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2017 World Skimo Championships

New Skimo Race & US Team Qualifier on Dec 16-17th: Northwest Passage in McCall, Idaho

November 24, 2016 By Stano Faban 1 Comment

NW Passage posterWith the upcoming 2017 World Ski Mountaineering Championships to be held in Transcavallo region of Italy, the US Ski Mountaineering Association has designated two team selection races for athletes to test themselves and qualify for the big event. The first one is to be held at a new race called the Northwest Passage. The venue is Brundage Mountain near McCall, Idaho.
While this is the first year of the event, the organizers at Brundage are clearly excited to be putting on a high level race. The weekend of December 16th and 17th will feature a vertical race (Friday evening) and a multi-division individual race on Saturday. Both of which are qualifiers for the US National Team.

Brundage Course - Front Side
Brundage Course – Front Side
The Vertical event starts at the base lodge and climbs the blue-square pistes called 45-Parallel and Engen, to the top of the Bluebird Express for a total vertical gain of 520 meters.
The Individual event does include a recreational category (11.75km with 1180m+) but all those wishing to qualify for the national team will enter the elite category with 20.75km distance and 1950m+ over five climbs and descents! This is certainly on the lengthy end compared to the event for which athletes are competing to attend but will serve as an excellent challenge for potential team members!
Examining the route on the course map and Google Earth, we are struck by the amount of side-country terrain being utilized. While the race starts and finishes with on-piste terrain, four of the five descents appear to be off-piste – good news for those athletes who want to showcase their skiing prowess rather than pure speed skiing on groomers! Brundage gets ~760-890cm of snowfall per year though with the early season timing, expect some lean conditions!
Brundage Course - Backside
Brundage Course – Backside
Another interesting note is the max elevation (topping out the last several climbs on Sargent’s Mountain) for the race is only 2380 meters! This is a dramatic difference from the typical Colorado races that routinely climb above 3000m and will hopefully encourage competition from sea-level athletes!
At the moment, much of the Western US is hurting for snow. Colorado and Utah both seem to be pretty bare except at the highest elevations and where it is possible to blow snow.
Standard USSMA race equipment will be required, as well as a headlamp for vertical racers. Note that if you wish to receive USSMA points, you must compete in both events.
Race accommodation can found at inidaho.com which will have special event rates! Boise is the closest large airport and car rental area.
In addition to the Northwest Passage Race, the McCall Winter Sports Club and the Winter Wildlands Alliance will be hosting the Backcountry Film Festival on Saturday evening. All racers receive one ticket for admission with their registration and the awards ceremony for the weekend will be held at the festival intermission.

IMG_4404Schedule of Events:

Friday: 4:00pm – Vertical Race
Friday: 5:30pm – Mandatory Individual Race information meeting (Brundage Base Lodge)
Saturday: 7:30am – Individual Race start
Saturday: Evening – Backcountry Film Festival (details TBA)
EVENT INFO HERE
REGISTER HERE
RACE TOPO HERE
In case you are curious about the race name or poster, check out the 1940 film Northwest Passage, shot in the mountains of McCall, telling the story of Roger’s Rangers in the mid-18th century, French and Indian War.

Filed Under: Events & Races Tagged With: 2017 World Skimo Championships, Brundage Mountain, Idaho, McCall, Skimo, Team USA

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

June 21, 2016 By Stano Faban 3 Comments

mondole-skimo-world-cup-5
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.

Filed Under: Skimo Racing Tagged With: 2017 Skimo World Cup, 2017 World Skimo Championships, Adamello Ski Raid, ISMF, La Grande Course, Pierra Menta, Trofeo Mezzalama

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