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Eric Carter

Report from Meet the Minotaur – Exciting New Mountain Running Race in Canada

September 14, 2018 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

meet-minotaur-5
For several years now, I’ve made the trek down to southwest Alberta to race the Castle Mountain Skimo Race but I’ve never been to that part of the Rocky Mountains in the summer.
Of course I’ve heard about the (in)famous Sinister 7 Ultra that takes place in Crowsnest Pass but never thought of it as much of a running destination until a very enthusiastic Noah Schuh described the coolest race he’d ever done – Meet the Minotaur. I decided to sign up and see what it was all about, plus I’d get to take a quick stop in Roger’s Pass en route!
This race report was written by Eric. Full results are at the bottom.

Tapering

Race day approached and pre-race emails started to roll in with vague warnings of dangers on the course and required equipment including a helmet, gloves, and bear spray. I was a little skeptical that this might all be a bit of an overreaction.
En-rouote to Crowsnest Pass I met Matt Ruta in Roger’s Pass and we went for a pleasant climb up Mt. Tupper. Rumors of scary soloing were overblown and we had an excellent day, though, a 5hr mountain run isn’t exactly an ideal race taper activity.

Race Day – August 25, 2018

Meet the Minotaur (their website) very much resembles a skimo race in that we covered ~2100m+ over 17km, mainly in three major ascents and descents. There was essentially no flat running and just a few undulating ridge sections.

I’d highly recommend this event to any runner or skimo racer who truly loves moving fast in technical, mountainous terrain.

Race morning came quickly and I headed to the start location just outside town. The 10am start was particularly civilized and allowed the temps to warm up a bit before we had to take our jackets off to get going.
meet-minotaur-1
With 150 athletes on the starting line, it wasn’t quite the backwoods event I was expecting. It’s definitely not an obstacle course race and while staying on course is a concern, navigation is not a major component of the race.
While the course was kept secret prior to the race, no maps were necessary and it was well marked. The organizers had their systems dialed and everything from the bib-pickup and check-in to the pre-race meeting was smooth and efficient.
As usual, a handful of racers pushed hard off the start and faded. I found myself leading for a moment before another racer surged ahead. I latched on, not realizing at first that I was following Troy Misseghers, local hero and champion of the inaugural event in 2017. We ground up the first ascent together, realizing that we’d opened a sizeable gap on the chasing athletes.
meet-minotaur-3
As we rolled over the top of the first climb, we dropped down to a checkpoint station and then down the first scree descent. Troy took off hard down the slope while I held back a bit to be cautious. It was just that terrible kind of scree where the rocks were big enough you couldn’t just surf them and had to be careful of getting bitten in the ankle but not big enough to trust that they’d stay in place when you jumped on them.
I made the time up again on the next ascent so Troy and I cruised across the ridge together. This had the majority of the scrambling terrain on the course with a few exposed ridge crests and some up and down climbing of rock steps equipped with ropes.
meet-minotaur-4
There was consistently stone fall as we moved together. Even two relatively experienced guys moving carefully, we dislodged some rocks. I can imagine it was considerably worse later in the field, with many people moving through these areas together. The helmets were definitely a wise decision. I was also very glad to have gloves on as per the mandatory equipment. I don’t usually wear gloves while running in the mountains in the summer but, while racing, I took 5-10 small slip and falls that would definitely have cut up my hands pretty badly.
Troy and I worked together throughout the race. The course was well marked with flags and tape. Not so well that you could turn your brain off, but not so sparse that you would ever get completely lost. While looking down at our feet, we also had to look ahead for the route. We were definitely pushing each other during our respective strong sections of the course. Troy would bravely smash ahead on the descents and I’d try to make him hurt on the climbs.
meet-minotaur-2
As we approached the final climb, we both expected it to be a bit longer. I pushed hard and opened up a gap. When I realized we were approaching the start/finish area, I really gave a good push and managed to roll into the finish with less than a minute to spare. Not long after, the lead woman, another local, Anna Koevoet crossed the line, dominating the women’s competition, all in preparation for racing the following weekend at Run the Rut SkyRace in Montana!
The atmosphere at the start/finish area was excellent with everyone hanging around for a taco bar and the awards presentation. Andrew, Ian, and the rest of the race organization did a fantastic job encouraging athletes to take the short course if they were on track for a long day and before long, the last few racers were finishing.
I’d highly recommend this event to any runner or skimo racer who truly loves moving fast in technical, mountainous terrain. I even left out a few of the race “twists” for you to discover next year. I’ll certainly be back!
Full results – click here

Filed Under: News Shorts Tagged With: Eric Carter, Meet The Minotaur

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

August 2, 2018 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

Despite being one of the most spectacular places in the Sea-to-Sky corridor (between Vancouver and Whistler, BC, Canada), Tantalus Provincial Park is one of the least well traveled. This is partially due to problematic access – the vast majority of users use helicopter – and partially due to the difficulty of the terrain.
tantalus-tr-5
Over many trips into the area, I’ve become more familiar with the terrain throughout the Tantalus Range. Single routes no longer seem as daunting of an effort and the appeal of the area is no longer just getting there and doing something, but trying to string chains of routes to maximize the time in the alpine and technical terrain covered.

2016: First attempt – Eric Carter with Nick Elson

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

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

Length: 40 km, Elevation gain: 5000 m
Strava file: https://www.strava.com/activities/1722423067

An obvious loop follows the divide that is seen from the Tantalus highway viewpoint on Hwy 99 (just north of Squamish). This includes five summits:

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

Fast forward a few years of practice scrambling and climbing in the mountains and the “complete” Tantalus Traverse was still on my mind.
The Arcteryx Alpine Academy comes to Squamish every summer and with it, an influx of some of Canada’s raddest athletes. I’ve known of Greg Hill for his reputation as a skier for some time. In 2013, Nick and I broke his long standing record skiing around the Spearhead Traverse. This season was the first time we’ve actually crossed paths in person though. After an introduction from Adam Campbell and the assurance from local guide stud Ross Berg that snow conditions were still optimal, we decided to give it a go.
With the hope that we could do the whole traverse in less than 20hrs, we debated start times but settled on a “reasonable” alpine start of 2:30am. After stumbling through a backcountry rave being held at the trailhead, we were off up the Sigurd Creek Trail by headlamp. After climbing up northern slopes on Pelion, we emerged from the tree-line and started climbing open moraine, slabs, and glaciers. The first amazing view comes crossing the East Shoulder of Pelion. After a 2000m ascent, you get to see the full Tantalus Traverse laid out in front of you. It’s inspiring and daunting at the same time – there’s a lot left!
tantalus-tr-3
We scrambled a loose gully to gain snow slopes on the north side of Pelion up a beautiful crest to the summit. Descending back to the shoulder, we regained the standard route and crossed down towards the Tantalus-Zenith Col. After saying a brief hello to a heavily laden group doing a multi-day trip in reverse, we continued towards Tantalus.
The North Ridge presents some glacial difficulties but then gives way to excellent alpine scrambling on a sidewalk in the sky. Views are incredible down the steep Rumbling Glacier with Squamish and Howe Sound to the south, the Ashlu-Elaho Divide to the north, and the Sunshine Coast to the west. We romped along up the ridge and tackled the final 3rd class pitch that leads to the summit slopes. The sub-summit and final scramble to the peak are some of the most engaging and exciting climbing on the route.
With our second summit under our belts and generally feeling pretty good, we started the most complex portion of the day, descending off Tantalus. Luckily, having guided it many times, Ross’ experience here was invaluable for quickly locating the four rappel stations and moving as efficiently as possible. Despite taking our time, we quickly found ourselves back on snow and then it was just a short out and back scramble to summit three – Dione.
tantalus-tr-2
Low on water, we moved as quickly as we could down the roasting hot Dione Glacier towards the Haberl Hut. We gulped as much water as we could at the first melt-water stream we crossed, and then stopped at the hut to quickly boil some instant noodles. The salt was incredible and gave us a much needed boost.
The West Rib of Serratus was one of the few sections of the day I hadn’t actually previously done. It’s pleasant 4th class scrambling on good rock. We’d already spent so much of the day on that type of terrain, however, that we just hoped we could get through it quickly. Soon enough we were on the summit, polishing off the remains of our food with only Alpha remaining to the East.
The North Face of Serratus is a classic steep ski descent but had softened up nicely in the afternoon sun so we made quick work of it, boot skiing down to the lower glacier with just a few crevasses to avoid. From here, we had to drop surprisingly far down to gain the Serratus-Alpha Col. With the feeling that the day was in the bag, we plodded up the West Face of Alpha (3rd class) in what was the hottest and most unpleasant climb of the day.
tantalus-tr-4
Luckily the unpleasantness of climbing Alpha was completely washed away by the psych that we felt on reaching the summit. We had accomplished our goal of five peaks and were on track to get back to the river before dark if we moved quickly. It’s all downhill from here! We made quick work of descending the East Ridge of Alpha and nailed the route back to Lake Lovely Water. It’s poorly marked and often not much of a footbed so we were a little nervous we could get off track there. From the Lake, the trail down is good (compared to the rest of the day) and we put our heads down and pushed hard to get to the river. Fatigue was showing and we each had several wipe-outs.
We put on headlamps just as we arrived at the Squamish River cable car station and stopped our watches after about 18hrs of mountain travel. All that remained was to cross the river and walk a few short km to our car. Unfortunately, this was what we were worried would be the crux of the day. With the cable car itself locked up on the far side of the river, our options were swimming, which seemed needlessly dangerous, or tightrope walking on the haul cable while clipped in to the upper cable above our heads, via ferrata style. Greg launched off first so he could get a head start on the trip back to the car so Ross and I sat on the near station and cheered him on (heckled). The upper cable that you clip your tethers to has four metal cones anchored to it for aircraft visibility. They require that you kind of push around them after clipping past but we’d heard recent reports that several of the cone had wasp nests in them so we were pretty nervous. We were wearing all our rain clothing in the hopes it would protect us from bites.
tantalus-tr-1
When Greg passed the first cone, we held our breath, hoping there wouldn’t be any wasps. He made it past without any bites but not without losing his balance and bowing way out towards the river with his feet on the lower cable. After that, he got in a rhythm and pretty quickly, it was my turn. I got clipped in and started walking. There may have been some whimpering and self doubt but Ross reminded me that there was no other option so I’d better get on with it! Soon enough, I found my rhythm as well and before I knew it, I was back on terra-firma waiting for Ross.
While it will be a few weeks before I really feel like I need to deal with crossing that river again, I still have unfinished projects in the Tantalus Range. I know it won’t be that long before I’m back.
A big thanks to Greg and Ross for prodding me to join them for the day. It was a great crew and we had a really good time!

Gear Notes

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

Route Notes

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

Filed Under: Trip Reports & Conditions Tagged With: Eric Carter, Greg Hill, Ross Berg, Tantalus

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

March 20, 2018 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

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

Upcoming Pan American Ski Mountaineering Championships – Mar 23-25

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

Mike Foote Sets a New 24h Record!

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

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

2018 Pierra Menta: Joy and Sorrows of Champions

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

Men’s race recap:

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

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

Women’s race recap:

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

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

USA and Canada Race News

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

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

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

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

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

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

East Coast races:

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

Upcoming Events

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

Filed Under: News Shorts, Reports & Results Tagged With: Axelle Mollaret, Emelie Forsberg, Eric Carter, Jakob Herrmann, Kilian Jornet, Laetitia Roux, Michele Boscacci, Mike Foote, Nick Elson, Pierra Menta, Robert Antonioli

Skimo News – Jan 10: Colorado cancels again, Stormy race in Vermont, Sprint and Individual at Castle Mountain in Canada…

January 10, 2018 By Stano Faban 1 Comment

Racing action continued in North America on the East Coast and in Alberta, Canada while the Western US continues to struggle with low or no snow conditions.

USA and Canada Race News

Unfortunately the Grand Mesa Challenge, CO was cancelled. On the other side of the country, East Coast athletes were getting slammed with deep snow and cold, stormy conditions.

Magic Mountain Skimo Race, VT – Jan 6, 2018:

Our New England skimo correspondent Jonathan Shefftz checked in with the following race recap:
Fortunately, after some negotiating  ski resort management grudgingly acceded to requests, and thus on January 6 the NE Rando Race Series returned for its ninth time since 2009 to Magic Mountain VT, for the first USSMA-sanctioned race of the season in the East.
The temperature was negative 5F yet winds were light and the sun was shining. Patrol then informed us that the summit temperature was negative 20F and the winds up there were something other than light. The start procedure was modified to minimize time outside: all racers assembled inside the lodge, then once everyone was 100% ready to race, a quick trot to just above the base area led into a ten-second countdown.

Due to strong winds, athletes had to wear face protection even on the climbs.
Due to strong winds, athletes had to wear face protection even on the climbs.
The high winds were fortunately never directly in racers’ faces during the perfectly graded groomed skin track. The descent route briefly turned directly into the highest winds on the mountain, where the windchill was probably around negative 50F. Fortunately the core of the descent after that was relatively protected from the wind, allowing racers to concentrate on a mix of frozen moguls, stiff deep windslab, rocks, roots, cliffs, and convexities. A steep boot-pack of nearly 300’ vertical led back into the steepest section of the descent, which was therefore skied six times.
For Open men, Milan Kubala (of the MountainOps Skimo Race Team), in only his second season of skimo racing crushed the field by a large margin, completing the course in just under an hour and a half. Chris Labosky took second in his first race ever on skimo race gear. Third was a tight race between long-time Series veterans and Team Hagan members Josh Flanagan and Jerimy Arnold, with Josh eventually pulling away when Jerimy slowed down to don an extra layer.
For Open women, Jennifer Downing took the win despite being enrolled full-time at Harvard Business School. Colorado transplant Hannah Lippe took second. For 45+, newcomer Cameron Chalmers took the win, followed by Race Director and Team Hagan Member Jonathan Shefftz, then ski resort race liaison Mike Owens. Asa Chalmers was the U17 winner for a first-ever father-son duo in the NE Rando Race Series.
Looking ahead, Northeastern skimo weekend racing takes a break for the Martin Luther King holiday, except for the continuing Tuesday evening race series at Bolton Valley VT. The tenth annual Berkshire East race is then on January 20 in Western Massachusetts, talking advantage of the resort’s expansion this season to debut a new “touring”-style course that will incorporate elements from prior years.
» Full Results – Magic Mountain Skimo Race 2018
» Race course info

Castle Mountain Skimo Race, AB – Jan 5-6, 2018:

Meanwhile in Canada, temperatures were a tropical -2C for the start of both Saturday’s sprint and Sunday’s individual.
Rock hard conditions made for difficult preparations in the sprint course but organizers persevered and put on an excellent sprint event. Athletes completed a full qualifying sprint and three additional elimination heats for the top group. Kylee Ohler showed her dominance in the Canadian scene with Michelle Roberts and Lori-Ann Donald chasing.
The men’s sprint final was contested between Eric Carter, Mike Foote, Joel Desgraniers, and Peter Knight, finishing in that order. Joel had a smart, tactical start to the race but was overtaken by Carter and Foote in the diamonds and transitions.

Kylee Ohler in the boot-pack atop the first climb.
Kylee Ohler in the boot-pack atop the first climb in the individual race.
Sunday’s individual event saw a skiff of fresh snow and high ridge winds filling in the skin track. The leading athletes found themselves breaking trail on the first big climb. Rockies wind, blasting into the face of athletes booting across the summit made for a somewhat serious ambiance. Snow conditions were better than the previous five editions of the race and both descents provided excellent skiing.
Carter and Foote finished the first climb together with Knight and Desgraniers chasing close behind. Carter opened a gap on the first big descent and held on to ~40sec gap through to the finish. Kylee Ohler led the women’s race from start to finish with Michelle Roberts taking second and Katarina Kuba moving into third near the top of the first climb and consolidating her podium position with fast descents.
Racers were all thinking of fellow athlete Ben Parsons who died tragically in an avalanche one year before. Ben was a frequent competitor on the Canadian Cup and at Castle and is greatly missed.
» Full Results – Castle Ski Mountaineering Race 2018 (we are still waiting for results from the organizers)

Upcoming Events

The COSMIC series is scheduled to continue with the Heathen Challenge but registration has yet to be announced due to snow conditions. Stay tuned to the COSMIC page for more information.
Canadian racing continues in Quebec at Stoneham. The recent storm could provide excellent skiing and an interesting SkimoEast event!
Berkshire East race is coming on January 20.
World Cup racing moves to the classic Font Blanca venue in Andorra where the top athletes will contest a vertical and individual event. No North American athletes are scheduled to attend.

Filed Under: Events & Races, News Shorts Tagged With: Eric Carter, Kylee Ohler, Mike Foote

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

March 23, 2017 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

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

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

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

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

Stryn Rando 3000 – Norwegian Skimo Championships – Stryn, Norway

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

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

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

The Arctic Triple – Lofoten Skimo – Lofoten, Norway

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

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

Filed Under: Reports & Results Tagged With: Eric Carter, Jozef Oppenheim skimo race, Kilian Jornet, Lofoten Skimo, Stano Faban, Stryn Rando 3000, The Arctic Triple

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

March 8, 2017 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

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

News from the Lead Pack

Men

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

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

Women

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

USA and Canadian Teams News

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

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

Tomorrow’s stage

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

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

Filed Under: Reports & Results Tagged With: Damiano Lenzi, Emelie Forsberg, Eric Carter, Janelle Smiley, Jessie Young, John Gaston, Kilian Jornet, Laetitia Roux, Matteo Eydallin, Max Taam, Mike Foote, Nick Elson, Rob Krar, Tom Goth

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

March 1, 2017 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

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

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

Vertical Race – Men (Senior & Espoir)

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

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

Vertical Race – Women (Senior & Espoir)

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

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

Vertical Race – Men (Junior & Cadet)

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

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

Vertical Race – Women (Junior & Cadet)

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

Tomorrow

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

Filed Under: Reports & Results Tagged With: Anton Palzer, Axelle Mollaret, Damiano Lenzi, Davide Magnini, Emelie Forsberg, Eric Carter, Janelle Smiley, John Gaston, Kilian Jornet, Kylee Ohler, Marti Werner, Mike Foote, Nick Elson, Peter Knight, Rob Krar, Stano Faban

Sprint Race – 2017 Skimo Worlds – Feb 28: Quinn Simmons claims bronze for USA, Arnold and Galicia win senior titles

March 1, 2017 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

I apologize for the delay with a report from yesterday’s sprints. I was scouting the vertical course, waxing some skis for our athletes, cheering, and helping Eric with skins after he qualified in the rainy weather. Today, I raced the vertical race. But here it comes…

Quinn Simmons sprinting to historical bronze medal! Photo by Mark Smiley.
Quinn Simmons sprinting to historical bronze medal! Photo by Mark Smiley.
After a day off (Monday) that included a transfer from Tambre to Piancavallo (about 1.5h) the whole skimo circus was moved to a ski resort for the final 3 days of competitions – sprint, vertical and relay races. A bit of a déjà vu  for me as Piancavallo also hosted the same 3 disciplines during the 2011 Skimo Worlds.
Yesterday (Tuesday) was best suited for the explosive types while the rest of us got a chance to spectate this highly unpredictable skimo discipline, and the one most likely to make it to Olympics first. It was pouring rain out there the whole day which made for very challenging conditions in terms of staying warm and gear management (mainly skins) as organizer had only two small tents for the athletes.
» Click here for previous day: Team Race – 2017 Skimo Worlds – Feb 26

Sprint Race – Men (Senior & Espoir)

There were a couple of surprises as Robert Antonioli (ITA), the 2015 Sprint World Champ, failed to qualify for the finals and the comeback of a sprint specialist Josef Rotmosser (GER) after two years of no World Cup racing, however, he did not qualify for finals as well.
With two big names out of the picture it was Iwan Arnold (SWI) stepping up to the task and claiming gold with a fantastic final run. Anton Palzer (GER) looked very smooth and at easy through all the heats but at the end didn’t have enough in the tank and took silver. Bronze went, a bit surprisingly, to a still young and an upcoming skimo star Oriol Cardona (SPA) – who effectively won the espoir category with that performance.

Anton Palzer leading Iwan Arnold into the boot-pack in the finals. ISMF photo.
Anton Palzer leading Iwan Arnold into the boot-pack in the finals. ISMF photo.
USA and Canadian men:
The best North American result went to Eric Carter (USA) who first qualified into the quarter-finals and the had a great run in his heat but got quite held up by Antonioli in the steep switchbacks, ultimately finishing 4th in his heat (top two move through) and 19th overall – his best result in these Championships. Second best, in 32nd place, went to only an espoir Cameron Smith (USA).
Top Canadian performance went to Nick Elson, placing 33rd and only three spots off the qualifying quota. Second best was Peter Knight in 37th. Both respectable runs given the lack of sprint races in Canada.
For the rest see results link below.
» Full results – men’s sprint race

Sprint Race – Women (Senior & Espoir)

With Laetitia Roux missing, the sprint world title was up for grabs. Claudia Galicia (SPA), silver medalist from teams race, took the opportunity and claimed gold after a close skating finish with Emelie Forsberg (SWE). Third place went to only an espoir Marianne Fatton (SWI).

Emelie Forsberg and Claudia Galicia in the bottom boot-pack transition during women's final. Photo Matt Reid.
Emelie Forsberg and Claudia Galicia in the bottom boot-pack transition during women’s final. Photo Matt Reid.
USA and Canadian women:
Four North American women qualified for the quarter-finals, an accomplishment on its own, but ultimately suffered some set backs to move through. Jessie Young (USA) had the best run and finished 22nd and Michela Adrian (USA) coming in only two spots behind her. Kylee Ohler had the best Canadian performance finishing 26th, however, who knows what would have happened if she didn’t loose a skin only a couple of strides into her quarter-finals heat. Michelle Roberts (CAN) missed qualifying only by one spot and at the end finished 31st overall.
For the rest see results link below.
» Full results – women’s sprint race

Sprint Race – Men (Junior & Cadet)

A historical moment for the US and North American skimo came in the cadet’s category with Quinn Simmons (son of Scott Simmons) claiming bronze medal – the very first medal for NA continent in the youth categories! And it could have been even as he was leading the finals about half-way through. Gold, in the cadet’s category, went to Aurelien Gay (SWI) who most likely has tremendous amount of experience passed onto him from older Swiss sprint specialists. Alessandro Rossi (ITA) claimed silver and his second medal in these Championships.
Junior title went to Ernesto Canclini (ITA), silver to Arno Lietha (SWI) and bronze to Maximilien Drion (BEL).
USA and Canadian men:
In cadet’s, besides already mentioned Quinn Simmons, Henry Boyd and Henry Hanes (both USA) placed 13th and 20th respectively.
Ian Clarke was the only junior for Team USA and in his first ever sprint placed 22nd.
» Full results – cadets and juniors

Sprint Race – Women (Junior & Cadet)

After claiming silver in the junior’s individual, Ekaterina Osichkina (RUS) won the sprint in front of her rivals from the individual – Guilia Murada (ITA) claiming silver and Julia Casanovas (SPA) bronze.
In cadet’s category, Justine Tonso (FRA) repeated her winning run from the individual race and won. In fact, the top three spots went to the same athletes with Samatha Bertolina (ITA) taking silver medal and Caroline Ulrich (SWI) bronze.
USA and Canadian women:
There were no North American racers in the junior’s category.
Morgan Fortin (USA) came to gain precious experience and placed 8th in the cadets but didn’t qualify.
» Full results – juniors and cadets

Tomorrow

Tomorrow’s race was today (since I this sprint report is delayed) and we raced a vertical – please go o to the home page to read that report.

Filed Under: Reports & Results Tagged With: Emelie Forsberg, Eric Carter, Jessie Young, Kylee Ohler, Nick Elson, Peter Knight, Quinn Simmons, Robert Antonioli

Senior & Espoir Individual Race – 2017 Skimo Worlds – Feb 24: Lenzi and Roux win, John Gaston 15th and Jessie Young 13th for North America

February 24, 2017 By Stano Faban 5 Comments

Today saw the first races of the 2017 Ski Mountaineering World Championships in Italy.
Very thin snow-pack forced organizers to get extremely creative which resulted in very technical skin tracks and quite dangerous descents with lots of exposed rocks, even a 200m downhill boot-pack. Absolute whiteout conditions and brief rain showers added to the challenge.
It was encouraging to see both North American men and women do so well on such a technical course and showing that couple of years of hard work and shared knowledge is paying off.

Jessie Young (with a star on her chest) fighting for a good position briefly after the start with Janelle Smiley just behind her. Photo Mark Smiley - the famous mountain guide.
Jessie Young (with a star on her chest) fighting for a good position briefly after the start, with Janelle Smiley just behind her. Photo Mark Smiley – the famous mountain guide.

Individual Race – Men

Damiano Lenzi, Italy’s current fastest athlete, went out hard seeking redemption – after penalizations, he was bumped off the 1st place twice earlier this season. He arrived about 40sec ahead of Anton Palzer (GER) and Kilian Jornet (SPA) to the top of the first 620m climb. That gap and order repeated on the top of the second climb.

Focused Damiano Lenzi taking the race by the horns right off the line. Photo Mark Smiley.
Focused Damiano Lenzi taking the race by the horns right off the line. Photo Mark Smiley.
After a downhill boot-pack at the bottom of the second descent Kilian Jornet started to turn on his speed and slowly ate into Lenzi’s lead and only loosing by a single second at the finish after a dramatic skating sprint. Anton Palzer, coming in 3rd about 30sec behind, must have been pretty happy to be back to his best after health problems over the last two weeks.
USA and Canadian men:
It was amazing to see John Gaston and Eric Carter (30sec apart), both from the US, just around the 17-25th place at the top of the first climb, with many big names transitioning with them. Gaston continued strongly to finish in 15th overall (13th in men’s category), setting a new top North American men’s performance in an individual race at World Championships! Carter, feeling good, held his own – loosing few spots on descents but gaining them back on the up-hills. He crossed the finish line in 26th place about 3.5min behind Gaston. Both were very happy about their race.
John Gaston giving all to set new North American men's performance.
John Gaston giving all to set new top North American men’s standard. ISMF photo.
Nick Elson (CAN) was the next North American crossing the line in 35th with Tom Goth (USA) one spot behind, both of them delivering solid performances. Next over the line were two well-know trail runners – Mike Foote (USA) and Rob Krar (CAN) finishing in 46th and 48th respectively – both racing for the first time ever in such high level skimo races.
Canadian duo – Travis Brown and Peter Knight – raced around each other most of the race with Travis claiming 53rd place in the finish and Peter only few minutes behind in 55th.
American espoir Cameron Smith had a solid showing as well, finishing 59th overall, and 12th in his category.
» Full results – individual men

Individual Race – Women

Women’s race was similar to the men’s in the way that real contenders established themselves early and fought a hard battle throughout. However, arguably the most refreshing news was that 49 athletes took to the start line – probably the most ever at this level.

Tight battle for positions before the first climb went into a technical single track. Photo Mark Smiley.
Tight battle for positions before the first climb went into a technical single track. Photo Mark Smiley.
Laetitia Roux (FRA) dug deep on the first climb and gained 90sec on her rivals and controlled that advantage all the way to the finish. But the win likely didn’t come as easy as it sounds because she was often looking back where a trio of chasers were – Axelle Mollaret (FRA), Maude Mathys (SWI) and Emelie Forsberg (SWE). At the end, silver medal went to very experienced Mathys and bronze to still young Mollaret.
USA and Canadian women:
Jessie Young (USA) delivered what was arguably her best ever performance, finishing 13th overall (11th in women’s category), and showed she is now ready to attack the top ten! Janelle Smiley (USA) was only about 1min behind Jessie on the 2nd descent but lost some time later on, finishing 21st – still a respectful result after overcoming illness over the last two weeks.
Third North American over the line was a mother of two and a Canadian, Kylee Toth. After months of focused training and massive improvements she will be proud to finish in 29th, although, her best at these Worlds is still to come.
Kylee Ohler in the last transition. Photo Matt Reid.
Kylee Ohler in the last transition. Photo Matt Reid.
Next over the line were Lindsay Plant and Nikki Larochelle (both USA), finishing in 33rd and 37th, after perhaps not having the races they imagined and certainly not the ones they are capable of. The same is true for Michelle Roberts (CAN) who can definitely go faster but today’s downhills were a bit too technical for her still improving skills – she crossed the line in 40th place.
Canada had two female first timers at these Worlds – Lori Ann Donald and Caroline Reid – and today was perfect for gaining experience. Both women battled through the elements finishing in 42nd and 48th, with their stronger disciplines yet to come.
» Full results – individual women
Lori Ann Donald striding through the thick fog. Photo Matt Reid.
Lori Ann Donald striding through the thick fog. Photo Matt Reid.

Tomorrow’s race

Tomorrow is time for the younger athletes to shine and we are looking forward how well the USA juniors will go as they are definitely showing some skills and ambition!
Canada doesn’t have any non-senior athletes at these championships.

Filed Under: Reports & Results Tagged With: 2017 Skimo World Championships, Anton Palzer, Axelle Mollaret, Damiano Lenzi, Eric Carter, Janelle Smiley, Jessie Young, John Gaston, Kilian Jornet, Kylee Ohler, Laetitia Roux, Mike Foote, Rob Krar, Tom Goth

Skimo News Jan 28-29: Controversy at the 2nd World Cup, Le Massif Race in Quebec, CROWBAR in Utah, Upcoming Events

January 31, 2017 By Stano Faban 2 Comments

Time flies and we are already into February of 2017, with World Championships only 23 days away!
To read our last week’s Skimo News go here – Skimo News Jan 21-22: Carter racing in Andorra WC, Canada and East Coast races

USA Race News

crowbar-2017-1CROWBAR – Utah – Jan 28

CROWBAR (Cache Regional Overland Winter Backcountry Race) is one of the few fully backcountry hosted skimo races in North America that never disappoints with a foot of fresh the day before!
Last weekend, a group of youth racers from Park City – coached by Nina Silitch – made the trip and delivered a couple of great performances. Nina is doing great work with her skimo “students” and we will bring you more information on that shortly.
The main races were won by Chad Brackelsberg (men’s category) and Gemma Arro (women’s) while 5th place in men’s category went to Jason Borro of Skimo.co.
Both photographs were taken and sent to us by Wayne Wurtsbaugh. Thank you!
» Full results
crowbar-2017-2

Skin To Win – Bridge Bowl, MT  – Jan 29

Bridger Bowl Ski Area near Bozeman, MT hosted  another edition of Skin To Win skimo race with Janelle Smiley taking the win in the women’s category and Sawyer Thomas in men’s. World Champs bound Mike Foote did not finish the race.
» Full results

Canada Race News

There were no races in the Western part of Canada while the SkimoEast series continued in Quebec.

Le Massif – Quebec – Jan 28

This report was submitted by Richard Ferron, one of SkimoEast organizers.
The third race of the SkimoEast 2017 season was Saturday at Le Massif de Charlevoix, close to Quebec City. Le Defi des montagnes had a long challenging course of 19 km – longest of the series – with 1 650m of climbing. The long course was won by David Savard-Gagnon followed closely by Leigh Quilliams. The women’s race was won by Carinne Lavallière.
A special mention to Antoine Corbeil, 14 years old, who completed the long course and won the Jr division.
The race was opened to ski mountaineers as well as runners (snowshoes or running shoes). This year, there was even a FreeRide course with an emphasis on the descent and less on the time.
Next race is at Burke, Vermont, February 5. More information on www.skimoeast.com
» All results can be found here

Aiden Lennie on his way to victory in the short course. Photo David Moore.
Aiden Lennie on his way to victory in the short course. Photo David Moore.

International Race News

Cambre D’Aze – France – Jan 28-29

(Read our last weeks report about how the 1st World Cup of the season went.)
The ISMF World Cup continued in France with Individual race on Saturday and a first Sprint of the season on Sunday. The venue received large amounts of snow just two days before the races so the Individual had to be moved mostly in-bounds.
Individual:
The men’s field was missing last weeks winner Anton Palzer (GER), however, there was more “action” than anyone would like to see.
Damiano Lenzi (ITA) crossed the finish line in first place but was given one minute penalty and moved to second, exactly like last week. Thus, the win was awarded to Kilian Jornet (SPA) who was only couple of seconds behind. The “controversy” went into full swing when the top 3 (Lenzi, Jornet, Eydallin) from the finish didn’t show up at the flowers ceremony and were disqualified! At the end, the win went to Robert Antonioli (ITA) who finished 4th in the race.
Eric Carter (USA) had a better race than last week in Andorra and finished 37th – but would effectively move to 34th after the top 3 disqualification.

Lenzi leaving for a boot-pack in front of Jornet. ISMF photo.
Lenzi leaving for a boot-pack in front of Jornet. ISMF photo.
Kilian Jornet went on to explain his/their side of the story on his Facebook page while ISMF didn’t comment too much publicly but said that “…the ISMF will analyze the matter in the constant process of the assesement of the quality of the races”. Without being there, no one knows which side is right but from our experience there likely are valid points on both sides. The question is how will this affect our sport going forward as conflicts like these are definitely damaging.
A side story we found intriguing, while looking through the results, was a 10th place finisher Christian Hoffmann (AUT). This 42 year old racer came to skimo after serving 6-year ban for blood doping – same investigation that involved a disgraced cyclist Michael Rasmussen. Hoffmann won gold in cross-country skiing in 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City after the winner was convicted of his own blood doping. While the skier is free to race again, it is interesting that the Austrian Skimo federation is giving him a chance to represent their country on a World stage.
In the women’s race, nothing has changed on the top of the podium with Laetitia Roux (FRA) collecting another World Cup win while again second went to her young French teammate Axelle Mollaret. Third place went to Maude Mathys (SWI) who returned after her doping ban, although, for much less serious offence than Hoffmann.
» Full results for Individual
Sprint:
A great day for Iwan Arnold (SWI) by taking his first ever skimo World Cup win! Second went to his team-mate Andreas Steindl while the race favourite Robert Antonioli finished in third.
Laetitia Roux continued in great fashion from the day before and won. Second and third went to Claudia Galicia (SPA) and Deborah Chiarello (SWI).
» Full results for Sprint (you will need to click few links to drill down)
Cambre_d_aze_sprint_women
Italian racer in the top transition of the sprint qualification. Photo ISMF.

Upcoming Races

World Cups:
After back to back weekends, the World Cup will have a small break and returning on Feb 11th in Turkey with an individual and sprint.
USA and Canada:
» See our preview of Steep Dreams event at Panorama Resort, BC that will take place on Feb 4-5 (individual on Saturday and vertical on Sunday).
» Check out our skimo racing calendar
Over the next two weekends:
Feb 3-5 – US Nationals, NM
Feb 4-5 – Panorama Steep Dreams Skimo Race, BC
Feb 5 – Burke Backcountry Adventure, VT
Feb 11 – Whitefish Whiteout, MT – Stano will be there to remember to Ben Parsons
Feb 11 – Bolton 24 Hours, VT
Feb 17-19 – Griggs Ski Mountaineering Race, CO
Feb 18 – Course du Mont Édouard, QC

Filed Under: News Shorts, Reports & Results Tagged With: CROWBAR, Damiano Lenzi, Eric Carter, Iwan Arnold, Kilian Jornet, Laetitia Roux, Robert Antonioli

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SkinTrack.com, created by Stano Faban, was born out of passion for ski mountaineering and ski touring. Over the years, it has become one of the most popular ski mountaineering blogs in North America.

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