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Lindsay Plant

Lindsay Plant (USA): Skimo Racer Profile Interview

February 20, 2015 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

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.

Filed Under: People (Interviews), Skimo Racing Tagged With: 2015 Skimo World Champs, Jessie Young, La Sportiva, Lindsay Plant, Team USA, Verbier2015

Dec 1-7 News Shorts: US Skimo Team qualifiers, Vert180 in Canada, Bernier's big November, Jornet readying for Aconcagua

December 9, 2014 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

With a new season under way, we are going to continue the weekly roundups that you got used to last winter but we are going away from the “Skimo Racing Roundup” name and will be calling it “News Shorts” as there are often other ski mountaineering related items worth including besides just skimo racing. We believe you will enjoy this format even more!

US Skimo Team qualifiers: Gaston continues winning

One of several huge snowcats used to shuttle racers to and from the Irwin Lodge race venue.
One of several huge snowcats used to shuttle racers to and from the Irwin Lodge race venue.
Skimo World Championships take place every second year and this means the US skimo athletes continue to train harder than ever before. To qualify, and to have a choice at which events each athlete wants to race at the 2015 Skimo Worlds in Verbier (Feb 6-12), he or she first needs to prove the speed. The first two qualifying races took place last weekend (Dec 6-7) in Crested Butte, Colorado. Saturday’s individual race, at Irwin Guides, is known for great backcountry terrain and skiing. The Irwin race is a unique experience for skimo racers with the entire event taking place in the backcountry. Racers are required to take a 45-minute snowmobile or snowcat ride to the venue deep in the Elk Mountains.
Utah vs. Colorado after the vertical event.
Utah vs. Colorado after the vertical event.
Scott Simons (2nd place), a father of two and always improving, took off strong from the start and charged around the first lap at a blistering pace along with Marshall Thompson (3rd place). The two reached the first descent together with John Gaston close behind. Gaston, showing his perennial strength at descending, closed the gap and by the third lap, had a manageable lead on the two to win the race. Max Taam raced hard from 10th position to 4th by the finish and Jason Dorais battled illness to finish a strong 5th.
In the women’s race, Lindsay Plant (2014 NA Teams Race Champion with Janelle Smiley) stayed in the lead throughout the race with seemingly little competition. Sari Anderson and Jessie Young (new to the skimo circuit but quickly improving) equalled each other on the first climb. Anderson dropped out of the race and Young chased hard forcing Plant to increase her pace to maintain her lead. Nikki LaRochelle finished in third.
For more Irwin photos by Crested Butte Photography see a link further below.
For more Irwin photos by Crested Butte Photography see a link further below.
Lindsay Plant shortly after crossing the line in first at the Crested Butte vertical race.
Lindsay Plant shortly after crossing the line in first at the Crested Butte vertical race.
Sunday was a vertical race (also a team qualifier) hosted at the CB resort. The results changed a bit but not dramatically. Gaston dominated the men’s field again with Marshall Thompson taking a close 2nd. Local star, Brian Smith charged from behind, sitting at the back of the pack early in the climb and moving up to 3rd by the finish. The women’s race went again decisively to Lindsay Plant who was followed by Nikki LaRochelle and McKenna Douglas.
SkinTrack’s Eric Carter, who is trying to qualify for the US Worlds Team, placed 9th on Saturday and 5th on Sunday. Eric was happy with the results despite seeing room for improvement. His altitude acclimatization program seemed to work (he lives at 14 m in Squamish, Canada) and all the hard dry land training is paying off.
» Weekend results from both races – https://www.facebook.com/USSkimo/posts/795269280519181
» Great weekend race photos can be found here.
» Qualifying criteria and process can be found on USSMA website here.

Vert180 opens season in Canada

In Canada, the Vert180 in Calgary opened the skimo racing season with its unusual format once again. The winner of the men’s category, trail runner and skimo racer Travis Brown, climbed a little less than 3000 m in 180 minutes of racing. Second and third went to Peter Knight and Ryan Burlingame respectively. The women’s category win went to Kylee Toth, who is coming back strongly after having two kids in the last several years! Michelle Roberts and Marg Fedyna finished second and third.
» Vert180 results are here.

Melanie Bernier’s big November

Melanie Bernier is the only Canadian, and only the second North American, to place on a skimo World Cup podium and as part of her preparations for the World Championship season she went on to do a massive month of training. She  accumulated over 70,000 vertical meters during November in the mountains around Revelstoke and in Rogers Pass. Once again, Melanie will travel to Europe for an extensive period of time this winter and we can’t wait to see what exciting performances she will be up to this season.

Kilian Jornet ready for Aconcagua speed attempt

If you haven’t caught the news yet then next couple of weeks will  bring another speed record attempt by Kilian Jornet. Like Melanie, he also did lot’s of training in November and, only few days ago, left France for South America. None of such records are guaranteed but if the weather on Aconcagua is at least somewhat cooperative, then Jornet should be able to set the bar very high for anyone that will come after him.

Wolf Creek skimo race on Nov 22

The first race on the USSMA calendar went down two weeks ago at the Wolf Creek ski area in Colorado. Men’s category top 3 were: Scott Simmons, Jon Brown, Pete Swenson. In women’s race category, the win went to Lindsay Plant, followed by Sarah Stubbe and Christena Ward.
» Full results are here.

Teaser video for 2015 Ski Mountaineering World Championships in Verbier

Filed Under: News Shorts Tagged With: 2015 Skimo World Champs, Eric Carter, Irwin Skimo Race, Jason Dorais, John Gaston, Jon Brown, Kilian Jornet, Lindsay Plant, Melanie Bernier

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Travelling through snowy mountains on skis is like flying… and experiencing life at its core.

Gear reviews, interviews, adventures, contests, skills, skimo training, race reports – we connect you to all things related to self-propelled skiing.

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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