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Jessie Young

North American Women Racing The 2019 Trofeo Mezzalama: Kylee Toth Ohler Shares Their Experience

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In their first start in the iconic Trofeo Mezzalama, a trio of  North American ladies – Kylee Toth Ohler (CAN), Jessie Young and Sierra Anderson (both USA) – placed 6th and gained a lot of new experience from the very windy 2019 edition.

Here’s a short interview with Kylee to recap their experience.

Sierra, Kylee, Jessie

Q: For all 3 of you, Mezzalama was a brand new experience. Did you like it?

I really enjoyed this race! It was definitely the most technical, challenging and fun ski mountaineering event I have completed.

It is truly a mountaineering race and a big undertaking. It challenges all of your skills – ascending, descending, glacier travel, ridge climbing – it certainly is not a race I would want to enter without training and preparation.

Q: How would you compare it to World Championships and Pierra Menta?

The Grande Course races are each unique and the Mezzalama has a very different feel than the Pierra Menta, being at higher altitudes and more technical.

I would definitely do both races again and the Grande Course style of true ski mountaineering rely appeals to me more than World Cup or World Championships style of racing.

Q: What was the biggest challenge for the whole team?

I would say the biggest challenge was the adverse weather. It was really cold and windy for half of the race and we had huge climbs and descents.

When we were at the bottom of the climb we were hot and sweating. Once we ascended above 3500 meters it was -20 or colder and extremely windy on the ridges. This made it challenging to stay warm. We wasted a lot of time trying to manage that.

Q: Now having the experience, what do you think is the most important aspect in preparing for such a big race?

I would take this race seriously in preparing for it.

You would need to put in a lot of training meters, many 2000m+ ski touring days, and be a very competent downhill skier – comfortable skiing double black runs at your local ski hill.

Not only is the skiing challenging for many descents but you have to descend roped up with your team mates!

This race is ideal for someone with a background of many years of ski mountaineer racing or true mountaineering. I would definitely not recommended for beginners even if they are very fit.

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

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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!
 

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

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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.

Team Race – 2017 Skimo Worlds – Feb 26: USA women 4th, Lenzi wins another title, French women win without Laetitia Roux

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Third day at the 2017 Ski Mountaineering World Championships brought another sunny day but thankfully it didn’t get as hot as forecasted, thanks to a thin cloud cover, and so there were perfect conditions for senior athletes to tackle the longest of all the World Championship races.

Showing parts of the course. Green is skinning or on foot, red are descents. ISMF photo.
Showing parts of the course. Green is skinning or on foot, red are descents. ISMF photo.
Organizers prepared one hell of a technical course including via ferrata sections and a walk/hike on an exposed ridge over one of the local summits. Technical and rocky descents continued to be on the menu as no new snow fell since the opening ceremony.
Arguably, the two most notable performances were in the women’s race with French ladies winning the title without Laetitia Roux, and that the US Team’s Jessie Young and Janelle Smiley clinched 4th place – the best ever for a North American women’s team at Worlds!
» Here are beautiful ISMF photos from the teams race
» Click here for previous day – Junior & Cadet Individual Race – 2017 Skimo Worlds – Feb 25
Janelle and Jessie on the final descent. Photo by Mark Smiley.
Janelle and Jessie on the final descent. Photo by Mark Smiley.
 

Team Race – Men

Historically, Italian teams have been quite dominant whether at Worlds, Pierra Menta or any other teams events. Today, again, it was more of a question which of their teams wins than anything else. Damiano Lenzi is on top form this season and partnering with experienced Matteo Eydallin didn’t hurt. However, they out-skied their fellow country men – Robert Antonioli and Michele Boscacci – only by a few seconds to win gold. Third place went to always strong and well skiing William Bon Mardion and Xavier Gachet (FRA).

Boot-pack over the peak of Mount Cavallo was the highlight of the day! ISMF photo.
Boot-pack over the peak of Mount Castelat was the highlight of the day! ISMF photo.
USA and Canadian men:
It was a mixed day for the US mean’s team today. John Gaston and Max Taam proved their skills finishing 11th, only one place lower than at Worlds 4 years ago. Another strong duo – Eric Carter and Tom Goth – had minor gear issues on the technical ridge walk (many teams had gear issues on that section of the course) but their race really went off the tracks when Eric broke a ski at the bottom of the second descent and they had to abandon. Very respectable performance came from Jon Brown and Teague Holmes who finished 16th. Paul Hamilton and Scott Simmons are showing in the results at 17th place but in fact abandoned after suffering too many issues.
The top Canadian placing went to two mountain/ultra runners, Nick Elson and Rob Krar (see quote below),  finishing 17th (18th in results after Hamilton/Simmons correction). They skied a solid race with Rob having some difficulties in the icy skin tracks – after all it was his very first time seeing something like that.
Nick and Rob in the second descent. ISMF photo.
Nick and Rob in the second descent. ISMF photo.
Second Canadian team placing was still up for grabs half-way through the race with Stano and Matt Reid leading Travis Brown and Peter Knight at that point. Eventually, Travis and Peter prevailed, finishing 19th, after Matt suffered from cramps and breaking his boot early into the third descent. By slowing down a little and taking on fluid and salt, Matt was able to pull through and even skied well with one working boot, and so our team finish 20th.
Stano and Matt atop the last climb of the long technical race. Photo by Lori Ann Donald.
Stano and Matt atop the last climb of the long technical race. Photo by Lori Ann Donald.
Here is what Rob Krar had to say in the finish about his experience today:

I was humbled and in awe of the competition and athleticism on display this morning, including my teammate Nick Elson. I believe we both have a strong and quiet drive that led to a solid showing, although Nick was clearly the stronger athlete and I wish I weren’t the weaker link that held us back from placing higher.
There is a great quote something along the lines of the only risks I regret are the ones I never took. It has been a primary goal the past few years to take more risk and step out of my comfort zone whenever possible. This approach to life has opened doors I never thought possible and racing today was really the culmination of a two year goal to represent Canada at the World Championships. It was the toughest and most challenging ski mountaineering race of my life and I loved every moment of suffering out there.

» Full results – men’s teams race

Team Race – Women

Just like in the individual race, today, was very competitive in the women’s field again. Italian team was leading up the first climb but another 4 teams were right on their heels, including Janelle Smiley and Jessie Young.
At the end, the gold went to Axelle Mollaret and Lorna Bonnel (FRA) with Mollaret having done quite a bit of towing as well as bringing a lot of experience. After all, she has won many teams races with the most decorated skimo athlete in history, Laetitia Roux. Second team over the finish line was from Spain – Mireia Miro and Claudia Galicia – both very experienced racers. Bronze medal went to home Italian women – Martina Valmassoi and Alba De Silvestro – who were in fact leading that first climb.

Italian team on the way to the summit of Cavallo. ISMF photo.
Italian team on the way to the summit of Castelat. ISMF photo.
USA and Canadian women:
For North Americans, the story of the day have been written by Smiley and Young (USA) by racing into a historical 4th place in a teams race! Today’s result will given them a huge confidence bust for Pierra Menta (starts March 8th) where they can certainly attack for the podium, because why go top 5 if you have already done that.
The rest of US and Canadian women had a mixed bag of feelings but overall still delivered respectable performances. Nikki Larochelle and Lindsay Plant place 8th about 10min ahead of 9th Najeeby Quinn and Michela Adrian. In 10th, and only few minutes behind, came the Canadian ladies – Kylee Ohler and Michelle Roberts – who got in good training today before Pierra Menta. 12th place went to another US team of Kristi Knecht and Anne Gonzales, finishing the race on a substitute ski after breaking one.
» Full results – women’s teams race
To give you an idea how spicy and rocky all descents were. ISMF photo.
To give you an idea how spicy and rocky all descents were. ISMF photo.

Tomorrow

There is planned rest/transfer day for tomorrow as we all head to Piancavallo for the last three events including many youth events as well. None of the athletes on US and Canadian teams are sick or (significantly) injured so we are all looking forward to more racing! 🙂

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

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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.

Jan 16-17 News Shorts: John Gaston races a World Cup while others battle back home, Kilian Jornet wins twice

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Max Taam leads the 2016 COSMIC Sunlight Dynafit Heathen Challenge. Myke Hermsmeyer Photo.
Max Taam leads the 2016 COSMIC Sunlight Dynafit Heathen Challenge. Myke Hermsmeyer Photo.
Another full weekend of racing in the US and Europe while the Canadian Series takes a break. Read on for more news from last week in skimo!

USA

Heathen Challenge
Racers convened at Sunlight Resort in Colorado for the Dynafit Heathen Challenge. The race featured beautiful weather and a full course with 4500+ feet of climbing. Max Taam put together a solid performance throughout with a small group of chasers to push the pace. Paul Hamilton, Teague Holmes, and Brian Smith all fought to round out the podium with Hamilton and Holmes edging out Smith.
Jessie Young continued her domination of the women’s scene finishing one minute ahead of Lindsay Plant and two minutes ahead of Sari Anderson!
» See full results HERE
Whitefish Whiteout

Peter Knight skiing to victory at the Whitefish Whiteout. Peter Knight Instagram.
Peter Knight skiing to victory at the Whitefish Whiteout. Peter Knight Instagram.
The Whiteout’s eight edition, traditionally held at Whitefish Resort in Montana, delivered deep powder as it usually does! A large contingent of Canadians traveled south for the race to take on a strong group of Montanans. Peter Knight (CAN) took off hard from the line with his eyes on the the hill climb prime. After waiting for the chase pack, the group stayed close together before the fresh snow started to take its toll on racers and their skins. Several athletes blew skins before arriving at the final cat track climb to the finish. Knight attacked Mike Foote, an accomplished distance runner, for the win with a local legend Ben Parsons coming from behind to take 3rd place.
Women’s race recap from Ben Parsons: “Adrian from Bozeman took it. Najeeby, an ultra-runner from Alaska, was hot to the top for the climb prime but missed a critical turn on the third descent and lost positions. Michelle Roberts (CAN) was a solid second and Katie French brought home third for locals glory!
» See full results HERE

Canada

Racing resumes next week in both the East and Western series. The next race in Western Canada is the new Lizard Skinner event in Fernie, BC on Jan 23rd. The next Skimo East event will be at Berkshire East on Jan 23.

Europe

Men's Font Blanca Individual World Cup Podium. ISMF Photo
Men’s Font Blanca Individual World Cup Podium. ISMF Photo
The World Cup circuit met for the first time this season at Font Blanca in Andorra for an individual and a vertical race. Last year, the race was plagued by severe weather causing chaos for the organizers to decide on a course in touchy avalanche conditions. This time around, despite a lack of snow in the alps, the Pyrenees were again hit with a major winter storm. The organizers were under immense pressure to put on a well run event and by all accounts seem to have succeeded. The individual was shortened to about 1300m and its start was delayed several hours due to severe weather and ran on a smaller circuit on-piste.
In the individual, to no-ones surprise, Kilian Jornet (SPA) took the win, however, a young Michelle Boscacci (ITA) finished close behind, pushing Jornet throughout the whole race. Werner Marti (SWI) also surprised with a podium position as he is known more for his vertical race abilities. The rest of the Italian team seems to have had a difficult race, finishing lower on the results sheet. The lack of off-piste descents may have played in favour of the less technically skilled descenders in the field while the usual downhill rockets were kept at bay – William Bon Mardion (FRA) and Robert Antonioli (ITA).
While there were only 25 senior women competing in the individual race the sharp end of the field was very strong. Emelie Forsberg (SWE) won only by 20 seconds in front of Spaniards Claudia Galicia and Laura Orgue (previously only considered a threat in vertical events) who rounded out the podium. The previously super-dominant Laetitia Roux finished fifth, one of her lowest results in recent memory, while she is still recovering from a surgery couple of months ago.
In the vertical race, Jornet repeated his win, with a Swiss Espoir Remi Bonnet upsetting the rest of the field to place second, and Michele Boscacci taking third. The women’s race (39 took to the start line) was handily won by Laura Orgue as was mostly expected since she has a strong nordic skiing history. Second went to Emelie Forsberg and third to Victoria Kreuzer of Switzelrand.
The lone North American competitor, John Gaston (USA) finished 30th in the individual and 32nd in the vertical. John had this to say about the races:

Andorra went pretty well.
Like everyone, I was bummed to see Saturday’s individual course changed. The 4 lap alternate was about as far out of my warehouse as it could have been. Loads of long flat skinning sections that put a premium on glide and technique, and zero technical or hard skiing to make back some time. Still, I felt pretty good and finished strong, so that’s all I could have asked for.
Sunday’s vertical was exact same as last year – I tried to go out harder and stick with their pace for longer – a strategy I knew in advance wasn’t totally smart. Still, these Euros have such amazing speed compared to anything we see in NA, so you’ve got to give it a go. I actually made up a few spots in the last half of the race which was a good confidence boost, but got crushed trying to sprint past that Spanish dude Marc Pinsach at the finish, and as a result got beaten on the line by some sneaky German kid lurking behind me, ready to pounce after I tried my move on Mr. Spanish. Haha, good times. Definitely the highest avg HR I’ve ever maintained in any race/sport, ever.
Kilian was incredible to watch and he’s obviously incredibly fit right now. He was just so patient at the starts and so calculated when and how he’d make his attacks. His vertical was ridiculous – like 30s faster than last year or something. He literally started jogging on that long straight upper part (not usually something Euros do, since they glide so well). He looked so casual about it.

» See full results HERE
ISMF Individual Race Video:

ISMF Vertical Race Video:

Thanks to Peter Knight and Ben Parsons for words, and Myke Hermsmeyer and ISMF Skimo for photos.
 

Lindsay Plant (USA): Skimo Racer Profile Interview

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Lindsay racing through Verbier during the 2015 World Championships Vertical event.
Lindsay racing through Verbier during the 2015 World Championships Vertical event.
We caught up with Lindsay Plant, the leader of the Team USA at the 2015 Skimo World Championships and asked her a few questions about her training and racing season.
Lindsay had a great World Champs, finishing 14th in the vertical event, 20th in the individual event, and 6th overall in the teams event paired with Jessie Young.
Where are you based out of?
I am based out of Carbondale CO, so I train mostly at Sunlight and Aspen Highlands.
What do you do in real life? How does that impact your ability to train and race?
I work for a family practice doctor at Glenwood Medical Associates, full time. I am also a mom to my 18 month old daughter, so that absolutely impacts my training as my time is very limited and has to be pretty structured.
How long have you been skimo racing? 
This is my 3rd season of skimo racing, I had to take a year off when I was pregnant but kept on skinning while I was pregnant.
I grew up skiing, but I came into skimo racing through my passion for endurance training, I have been a runner most of my life and loved skiing, so the thought of putting the two together was extremely appealing to me which directed me into finding skimo racing.
In the summer I do a lot of trail running and have been getting more and more into mountain biking, with a little road biking on the side.
photo 4Can you describe your training routine?
Due to my job and wanting to be with my daughter as much as possible, most of my workouts are high quality and short, lots of intervals, race pace tempos and a lot of zone 2 base work. Every once in a while I will get out for a big day at a higher elevation and lots of vert.
You just skied at World Championships, how long has this been a goal?
I have had a goal of racing at the World Championships for 3 years now. I wanted to try to go the year I got pregnant but that obviously put an end to that, so I have had that goal in mind since then.
I did have to adapt my life to make the team and travel to Europe by intensifying my training a bit more and pushing some other “life things” aside for a bit while I did this.
Racing above the clouds.
Racing above the clouds.
How was your World Championships experience?
The experience at the World Championships was incredible and a once in a life time experience. I had such an amazing time, racing with the Europeans and experiencing their mountains and courses. It was incredible.
I am very psyched with my racing, I felt strong and felt properly trained for the races, however, I was a little bummed I got a really bad chest cold and wonder how well I would have done if I wouldn’t have been sick, but in any case, I gave each race everything I had and left nothing on the course, so I couldn’t be happier and more satisfied with that.
Do any of the races stick out in particular and why?
I have to say the vertical race sticks out, it was such a cool experience racing through town and in the clouds, breaking through into the sunshine and having so many people cheering you on throughout the entire course, it was something I’ll never forget.
Each course was really enjoyable though they were all fun and challenging. Comparing these races to the ones in North America, the thing that sticks out the most was the crowds cheering everyone on which intensified my excitement and motivation to push harder. And of course the double skin track was pretty awesome too.
What are your other racing goals for 2015?
I have 3 more races this season which I hope to do well in, I’m racing with Stevie Kremer at the Power of 4 in Aspen, I have high expectations for that race! Then I’ll be racing at the US Nationals in Crested Butte, and the Grand Traverse at the end of March. Hoping to place well in each of those.
As to right now, I would love to try to make the 2017 US team again and race in Italy, so we shall see.
What kind of equipment do you race on and how long are your poles?
I am currently racing on La Sportiva gear, I have the Stratos Cube boots, the RSR bindings and skis and poles. My poles are 130cm. I love my gear, especially my boots!
The top American men and women in the Teams race. (L-R) John Gaston, Max Taam, Jessie Young, Lindsay Plant.
The top American men and women in the Teams race. (L-R) John Gaston, Max Taam, Jessie Young, Lindsay Plant.