send us an email if you’d like to contribute!
Stevie Kremer and Lindsay Plant racing to victory at the Power of 4. Jeremy Swanson Photo.
Stevie Kremer and Lindsay Plant racing to victory at the Power of 4. Jeremy Swanson Photo.
Power of Four
The Power of Four is a classic Colorado COSMIC series event that brings top teams to Aspen-Snowmass. Racing in teams of two at high altitude, it is a relatively spectator friendly event with good resort access. Local heroes, John Gaston and Max Taam skied tactically, letting Paul Hamilton and Scott Simmons tag along until the final climb and descent before pulling away and smashing the previous course record. Mike Foote and Rob Krar put in a strong performance finishing in third. An unusually strong women’s field was topped by Lindsay Plant and Stevie Kremer finishing with time to spare, ahead of Sarah Kadlec and Lindsay Meyer.
Power of 4 Results
Upcoming in the Western US is this weekend’s Wasatch Powder Keg (and Continental Championships). A classic event at Brighton Resort in Utah that is expertly organized by Chad Bracklesberg and Nick Francis. They had this to say about the upcoming weekend:

We have worked hard on a new individual course this year, which features far more off piste skinning (not gnarly bumps, but good euro style skin tracks through Wasatch forest (Thank God – Ed.)), totalling 6800 feet of gain for the race division.  Race conditions all three days look to be spring-like, with warm temperatures and sunshine, which should make for a fast course.  Overall the course is in excellent condition, with supportable south aspects and some good chalky snow in the northern aspects.  Friday will feature our traditional sprint course, and Sunday is the excellent teams event, covering over 8K of vert through technical climbs and descents around the central Wasatch.
Our predictions are for Tom Goth to take the mens individual and sprint.  On the womens side, it will be a battle between Gemma Arro Ribot, Jessie Young, and Meredith Edwards for the individual and sprint.  The teams event is anyones guess, but will almost certainly feature some of the same fast folks from the individual.  With John Gaston, Max Taam, and Scott Simmons out of the country traveling to Pierra Menta, the leader board will certainly be different than the last few races.  Yet to be seen if some of the new racers from the ultra community will challenge Tom for the top spot, but this weekend will see how they fare…

The next COSMIC race is the Breckenridge 5-Peaks on March 12th.

USA East

Burke:
After the Northeastern U.S. skimo season kicked off on January 23, the action shifted to the very northern tip of Vermont at Burke Mountain, which also attracted a large Quebec contingent.  Snow conditions have been rather ungenerous to New England so far this season, but Burke still had enough snow (barely) to pull off all the ascents and descents on natural snow.  The ~5,400’ cumulative vertical included seventeen transitions with six separate bootpacks, with lots of especially tricky skinning on the first ascent up a narrow twisty hiking trail. Dynafit athlete Marshall Thompson, visiting family back East, took first, followed by Quebec leader (and former MTB pro) George Visser, and  Andrew Drummond (in his skimo debut).  Skimo East co-director and former Canadian Olympic cyclist Lyne Bessette was the top woman and also took fourth overall.

Jonathan Vass racing on the East Coast. Burke Mountain Photo.
Jonathan Vass racing on the East Coast. Burke Mountain Photo.
Berkshire East
The circuit took a hiatus for traditional races until February 27, when the Mount Greylock 100% backcountry race with 0% snowpack was moved to Berkshire East. Jerimy Arnold won the hour-long crit-style race and followed up with another win in the dual-elimination multiple-round sprint race. But the final event threw a monkey wrench into the overall standings with an equalized-teams relay race, as newcomer Mark Trahan took the win for the day, with Race Director Jonathan Shefftz as runner-up.
Wildcat
The following day, Wildcat Mountain, literally across the street from New Hampshire’s famed Mount Washington, held its inaugural race, with local Andrew Drummond taking the win. Fortunately our unfortunate snow conditions actually improved the course layout, forcing the race organizers to abandon their initial plan of driving racers to a nordic trail network for a flat ascent back to the downhill resort, instead using the resort’s very efficient dedicated uphill route. However, as he skied both descents with his climbing skins in his hands, and also relied on a passing skier to bring down a dropped skin without hiking back up all the way, clearly the ISMF-adjusted win belonged to British national team member Daniel Gay only four seconds behind. Brian MacIlvain rounded out the podium.
Upcoming:
The Catamount Trail Association’s weekly series continues each Wednesday night at Bolton Valley VT.  The first race – and the first of its kind anywhere in New England – attracted a field of 78 skiers, led by Middlebury College sophomore Peter Howe and QT2 Systems triathlete coach John Spinney.
Coming up on March 5 is a rematch with Equipe Quebec at Jay Peak, just barely on the U.S. side of the international border. The 2015 course layout was the most challenging in the East, and currently Jay is one of the few venues anywhere in New England with a decent snowpack. Some U.S. racers might also venture across the border the next day for a race at Owl’s Head that is combined with the Jay race for overall weekend results.
Results and Photos (NE Rando Race FB Page)
Many more Burke professional pictures at:
https://daimo.smugmug.com/SkimoEast-Burke-VT-2016/
Thanks to our Skimo East Skintrack.com Correspondent Jonathan Shefftz!
Men and Women's podium at ROAM Randonne Rally in Nelson, BC.
Men and Women’s podium at ROAM Randonne Rally in Nelson, BC.

Canada

ROAM Randonne Rally – Nelson BC:
February was quiet in Western Canada with the exception of the ROAM Rando Rally in Nelson, BC. Held at Whitewater Ski Area, the ROAM Rando Rally has the most reliably deep powder of any race in North America. The race features three ascents and descents in-bounds and in the Whitewater slack country. In typical Nelson fashion, soon after course officials finished placing wands and setting skin tracks, the clouds closed in and snow started falling. Racers woke Saturday morning to 20+cm of fresh snow blanketing the skis area and covering tracks. A strong contingent of Canadian athletes as well as racers from Montana started up the groomed runs and quickly encountered deep trail breaking on course. With no-one keen to break trail, the pace stayed mellow and a large group formed on the first untracked powder descent.
After trading trail-breaking duties, the lead pack arrived at the top of the ridge on the final climb where they found freshly broken trail and the race spread out with a sprint down the final descent between Eric Carter and Ben Parsons while Peter Knight skied into third. Michelle Katchur-Roberts handily won the women’s field with Katarina Kuba in second and newcomer Lori Anne Howard in third.
ROAM Recap and Results
Upcoming:
The next race in the Canadian Ski Mountaineering Cup Circuit is the Ken Jones Classic – serving as Canadian National Championships – in Lake Louise, AB.
Registration is LIVE

Europe

Giulia Compagnoli (ITA) going face first into the cow pasture at Valtellina running to the finish line. (ISMF Photo)
Giulia Compagnoli (ITA) going face first into the cow pasture at Valtellina running to the finish line. (ISMF Photo)
Valtellina:
There was no instagram exaggeration for this one. There was literally no snow at the start line of the third World Cup event of the season. Racers sprinted uphill through a farmer’s pasture before skinning up an icy road. With only 40cm of snow on the ground at the high point of the race, coverage was sparse to say the least. Rocks were everywhere on descents waiting to bite and racers skinned over patches of grass throughout the race. Despite the conditions, the town of Valtellina Orobie rallied around their golden boy Michelle Boscacci and made it happen. With a sketchy run back down to the finish line on the steep farm field, Boscacci and Kilian Jornet decided mid-race not to contest the win and instead walk down hand in hand. Much to Kilian’s consternation, he was awarded the win over Boscacci according to ISMF rules that take finish order off chip time. North Americans in attendance were Nick Elson, Melanie Bernier, and Eric Carter.
Alpiniski/European Championships:
A three day race featuring Vertical, Individual, and Sprint events, the World Cup and European Championship races in Les Marecottes, Switzerland (very close to the site of last year’s World Championships) were a major departure from the preceding weekend. A dump of snow in the Rhone Valley transformed the venue into a winter wonderland. The Vertical event utilized a unusual time-trial start format due to low snow at the starting elevation, with racers starting alone, every 30 seconds. Kilian Jornet won the event, probably trying harder than usual because of being unaware of his placement until crossing the line.  Victoria Kreuzer won for the women.
Jornet and Palzer battle in Les Marecottes. Ski and Run Photo.
Jornet and Palzer battle in Les Marecottes. Ski and Run Photo.
Vertical Race Video
In the Individual, the race took advantage of the excellent terrain offered in the Les Marecottes ski area and the new snow. Skin tracks were soft but established and the course was slightly shortened due to avalanche danger at the high point. Racers started off hard as always and Kilian battled it out with Anton Palzer of Germany and the Italians. Sadly, Emelie Forsberg crashed out of the race with a knee injury.
The Sprint at Les Marecottes was dominated by Laetitia Roux and Robert Antonioli. Check out our analysis of their transitions here.
Sprint Race Video
Nick Elson and Eric Carter represented North America at the Alpiniski World Cup and Eric posted about his races here.
Roux and Antonioli are the European Sprint Champions! ISMF Photo.
Roux and Antonioli are the European Sprint Champions! ISMF Photo.
Transcavello:
Kilian pulling away from the field in Transcavello. Kilian FB Photo.
Kilian pulling away from the field in Transcavello. Kilian FB Photo.
With conditions pretty grim in much of Europe, it was not looking good for the World Cup held in the Italian Dolomites. Luckily a dump of snow arrived just in time and the races were confirmed. The Transcavello course is a test event for next season’s 2017 World Championships. As usual this season, the Men’s race was contested between Kilian Jornet, Anton Palzer and Michele Boscacci finishing in that order. Kilian took the lead early in the race and gradually build while the others chased hard. Similarly, Latetia Roux skied away from the field not to be seen again with a 5min gap over the second place women.
Individual Race Video
The sprint race was eerily similar to that of Alpiniski with Antonioli and Roux repeating as champion. This is the second to last event in the ISMF Sprint circuit which will conclude in Mondole, Italy in several weeks. Of note is the young Italian women Alba DeSilvestro taking the third spot on the podium.
Altitoy Teruna:
The first Grande Course (Long Distance World Cup) race of the season was held over the weekend in the Pyrenees despite heavy snowfall preceding the event. Two days of racing were dominated by the Spanish-French duo of Kilian Jornet and Matheo Jacquemod while the French wonder team of Latetia Roux and Axelle Mollaret won the women’s event ahead of the Spanish and Italian teams.
Jornet and Jaquemod running to the finish of Altitoy. Grande Course Photo.
Jornet and Jacquemod running to the finish of Altitoy. Grande Course Photo.
FINAL MEN:
1. Jornet – Jacquemod
2. Eydallin – Lenzi
3. Boscacci – Antonioli
FINAL WOMEN:
1. Roux – Mollaret
2. Miro – Farres
3. Valmassoi- Tomatis
Upcoming:
The ISMF Grand Course calendar is just getting wound up with the Pierra Menta and the Tour du Rotur just around the corner in March and April. Expect Jornet-Jacquemod to be a force to be reckoned with but don’t rule out any of the Italian combinations or the French team led by William Bon-Mardion. The US will be represented at the Pierra Menta by Gaston and Taam who will be looking to increase the top American finish benchmark of 15th place and hopefully keep things together to break into the top 10!
ISMF Racing News
Check out our big 2015/16 skimo calendar for upcoming events this week and into the future. Still lots of racing left this season!
 

New Ski Mountaineering and Skimo Racing Skis: La Sportiva, Fischer, Black Diamond, Dynafit, Salomon, Atomic, Hagan, Voile

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During my recent visit to Outdoor Retailer show I had a chance to touch, flex and discover new skimo racing and ski mountaineering skis that will be coming out in the fall of 2016.
My overall observation was that now most manufacturers, instead of just few, will have a light line of skis. And I do mean light, and I do mean a line of skis. This means that going forward, whether you will want a light pair of 80mm skis, or 90mm, or even wider, then you will have more choice than ever before.
» For current lightest skimo skis see our comparisons chart.

La Sportiva and Ski Trab skis

The most interesting finding while browsing the La Sportiva booth, and apart from the new Stratos Hi-Cube ski boots, was that starting next season Ski Trab is partnering with La Sportiva to bring their skimo racing and light touring models to North America.
Below you can see that they will be La Sportiva branded Ski Trab skis. On the left, it’s the Maestro LS (940g at 171cm, width 75mm) suitable for lots of spring ski mountaineering, and on the right, are the racing models Gara Aero LS for men and women (715g at 164cm, and 685g at 157cm).
la-sportiva-ski-trab-skis-2016
Here are some wider skis from La Sportiva, from left – Maximo LS men and women models (1310g at 178cm width 90mm, and 1205g at 164cm width 92mm)  that are intended for fun, light and fast ski touring. Then in contrast on the right you can see the new Vapor Float powder machines weighing only 1400g at 178cm while measuring 117mm in waist!
la-sportiva-skis-2016-fat

Fischer skis

Just like with the new great looking Travers Carbon ski boot, Fischer is disrupting the market with some light touring skis as well.
The photo below shows their full ski touring and skimo racing line. The first two from left are Hannibal 100 and Hannibal 94 (1500g at 180cm width 100mm, 1250g at 177cm width 94mm) for ski touring in powder and soft snow. Then I want to highlight the Transalp 80, in green and fifth from left, as highly suitable for any type of ski mountaineering whether that be steep faces, couloirs, or just enjoying corn in the spring, weighing only 950g at 163cm in width 80mm! The Ranger line is freeride oriented – wider, fun but still pretty light given the widths.
fischer-skis-line-2016
For ski mountaineering racing, Fischer is pushing the weight limits with their two models (photo below):

  • The VerticAlp (in black on the right) is a pure vertical race specialist – 580g in 161cm – and it features a substantial camber to mimic classic xc skis for improved kick, and almost no side-cut (82-64-72) to ensure the skis doesn’t glide sideways on any terrain. This is a great design given that modern vertical races are hosted mostly on groomed runs and roads.
  • The AlpAttack (in black on the left) is a super light skimo racing skis – 650g at 161cm – with what appears to be a stiff torsional construction, thus, it should ski well at high speed and in hard/icy conditions. The 99mm at the tip, in contrast with 65mm waist and 81mm tail, should make the ski float well in powder and crusty snow.

fischer-race-skis-2016

Black Diamond skis

While Black Diamond has been producing some light skis already, their new full Helio line is screaming ski mountaineering in all conditions. On top of that, Black Diamond has moved production of its skis from China to Austria which should result in greater durability than before.
All Helio models feature carbon reinforcements, ABS sidewalls and ultra-light balsa flax wood core. All skis feel very light yet strongly built, and are shaped and rockered exactly for the type of snow or skiing their widths predetermines them.

  • 116 model weighs 1550g in 176cm at 143-116-126 and features generous tip and tail rocker.
  • 105 model weighs 1450g in 175cm at 132-105-119 with slightly smaller rocker at both ends than the 116 model.
  • 95 model weighs 1250g in 173cm at 123-95-113 and slightly shorter rockers than 105.
  • 88 model is shaped a bit differently than any of the above. It seems to be built for spring, steep and hard snow ski mountaineering. Weighing 1200g in 168cm at 121-88-111 the ski feels torsionally stiff and has just enough rocker to make it a well rounded tool.

black-diamond-skis-2016

Dynafit skis

After liberating the world from heavy and clunky bindings in late 80s, Dynafit is now also known for its light skis in all kinds of widths and shapes. However, in last 2-3 seasons, the brand is poking into ever more into the freeride skiing. Here are couple of upcoming models from the photo below:

  • Third pair from left, the new Dhaulagiri, named after 8000m peak, appears to be suited for a variety of conditions but will mostly likely excel most in softer snow – weighing 1400g in 177cm with a side-cut of 130.5-99-114.
  • The purple Sphinx (1670g in 170cm at 124-96-114) is a woman-specific model while the green/yellow Meteorite (1820g in 177cm at 126-97-116) is for heavier or more aggressive skiers. Both versions should be suitable for higher speeds given their bigger mass.
  • The Chugach (1950g in 181cm at 107mm width) and Hokkaido (2100g in 182cm at 117mm width) models are big mountain skis and more traditional shape than other recent Dynafit models.

dynafit-skis-fat-2016
In skimo racing department, Dynafit is now using their flex tip technology and new side shaping (like in the above Denali and Dhaulagiri models) with different colours for let and right skis:

  • DNA model, the two skis on the left, is Dynafit’s lightest weighing 690g in 161cm with a side-cut of 99-65-80. 
  • PDG model, two skis in the middle, is a heavier version of the DNAs with the same side-cut and length but at 790g. Usually, also about half the price of the DNA.

dynafit-race-skis-2016

Salomon S-Lab Minim ski

With long tradition in ski edges, boots and bindings manufacturing, Salomon has only started to build their own full skis in around 1990.
I went to the Salomon ski booth to mostly check out their new light S-Lab Minim ski mountaineering ski as it was developed in collaboration with Kilian Jornet, who previously skied Atomics for a long time.
The Minim ski will weigh 720g in 160cm and is slightly wider than all other skimo racing skis – with a side-cut of 97-68.5-83 it is 3-4mm wider in the waist. It features Karuba woodcore and CFX Superfiber reinforcement.
Salomon-s-lab-minim-skis-2016

Atomic skis

Like Fischer, Atomic is an Austrian manufacturer and has been building skis for decades. Although they have couple of touring and freeride models I was mostly insterested in checking out their Backland Ultimate line (on the right side below) as they are the brand’s most suitable for light and fast ski mountaineering:

  • Backland UL 85 weighs only 1050g at 163cm with a 85mm waist
  • Backland UL 78 comes in 980g at 163cm with a 78mm waist
  • and Atomic’s skimo racing skis, the Backland UL 65, weighs only 680g at 162cm with waist of 65mm and a reshaped tip

atomic-skis-2016

Hagan and Voile skis

While Hagan has been manufacturing skimo racing skis for long time Voile entered the market only two years ago. However, both brands have a couple of lightweight models in various widths. I didn’t get any specifications for the below skis but both brands have improved their existing models and should not definitely not be overlooked when buying a new quiver next season.

Hagan's new racing models feel torsionally stiffer and tip's shape has been improved for skinning.
Hagan’s new racing models feel torsionally stiffer and tip’s shape has been improved for skinning.
All of the Hagan wider models feel very solid and lightweight.
All of the Hagan wider models feel very solid and lightweight.
Voile is a Salt Lake City manufacturer with reputation for well built yet lighter weight skis. Their skimo race skis have substantial rocker and can been clearly picked out in this photo.
voile-skis-2016

Skimo World Cup Sprint: Video Transition Technique Analysis

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skimo-racing-transition-world-cup
Sprint races are not really my forte when it comes to skimo racing. However, they are incredibly spectator friendly (good for the sport) and allow mortal athletes to closely watch the top guys.
After a quick spin, but not quick enough, around the sprint track at the recent Alpiniski World Cup in the qualifying round, I made a point to post up at the transition areas to watch the race leaders and their technique. I shot four videos from the men’s semi-final rounds and the final. Because the race also served as European Championships, there was a strong field in attendance.
There are three transitions in the race: 1) skinning to boot-pack where skis get attached to the backpack, 2) boot-pack to skinning, and 3) skinning to skiing or skins off for the descend. In a sprint race, every fraction of a second counts at each transition so regular practice is an absolute must.

Skinning to Boot-pack

In this semi-final round we see two Swiss athletes (black suits) using a “kneeling technique” to transition into the boot-pack. Notice their fluid movements when the bindings are released and stepped out of. The skis are put on the pack and then the poles grabbed before standing up.

The slow-motion section shows the faster Swiss athlete using the kneeling technique.
In the third clip of this video, we see athletes putting their skis on their packs without kneeling. This technique appears to be slightly faster but the margin of error makes it essentially the same.
Transition times (in seconds) are listed with each clip for the athletes followed and times are from the moment the poles hit the ground to the moment they come off the ground:
#8 – 7.4s
#24 – 7.7s
#1 – 6.9s
#7 – 7.0s
#9 – 7.4s
#67 – 8.1s

Boot-pack to Skinning

Here we see the athletes putting their skis on at the end of the boot-pack. It’s not a very technical movement but notice how they stay bent over the entire time. They drop the skis, open the bindings, step in to each, and THEN stand up with the poles.

Times for the first two were as follows:
#5 – 6.5s
#2 – 7.3s

Skins off: Skinning to Skiing


The mythical double-skin rip is pretty standard fare on the World Cup.
The first clip shows Italy’s Robert Antonioli into the transition first, he went on to become the new European Champion. He actually makes the transition look pretty mellow.
The carefully watch the last guy into the transition (Swiss – #4 – Yannick Eccour), he is the fastest of the group and looks very smooth. After that you will realize that Antonioli made few errors – he didn’t get his heels clicked in at once and took few pulls to get the skins off – but Eccour is flawless.
For the double-rip, watch #69 (Austrian). The key is to lock the heels first with a little hop, then bend forward to reach both skin tips and rip simultaneously. Some subtle differences to the Italian style! Also, notice the Austria athlete clipping his clip-in style ski poles simultaneously while already fully parked in the transition. It takes him more time as the others, using traditional ski poles loops, take their poles off while still moving forward. And final interesting points is that five of them are using the same ski poles from Leki.
Their times were as follows:
#2 – 10.7s (Antonioli)
#1 – 12.1s
#5 – 14.6s
#7 – 13.4s
#69 – 13.8s
#4 – 8.5s
Study up the videos and practice your technique! A few tens of a second in a sprint and even an individual race can make a big difference!
For more skimo racing technique tips see our Manual For Ski Mountaineering Racing e-book.

Jan 23-24 News Shorts: Racing news from the US West and East, and Canada

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With more skimo events on the North American calendar this season than ever before, race packed weekends are becoming the norm! Let’s take a look how things went down last Saturday and Sunday,

USA

Powderhorn Resort in Colorado hosted The Grand Mesa Grind as part of the COSMIC series. Joe Risi, the organizer, with the help of National Guard, set up another nice course and the racers took off on Saturday morning.
With John Gaston in Europe, one would think that Max Taam would have it easy but don’t forget this is Colorado, and so after two hours of racing the top three elite men finished within one minute! Taam did win at the end, however, always fighting Brian Smith came in only 8 seconds behind and was followed by Marshall Thomson in third, only another 40 seconds later.
In the women’s race, things weren’t any less dramatic. Jessie Young has been on fire since the begging of the season but in Mesa her winning streak got broken when Sari Anderson beat her to the line only by 12 seconds after 2.5 hours! Third place went to Sara Kadlec from Boulder who finished a bit further behind. The gap grew behind her even more significantly.

»  Full results for Mesa Grind

2016-berkshire-east-rando-race-results
Click image for results
The North East Rando Race Series kicked off the skimo season in the Eastern U.S. on January 23 at Berkshire East in Western Massachusetts. Continuing the eight-year streak of no-postponements or cancellations despite a backcountry skin track entirely reliant on natural snow-entailed extensive preparation, including shoveling and snow transportation.
Jerimy Arnold collected his sixth title, fending off by only a few seconds British National Team member Daniel Gay (currently working in US).  Newcomer Peter Howe took a close third, despite having taught himself to downhill ski only this season.
Josh Flanagan came in fourth, hampered by boots borrowed from our faithful correspondent and the race organizer – Jonathan Shefftz – that were adjusted for his skinny calves and almost impossible for Josh to close into ski mode 🙂 Jonathan organized and raced as well, coming in fifth when sixth place finisher, Alex Nichols, suffered a skin failure.
This coming week, the action shifts to   Northern   Vermont   as   the   Catamount   TrailAssociation’s first-ever weeknight series starts on Wednesday at Bolton Valley, and the SkimoEast series hosts at Burke.

Canada

2016-Fernie-skimo-race-resultsAfter taking a break from racing last weekend, the Canadian Skimo Series continued with a renewed skimo event in Fernie, BC. This was the original location where Stano from SkinTrack organized his first own skimo back in 2008 and 2009. Now, with locals taking more interest, the Lizard Skinner Ski Mountaineering Race was born and put skimo back on a map in the south-east corner of British Columbia again!
In the men’s race, Peter Knight took the hole shot while Adam Campbell, one of Canada’s leading trail runners, managed to loose a skin in record time. Travis Brown gave solid chase and rejoined Peter after first major climb and descent. Mike Foote, an elite US trail runner, and a skimo racing old-timer Ben Parsons chased together with a large chase group further behind. At the end, it was Travis Brown taking the win ahead of Peter Knight and Ben Parsons. Fourth went to Marcus Waring, a new name in the series, and fifth to Campbell.
In the women’s race, Kylee Toth took her first win of the season with a strong performance. Michelle Roberts came in second and was a bit disappointed about her race but there is still lots of racing left this season and plenty of time to redeem herself. Amber Steed, from Montana just like Parsons and Foote, finished third on a pair of Manaslu’s and Tlt 5’s!

Upcoming

Check out our big 2015/16 skimo calendar for upcoming events this week and into the future. Still most of racing left this season!