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Reports & Results

Facts and Results from Vert180 2012 skimo race

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As usual, the Vert180 was a great start to Canadian skimo racing season. Some took it by the horns and went full out in the solo category while others enjoyed the more friendly relay format.
Personally, I once again raced with two friends that don’t get to tour much due to family and work commitments. But I prefer this as the relay style provides me with an opportunity to do a wicked early season interval training.
This year’s course had the climb going up Calgary’s COP terrain park, even right up through the half-pipe 🙂 The downhill section was pretty much a straight line down once the fog disappeared.

This year’s facts

Number of participants: over 100 people!
Average laps climbed: 14
Average vertical climbed: 14 laps at 125m/lap for a total of 1750m
Youngest racer: 11 years-old
Most vertical climbed: 2750m by Reiner Thoni

Vert180 results

» Vert180 Solo Women 2012 (pdf)
» Vert180 Solo Men 2012 (pdf)
» Vert180 Overall Laps 2012 (pdf)

Ken Jones Classic 2012 report & results – Lake Louise skimo challenge

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On Saturday 24, 2012 the Lake Louise Ski Area hosted its second Ken Jones Classic Ski Mountaineering Challenge:

  • Reiner Thoni wins the men’s category on the elite course
  • Melanie Bernier does the same in women’s category
  • 16-year old junior Martin Carnogursky completes the whole elite course
  • Another junior wins overall in women’s category on the shorter Enduro course
  • Joel Bartley wins men’s category over the Enduro course

» Full results: Ken Jones Classic 2012 results (in PDF)

Junior racer conquers the whole Elite course!

“Only through challenging myself can I know how much I can handle, and improve from there.”

The following report was submitted by Martin Canorgursky, a 16-year old junior racer, who went on to complete the full length elite course! I took Martin to his first race in 2011 and he liked it instantly. For the 2011/12 season he prepared with some experience under his belt – mostly by practicing karate 😉 In the coming years living somewhere else than Surrey, BC can surely help.

Lake Louise skimo race 2012
Photos from Martin's head-cam nicely show the racing experience of any skimo racer. (Martin Carnogursky, from Ken Jones Classic at Lake Louise)
The Ken Jones Classic marked the end of the ski-mountaineering racing season for me this year. For those who aren’t familiar with the event, it is held in Lake Louise and this year was the second annual race.
Racers were divided into two categories: “Elite” and “Enduro”. The “Enduro” race featured three climbing segments, three descents, and one bootpacking section, adding up to approximately 1000m of climbing. The “Elite” race had all of the climbs and descents of the “Enduro”, with an additional climb bringing the total vertical gain to around 1700m.
For this race, I decided to challenge myself and undertake the “Elite” course. As a junior racer and the youngest competitor, I usually compete under the “Enduro” category, but after a successful race at Alpental Vert Fest I felt confident I could handle the longer course.
I was a little misinformed about the length of the “Elite” course, thinking it to be 1500m of climbing, only a few more than at Alpental. And with permission from the course marshal, I signed up for the “Elite” race. 🙂
On Saturday, the day of the race, we woke to a clear morning hinting of a bluebird day to come. Panoramic view of the surrounding mountains greeted us at the starting line. It was a crisp -12 degrees, but the sun lessened the cold.
At 8:30, we started off on the first ascent. Halfway up, I paused to take a drink from my hydration pack, only to find a frozen tube! I had made a classic amateur mistake, and unknowingly left my water tube to freeze over. I continued to climb, but the hydration pack was my only water and it was inaccessible.
For the first downhill, we skied one of the backside chutes, where I encountered another setback. For this race, I had a shorter and narrower pair of skis which I had not skied steep runs on before. In the chute, I skied a little too aggressively, trying to link longer turns as I would with my larger skis.
I hit a small burl and started to tumble. I slid down 40 or so metres, until I finally regained control and stopped. Fortunately, my bindings had released, but my skis were a long ways uphill from me. A helpful racer above me passed me my skis, and I was off again. I finished the descent and started on the second climb.
By this time, I was starting to feel the thirst. I had to stop for ten minutes and put my water reservoir along with the tubing inside my jacket, so it would unfreeze. Although this wasted precious time, I couldn’t simply not drink for the next two hours. After that problem was solved the rest of the race went smoothly.
Once the bootpack was over with, the course took me to another section of the Lake Louise ski area. This was the last long climb, in the Larch area. The previous three climbs had worn me out, so I had to slow down the pace. During the last stretch, I was very tired and continued at a snail’s pace, forging on uphill. Finally, I reached the top.
The last descent was a long one, starting on a nice run and finishing with a flat cat-track exit with plenty of skating. After over four hours, I finally finished the race. 🙂
I’m glad that I finished the longer course but it definitely pushed me to the limits. I know for next year that I’ll have to train a lot more to better handle a longer course like this one. Nevertheless, I feel it was necessary for me to do the “Elite” race, because only through challenging myself can I know how much I can handle, and improve from there.

Juniors, parents – don’t hold back

For any juniors or parents thinking about their teenagers participating in skimo racing – don’t hold back, try it. As you see, it doesn’t matter where you live because you never know how the experience will form your future passions and weekend activities.

Face shots at ROAM Randonnee Rally – ski mountaineering race at Whitewater (Nelson, BC)

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With Whitewater’s excellent ski resort terrain, backcountry and an original vibe it is only logical that it hosts an event from Canada’s skimo racing calendar. The race is also one of many events that take place over the weekend-long annual Cold Smoke Powder Fest.
And why ROAM? Simply, ROAM (Rivers, Oceans and Mountains) is a great store with the best outdoor equipment in the center of Nelson, BC.  It is one of the main forces behind the whole festival and the skimo race, to which the store lends its name.

The race the strongest man won

After about 30h of snowfall, combined with a newer (longer) course, the race was set to be a “skins’ glue game” and a great endurance challenge. These conditions also meant that the pack of front hounds was kept somewhat together until the second to last descent.

ROAM randonnee rally race course 1
This shows the first loop of the course dominated by a long traverse on a wide ridge leading over the top of White Queen. The descent (marked red) under the big alpine basin brought racers back to the ski area.
From the very start Andrew McNab took it by the horns. Only on few occasions I (Stano Faban) was able to bridge up to him and break the trail. Others were always very close; among them Canada’s fastest girl Melanie Bernier.
First climb was a short 3min sprint up a cat track road. Then a quick treed descent onto cross country trails for about 5min of on-and-off skating. After that a long climb (500m) in the trees took us up on the shoulder. We followed it up and down (about 200m) for another 20+ minutes. Then finally a proper descent with lots of face shots brought us to the heart of the ski area.
Andrew left this bottom transition with 1-2 minute lead with another 5 of us closely together. From here on he marched like a man possessed. I managed to keep his lead in check and shed the others but only by following in his tracks. This climb (about 350m) was split with a tough boot-pack and delivered us on top of a great powder run called Elevator Shaft.
ROAM randonnee rally skimo race course 2
The start/finish are was just below the skins-on transition Andrew left with some lead. Course lead up Mother Load, boot-packed to the ridge, ski down Elevator Shaft and the drainage below. Then back over the long ridge, ski down through the saddle and Mother Load to the finish.
Throughout the whole race, especially on the last climb (about 500m), Andrew did huge amounts of work and even though I caught him before the top I was totally happy to let him ski for glory from this last top transition. And that is not to say that he needs any head start when it comes to skiing 😉
Behind us, over the last hour of racing, positions were exchanged regularly until the very end. Peter Knight bested Melanie Bernier and Nick Elson to the line and rounded the men’s podium while Melanie took the women’s top prize in front of Julie Matteau and Alexandra Dubois.
The race was long (new snow and 1610m of climbing in total) with Andrew winning in 2h 47min and the rest of us trickling in behind him in about 1-2min intervals.

Full results

» Men’s Race course
» Women’s Race course
» Men’s Rec course
» Women’s Rec course

Alpental VertFest 2012 skimo race report

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This is a very nicely written personal race report from only a junior racer Katarina Kuba – she regularly races the Canadian series and decided to check out Alpental this year.
Before you dive in I want to say that Alpental’s skimo race is a great one to attend. It was my first race in North America and I visited couple of times but couldn’t make the schedule work in the past few. Since then it grew into a festival style event with demos and clinics. The attendance swell to 160 last Saturday!
Full results: 2012 VertFest results

Alpental skimo race: Katarina’s experience

The Outdoor Research VertFest skimo race held at Alpental, Washington last Saturday drew in about 160 people! With snow at our face we lined up in rows of four, and began the untracked ascent with roughly half a meter of fresh snow for a few hundred meters.
I started off in the second row, unfortunately after a few glides my ski fell off leaving me to be the leftover of the herd. Then I managed to put myself somewhere in the middle of the crowd where I remained too comfortably for the entire duration of the ascent.
Soon after the frantic start run the race merged to a single track which I found to be too soon, not allowing the crowd to spread out gradually. We would actually stop as people worked at their switchbacks and transitions.
Footholds for the boot pack’s held well and I did not find any trouble with it, except for the fear that skis carried on the shoulders of some skiers would fall on me. There were double tracks at times to pass but not enough if you are within the crowd for you would have to merge back in again.
The downhill was better, not nearly as crowded but a bit tricky. Wind blew the snow off the moguls exposing ice on one side and leaving a meter of snow on other, but mostly great conditions. On the descent, the flagging was clear enough and the cheery volunteers were directing us on the hard turns.
The race was great overall but I need much more deep snow skiing practice and aggressiveness to budge through the crowd 😉
It was a great experience and I enjoyed this race a lot. Now, I want to come back with a lesson learned – You gotta give it all you got at the start to not be able to pose for pictures.
Photos are published with a permission from Martin Carnogursky, a junior skimo racer himself.

At the start. Can you count 320 legs? 😉
Merging into the track after the frantic run off the start.

Canadian Ski Mountaineering Racing Championships – Golden, BC

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Over the weekend Golden’s Kicking Horse Mountain Resort hosted the Canadian Ski Mountaineering National Championships for a fourth time.
Saturday saw the championship race over the 6000 ft course while most of the participants battled on the Enduro’s 4000 ft route. On Sunday, in a cozy atmosphere, elite racers helped the new guys with some skills tips and both raced on a short but a very technical course relay style.

Katarina Kuba and Eric Carter finishing their relay races on Sunday.
The facts of the weekend were:

  • great overall turnout despite missing some regular racers
  • 14 racers were women
  • and, the previous champions are king and queen once again

How it happened

This video captures the atmosphere, write up below provides more details. Enjoy.

43 people took part in racing on Saturday. This number could have been more than 50 if schedule conflicts or illness didn’t take out a   couple of regular participants. Large groups came from Calgary and Valemount, and challenging the size of the home crowd. Overall, it is a good sign of things to come because we saw lots of new faces.
In men’s elite category Reiner Thoni captured his 4th straight national title with a commanding performance. He completed the 6000 ft course in 1h 49min and shaved over 10min from his last year’s winning time! The podium was rounded by Andrew McNab and Steve Sellers.
Three new names –  Erich Peitzsch,  Eric Carter,  Nick Elson – and mixed with Peter Knight gave a good chase to the top three and only at late stages of the race Steve Sellers secured his 3rd place.
Women’s elite race went down less dramatically but with great performances from all. Third national title went to Melanie Bernier who is Canada’s most committed racer and is progressing dramatically every year. Her long time challenger,  Julie Matteau, came in second with  Billie Velisek taking third. It is also notable that Michelle Roberts was the 4th woman completing the whole challenging 6000 ft course and once gaining more experience she should become a force because 3.5h on such a course would put to shame a majority of strong ski touring men.
The 4000 ft Enduro course saw the biggest field and couple of great battles:
Igor Bernas won the men’s category ahead of Dominic Unterberger who is only a junior. Third place was decided after a fierce sprint to the finish line by two local ski patrolers –  Brad Lorrimar and Ken Macdiarmi. Fifth overall was the second in junior’s category, Martin Carnogursky, who was still leading Dominic after 3/4 of the race.
The women’s category top spot went to only a junior racer Katarina Kuba who lead with a good gap in front of the other women – Amber Steed, Sheena Johnson and Jana Skerlak.
Enduro course was also completed by four splitboarders where top honors went to Nigel Fisher and Nicole Walker.

Full results

» Saturday’s event – Canadian Ski Mountaineering Championships
» Sunday’s relay event

2012 North American Rando Ski Mountaineering Championships in Crested Butte

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This is article was submitted by Melanie Bernier – an elite skimo racer and a member of the Canadian National Ski Mountaineering Team. Read her previous article here – Grand Teton: adventures are essential for skimo training…
Last weekend (Jan 28-29, 2012) saw the biggest event of this winter on the North American skimo racing calendar. Six of us, part of the Canadian National Team, traveled to Crested Butte to compete in the first ever official North American Championships.
We arrived few days earlier to have a chance to get somewhat used to CB’s high elevation (CB is at 2,715 m) and explore the race routes. The “No Climbing Uphill Policy” at the ski hill got in the way of our course scoping but we were blessed with beautiful sunny days so we were able to at least have a great visual of the individual’s race course.

Sprint race – day 1

On Saturday morning, we woke up to a very brisk -30 C for the sprint race. The venue was mid-mountain near a beautiful restaurant where racers gathered to keep warm until the start.
The course started on a flat groomed sections changing quickly to switch-backs in the trees then flatter terrain before gaining the first transition to the first descent. Through gates, over moguls, racers had to zigzag back down for a second transition. Then to a short boot-pack and skin again to reach the final descent.
The women were the first out of the gate going at 30 seconds intervals. Sari Anderson was the first one to go, I was second, Janelle Smiley just after…
My race went very well as I closed the gap on Sari at the top of the second climb and completed the course in 5:39 which was enough to win the race.
Top 3, top North American and all Canadian women:
1. Mel Bernier (CAN)
2. Janelle Smile (USA)
3. Sari Anderson (USA)
6. Julie Matteau (CAN)
Our Canadian men did very well too! With a strong Italian presence, the Canuck boys rose to the challenge. Manfred Reichegger (Italy’s top racer) topped the podium as expected. Behind him, our unique “Reinerian” earned second ahead of Lorenzo Holzknecht (Italy) who was followed closely by our Andrew McNab. It was very impressive to see them all run and give all they had.
Top 3, top North Americans and all Canadian men:
1. Manfred Reichegger (ITA)
2. Reiner Thoni (CAN)
3. Lorenzo Holzknecht (ITA)
4. Andrew McNab (CAN)
5. Jan Koles (USA)
6. Travis Scheefer (USA)
12. Ian Gale (CAN)
27. Steve Sellers (CAN)
» Sprint race full results

Individual race – day 2

The following day, in friendlier temperatures, we gathered at the base of the mountain for the individual race. The course was not so impressive for its vertical but for its challenging route.
We climbed a groomed run for a thousand feet before getting into what seemed like 100 switch-backs with a single skin track. From there, it was skis and poles on the pack, jacket on, and via-ferrata and ascender on the rope – we climbed the “Guides Ridge” to the summit of Crested Butte at just over 12 000 feet.
From there, we ran down the other side of the peak, then skis on, we descended to the bottom of Paradise Bowl, from there we climbed 1000 through the trees and on the rocky ridge back to the top transition. We had to complete this same lower loop twice before going down a single track in trees, steep icy moguls to crazy fast groomer to moguls again and high speed rollers to finish with an excruciating skate ski.
My race – I guess my strategy was not quite right for this race. I was holding back at the start a bit too much and got stuck behind at the switch-backs. Then by the time I got to the ridge there was a big bottle neck.
Here the race got stopped twice because of rock falling and miss communication between the race marshals which resulted in an hour spent on the ridge getting cold and waiting to move forward at a turtle pace.
Fortunately, the view was pretty nice and people around me were friendly so it was quite pleasant and relaxing… but not much of a race at that point.
When finally at the summit, I literary sprinted down the bootpack and skied like mad to try to catch up. At the first lap up paradise bowl I left the transition way too fast and forgot that this was not a great idea while racing at such altitude – I burned myself solid for the second lap and I was barely hanging facing the “Bunk Wall”.
Finally at the top of the last climb, I knew I could gain some time and positions with a fast descent. Reaching the final section I completed the skate with below zero juice in the tank. It was a great learning experience as I have never (or not in a long time) reached such low energy levels while racing.
For few other Canadians the race went rather smoothly. Reiner Thoni and Andrew McNab escaped the bottle neck and had a fantastic race while the rest of us were still on the ridge those two were batteling for 3rd and 8th place respectively.
A big congratulation to our Continental Champs Reiner Thoni and Janelle Smiley.
Top 3, top North Americans and all Canadian women:
1. Janelle Smiley (USA)
2. Sari Andreson (USA)
3. Stevie Kremer (USA)
5. Melanie Bernier (CAN)
7. Julie Matteau (CAN)
Top 3, top North Americans and all Canadian men:
1. Manfred Reichegger (ITA)
2. Lorenzo Holzknecht (ITA)
3. Reiner Thoni (CAN)
4. Luke Nelson (USA)
5. Jason Dorais (USA)
8. Andrew McNab (CAN)
18. Ian Gale (CAN)
28. Steve Sellers (CAN)
» Individual race full results

Two races down on our US rando skimo racing and touring road trip

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This article was submitted by Melanie Bernier – an elite skimo racer and a pillar member of the Canadian National Ski Mountaineering Team. She will be contributing to Skintrack’s pool of quality content with tips, race reports and her skimo trips.
Melanie is one of the most enthusiastic and hardworking skimo racers you can ever meet. With her on board Skintrack hopes to further inspire people to seek challenge whether in the backcountry or on “a race track”.
She is writing from a 3-week long road trip with her boyfriend Andrew McNab (also a Canadian Team member):

Melanie Bernier in Jackson Hole.
Andrew and Mel under the Jackson Hole tram.

Were the snow forgot to fall

Of all the events on the North American calendar, the Jackson Hole US Ski Mountaineering Championships and Grand Targhee Ski Mountaineering Classic races have been on my radar for a long time.
And having never skied in the States besides racing at Montana’s Whitefish Whiteout three years in a row, coming down to Wyoming and Idaho for these two events seemed like a great road trip idea.
We left Revelstoke where the snow was amazing to drive down south where it seems like mother nature forgot to leave a white present over the holidays.
It seems to be the case when we travel for racing – a similar thing happened last year when going to Claut, Italy for the World Championships.

Altitude realization

Still smiling about the whole situation, we got to Jackson on Thursday night before the race, had a great long night of sleep to get ready for a weekend full of action.
On Friday, we decided to go for a quick ski but since Jackson Hole ski hill does not allow uphill traffic we walked up Snow King and did a few intervals. By that point, it was clear to Andrew and me that racing in the following days would be quite challenging. Living at 500m and coming to race between 2000m-3000m would certainly add to the level of difficulty.

Jackson Hole race – Mel’s POW and 4th place finish

On Saturday morning it was great to see a lot of familiar faces. It really seemed like Europe out there with about 100 racers on light equipment and skin suits. Also, it was very encouraging to see the level of skimo popularity down here which makes me believe that there is a future for great ski mountaineering racing in Canada as well.
After warming up and getting in as much liquids as possible, we lined up at the base of Jackson Hole for the start of nothing less than 8000 feet of vertical climbing!

The first climb was really what set the pace to the whole race. We climbed for 900m over steep to moderate terrain to the first top transition. I kept looking at my watch to see where I was at, then tried to keep my head up and the amount of pain down but it was very obvious I was not getting enough oxygen.
The first descent was really rough going through moguls, rocks and ice. By that point, I was thinking to myself that I would race my own race and try to keep energy in the tank till the end no matter what the outcome would be.
I got to the bottom transition with Janelle Smiley just ahead and a couple of other girls just behind. Sari Anderson, Stevie Kremer and Gemma Arro Ribot were already ahead at that point.
The second climb was quite slippery on a single skin track. I picked a high glide skin set unfortunately so I was working extra hard to move forward. The climb brought us up to the first boot pack where I started to pick up a bit of momentum and pace.
At the top of the boot pack, we had to do a quick flat traverse then rip the skins and try to control our speed down a rather steep icy face. From there, we traversed towards the famous “Corbett” climb which we contoured and ended up boot packing on the ridge leading to the top of the tram.
From there, a 1000m descent on moguls, icy chunks and crusty conditions was waiting us. If our legs were not punched by this point then they were getting toasted here for sure!
The descent led us to our final climb which was nothing but the hardest. We zigzagged on an icy slope “American Style” – meaning as steep of a skin track as could be! I have never seen anything quite like it. 🙂
I kept on looking up and seeing Gemma just ahead and I tried as hard as I could to keep the momentum and close the gap. But by that point, I started to get leg cramping and just could not push as hard.
Finishing in 4th place, I had mix feelings about the race. I was for one really happy to be done and happy to had a chance to race in such a well-organized event but I was a bit disappointed to see the limitations of my body when it comes to quick elevation acclimatization. In hindsight, it’s something that I did not have control over and I’m just glad I gave it all I had at the time.
Andrew had a difficult race as well. In addition to the elevation factor, he brought from Canada a nice flue. While traveling, he tried to get better as much as possible. He was on the fence about racing until the last minute and decided to go with it since he was feeling slightly better on Saturday morning.
I could see him from the distance during the event and he did not have his strong McNab “go get her” look! Never the less, he did not abandon and finished the race in just over 3 hours. As for Niall Gleeson, also from Canada, he decided not to finish the race since he was really sick.
Congrats to Luke Nelson and Sari Anderson who both had pretty solid races and won the US National championships.

Onto the Grand Targhee Classic – Mel’s race and her 2nd place

Melanie Bernier second in Grand Targhee.
Mel came in 2nd at the Grand Targhee Classic - a reason to return.
After really generous award ceremony we met few friends for some stretching and hot and cold recovery at the pool. We then relaxed with a hot beverage before going out for some great food.
After dinner we decided to drive to Grand Targhee that night just to be able to sleep in a little more before another race on Sunday. We had an interesting night of sleep up at 2400m and woke up to foggy conditions for the race.
At 10:30am, racers crossed the start line to head up one of the steepest climbs I have ever done. No switch backs, straight up a groomed run for about 600m. As we got to the top, I gained a bit of mojo and started sprinting to get ahead of a few people. But this first climb just about killed me!
We skied down really gnarly conditions (mix of crust, ice and rocks) to the first transition. I managed to pass a couple of people here so I was thinking to myself: “I’m still in the race!”
Mens podium at Grand Targhee Ski Mountaineering Classic.
Luke Nelson 2nd, Jason Dorais 1st, Ben Parsons 3rd at Grand Targhee Classic.
Fortunately, the second climb was not as steep as the first one as we made our way up on a cat track leading to zigzags in trees. From there, a quick skins-on traverse brought us to the boot pack where I passed Amy, then gave it all on the descent to catch up to Sari.
I knew Gemma was far ahead so I kept my head down and crested the last ascent just behind my sweet heart Andrew. As we reached the top a nice shot brought us back down to the groomer for a fast rip to the start/finish area.
Andrew completed the event in just above 2 hours and I was a couple of minutes behind him to take the 2nd place in women’s category.
Congrats to Jason Dorais and Gemma Arro Ribot for the 1st place.

Road trippin’

Road tripping in the States and exploring what Teton Pass has to offer is on the menu for the weeks to come. Our aim is to get used to elevation in a hope that racing in Colorado at the end of the month will end up feeling normal again. 😉

Results, video and report for Vert180 skimo race (Dec 3, 2011)

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Fun, great snow and “go-go-go” were the words flying around at start/transition area of the Vert180 skimo race at Canada Olympic Park. As a great surprise  (in Calgary terms) about 15cm of powder fell during the event and temperatures didn’t even drop below  -8 C.
Over 70 racers competed in various categories – solo, 2 or 4 person relay teams. Race course lap was the same for all and tested everyone’s skimo racing skills. Yes, the downhill at COP is not the most exciting but the atmosphere of a lap night race easily makes up for it.

Race results and some interesting facts

The solo categories were won by Peter Knight in men’s and Heather Anderson in women’s. They managed to complete 15 and 13 laps respectively.
523 was the number of total laps climbed in all categories combined.
There were 4 youth and teenage racers spread around various teams – Anna Sellers, Stephanie Toft, Kate Kuba and Martin Carnogursky (3 girls, 1 guy).
Fastest lap recorded was by Reiner Thoni at 7 min 23 sec and happened around 1h into the race. For women, this honor likely went to Melanie Bernier but an official time wasn’t recorded.
Youngest racer was a 12 year-old Anna Sellers from Canmore, Alberta. It is worth to mention that Anna competed in a biathlon race earlier that day! And did a classic cross country race on Sunday!
Photos and a different spin on the report from Golden Skimo.

Were you there? Or weren’t but have questions?

If you participated or volunteered share your experience with others below.
If you missed the event but have questions about it or want to attend other skimo events ask via comments below.

Sunshine 5000 race report: great battles, long course…little rocky

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Sunshine 5000 is the oldest race on the Canadian ski mountaineering racing calendar and its 6th going was held last Saturday (Feb 6th, 2010) at the Sunshine Village ski resort near Banff, AB.

Start line - calm before the storm.
Start line - calm before the storm.
Sunny skies are nothing new to this event yet the course was a hybrid version of previous years. Long low angle climbs were spiced up by a couple of “no-wipe-out-recommended” downhills and one of the longest boot packs ever.
It also should be mentioned that one of the organizing pioneers of this race at the very beginning was Greg Hill, arguably one of Canada’s most famous ski mountaineers.
Greg himself raced couple of events over the years but now is pursuing more adventurous goals like climbing and skiing 2 million feet in a single year.
But the long standing pair that grind the event each and every year for all of us is David Dornian and Ryan Johnston. They keep the tradition rolling and improving.
» Original information about the event can be found in this article – Sunshine 5000 skimo race: Saturday, Feb 6th, 2010.

How the Sunshine 5000 was won – great battles

Stairs that led racers down to a little col to start the descent of the "feared" Delirium Dive.
Stairs that led racers down to a little col to start the descent of the "feared" Delirium Dive.
There were three main favorites for the top prize in the main racing category at the start line – Reiner Thoni and Brandon French in men’s category and Melanie Bernier in the women’s category.
Behind these three there were about 3-4 men and 2-3 women hungry for the rest of the honors.
Men’s race
Top tier men’s duo, Reiner and Brandon, formed early on and pretty much never looked back. Occasionally switching the lead they were watching each other, always staying closely together.
In the final descent, they shared some tumbles thanks to a very rocky section that wrecked couple of skis on the day.
At the end, Brandon crossed the line first just  handful of seconds in front of Reiner, however, he lost a skin on the course and received a time penalty which moved him to second.
Always present, always competitive Steve Sellers (currently at 4th) leading Stano Faban, Ian Gale and Andrew McNab over the first climb.
Always present, always competitive Steve Sellers (here at 4th place) leading Stano Faban, Ian Gale and Andrew McNab over the first climb.
These two guys look quite hot for the upcoming World Ski Mountaineering Championships and it will be very interesting to see how high they can reach among the best.
Delirium Dive line that was skied in the race.
Delirium Dive line that was skied in the race.
The battle for third can be described in great detail as I was one of the protagonists but here is a shorter version to keep you reading onto the girls race.
During the first (long low angle) climb James Minifie settled at 3rd with a steady pace. About 50sec back a trio consisting of Steve Sellers, Ian Gale and myself (Stano Faban) chased him. During the third climb and before the big descent I opened a gap on Ian and Steve while steadily bridging to James.
The last two ascents James and I kept hurting each other until I was able to establish a little gap just before the long boot pack.
Then in the final descent both of us, just like Reiner and Brandon, hit some rocky fields on multiple occasions. And as James was trying to catch me for third he hit them hard also with his body but thankfully survived without any serious injury. Couple of badly cut fingers though.
5th and 6th place went to Ian Gale and Andrew McNab. To read Ian Gale’s race report visit this page – Sunshine 5000 race report.
Women’s race
Green shows parts of the last climb and red a little bit of the last decent.
Green shows parts of the last climb and red a little bit of the last descent.
The women’s race was dominated from start to finish by this season’s Canadian fast girl Melanie Bernier.
After a slightly disappointing previous season Mel is racing with great determination this year, and even giving us men some serious schooling on how to climb quick.
Behind her, the battle had a more interesting going where failing skins, perhaps due to big changes of temperature between sunny and in the shade transitions, played a role.
At the end, Billie Velisek took second in front of Julie Matteau who is trying hard to find her last year’s strong legs before she heads to Andorra for the World Championships.

Results

Complete final results will be added as soon as they are available to me (2-3 days) in electronic format.

Big thanks to organizers and volunteers

On behalf of all racers I would like thank the organizers for preparing a very challenging course (last decent a little rocky for me though) and also express a great appreciation to all the volunteers for their hard work, especially for doing it out of pure joy to help out a crowd of crazy racers to get a chance to compare themselves. Thank you all.

Share your experience form Sunshine 5000

Whether a competitor, organizer or a volunteer you are welcome to share your experience from this event in the comments below.

Whitefish Whiteout ski mountaineering race: big checks, fast times, wicked course

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Another round of the US skimo racing series was hosted on Saturday, January 23, 2010 at Whitefish ski resort. According to organizers, for the first time in the events history the weather didn’t stay true to its name. It was clear skies with a bit of cool temperatures but just enough to make for great racing conditions.

How it all went down

Canadians seeded the field with almost a full national team against two very strong home boys that are also members of the US national skimo team.

From left - second Ben Parsons, first Brandon French, third Reiner Thoni.
From left - second Ben Parsons, first Brandon French, third Reiner Thoni.
The whole race featured about 1425m of vertical gain, according to my watch, and the times set by all the racers were quite inspiring.
The race started fast since there was a $50 bonus for the fastest guy up the first hill.
The climb was 640m vertical, according to my watch, and Reiner Thoni from the Great White North took the prize with super speedy time of 26min 59sec.
Local racer, Brandon French, was right on his heels (27min 4sec) but could not answer the well timed attack.
In the process, Reiner set a new record for this climb which was previously held by Ben Parsons and was around 29min – an improvement of around two full minutes!
To cover 640 vertical metres in 27min translates into a vertical speed of 23.70 metres/minute or 1422 metres/hour! This is an amazing speed which is way greater than the speeds achieved at the Tiki Torch vertical race in earlier December 2009. And never mind that this was just a first climb of the race.
Both racers used two different but very light setups: Brandon – all new complete Dynafit DyNA setup, Reiner – Ski Trab WC skis with Scarpa F1 carbon boots.
The overall winner of the women’s race category, Canadian Melanie Bernier, was also the first girl to the top of the first climb with a very fast time of 33min 1sec which means a speed of 19.40 m/m or 1164 m/h. Like Brandon, Melanie also races the full DyNA setup.
On the second climb, Reiner had some skin problems and was passed by Brandon and another local Ben Parsons. This is also how they rounded the top three.
From start to finish, 4th placed was occupied by a Canadian team member James Minifie who was racing in a no mans land. He was always about 3-7min behind the top three and about 2-3min in front of a pair of another Canadians – Ian Gale and myself (finished 5th and 6th). Ian and I weren’t making up or loosing any ground on James after the first climb but we were consistently pulling away from a group of about 5 racers.

Wicked race course

The race course deserves two thumbs up as it was a true ski mountaineering course yet still managed within boundaries. This is a testament to the ski area’s great terrain.
I found the course very much to my liking with lots of technical skinning and skiing, and I mean there was lots of it.
The boot pack section was very nicely setup with good supportive steps and a very straightforward line between two rocks.
As for the marking, I was a bit afraid of what to expect based on hearing stories from the previous year. But the organizers really stepped up and I don’t think anyone had a slightest problem to follow the route.

Results and big checks

Inspired by golf tournaments the prize money were handed out on big cardboard checks that made the awards ceremony quite special to the non-involved public at the ski area’s base restaurant.
Below are just a brief results re-typed from the official ones I got from the race organizers. As soon as they appear in full length on the USSMA website I will link to them.
Men’s race AT:
1. Brandon French – 1:27:34
2. Ben Parsons – 1:29:39
3. Reiner Thoni – 1:30:48
Women’s race AT:
1. Melanie Bernier – 1:47:18
2. Billie Velisek – 2:10:43
3. Kylee Ohler – 2:17:00
Men’s race Tele:
1. Clint Muhlfeld – 1:50:00
Women’s race Tele:
1. Anne Walton – 3:19:05
Then there were also other categories and a race on a shorter course for those that wanted to try our sport for the first time and I would have to believe they got a great introduction on a great course while getting a light sun tan.
Thanks to everyone for racing and big thanks to organizers for putting together such a great event.