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Mike Foote

Mike Foote Interview: 24 Questions For The New 24-Hour World Record Holder

March 23, 2018 By Stano Faban 4 Comments

We are super excited to bring you this detailed interview with Mike Foote today!
We will talk about his training, preparation, nutrition and the 24-hour attempt itself.
For those that don’t know… Mike became the new world record holder to climb 61,200 vertical feet or 18,654 metres in 24 hours on skis. He chose to do it on a fairly short climb – 1020 feet or 310 metres – which he lapped 60 times. And all of this at his “home” ski resort Whitefish Mountain Resort in Montana, USA.

About half way through his attempt.
About half way through his attempt using The North Face custom race suit.
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.

The Interview

Q1: First of all, huge congrats to you Mike!
On Sunday morning of March 18, 2018 you had finished a massive effort to set a new world record in the most vertical climbed and skied in 24 hours.
How, when and why did you come up with an idea to try this?
I first came up with the idea after running the Hardrock 100 last year. I love longer and lower endurance events like that which take around 24 hours, and there was nothing in the skimo world, which compared. So I began wondering if I could run 100 Miles in a day, what could I do on skis in 24 hours.
Q2: What was the previous record? How did you realize that you might have a shot?
An Austrian named Eckhardt Dolshlag did 60,000 feet on the dot in 2009 in Austria at a 24-hour event at Bad Gastein Ski Area. Then the famous ski mountaineering racer Florent Perrier did 59,893 feet in 2011 in his home town of Areches, France in the Alps.
These were the two efforts that felt like the benchmark for me. I didn’t know if I had a shot, but I did know that if they could do it, I may be able to as well!

Split times for each of Mike's 60 climbs.
Split times for each of Mike’s 60 climbs.
Q3: What was the weather like during your attempt? Seems like it cooperated well.
The weather was really nice. Sunny and warm during the day and mid 20’s (F) at night. This however made the surface conditions of the snow really bad due to melt-freeze which plagued me most of the night with really slippery skinning.
Q4: This is going to be a longer question but perhaps the most interesting one… Let’s talk about selecting the right conditions and venue for something like this:
Can you elaborate on how crucial the right angle and length of the slope is, I know that you switched to a less steep climb from the one you originally wanted to use?
Why did you choose only a 310m climb (1020 feet)? How steep was it?
Altitude was not a factor, right?
And while all the above is important, I have a feeling you didn’t choose Whitefish Resort only based on calculations.
I’ll say it right at the beginning that I chose Whitefish because I have a community there. And I knew I would need support to pull this off. I used to ski patrol there. It’s also the place where I began uphill skinning. Lastly, one of my biggest inspirations in the skimo world was a friend Ben Parsons, who passed away in an avalanche in Glacier Park last year. The uphill route on the mountain was named after him, and there was nowhere else I wanted to try for this record.
As for slope length and angle, I’ve thought a LOT about this. I think something in the 32-34% grade range that was very consistent and was about 1500-2000ft in length would be perfect for something like this. Also, to have a lit on-piste run to ski down is really helpful.
Q5: Did you use any special gear, or your usual skimo racing equipment and clothing?
I used my normal skimo gear – Dynafit DNA skis and Pierre Gignoux boots. It’s what I know and train on and I didn’t want to mess with it. The North Face and I worked together to design a ski suit with some textiles often used in the bike racing world. The first time I used it was on the day of the attempt so I was quite nervous, but it ended up working great.
Q6: What did you eat and drink during the 24 hours? Did you have a specific fueling schedule? Did your tastes change at any point?
I just planned to eat a little bit each lap, and I totally stuck to that plan.
I had a wide variety of food such as Gu gels, sweet potato and bacon rice ball, corn cakes, drink mix, maple syrup diluted into a water bottle (I drank almost an entire quart!).
Towards the end I was also drinking warm soup broth and coke. I was eating around 400 calories per hour, which is insane! In training I often don’t eat at all or only about 200 calories an hour. It was working though to eat a lot so I kept eating!
Q7: Do you know how many calories you burned overall and how much did you drink?
I don’t know. Maybe 15-20,000 calories burned? I drank a lot of liquid. Every lap. And I may have been over-hydrated because I had to go to the bathroom a lot towards the end!
Q8: How many people did you have helping out during your attempt, and what were their roles? How many pacers did you have?
I had a HUGE support crew!
I had friends feeding me and giving me drink, and drying gear, and switching skins at the bottom. I also had friend at the top taking a picture and documenting my times for each lap.
In the second half of the day I had friends swapping out and pacing me for multiple laps trying to keep me on target for the record. It was a total team effort and I’m so lucky to have had the all time crew that I did. I would not have been able to come close to my goal alone.
Mike's amazing support crew. We are proud to call many of these people friends as well.
Mike’s amazing support crew. We are proud to have many of these people as friends as well.
Q9: What was your pacing strategy for the 24 hours? Most of the time, were you ahead of the world record schedule, or where you behind at any point?
You knew you would be fading slowly but it seems like you were able to have some surges.
I made a decision early on in the day to go by feel and not get too lost in numbers. I looked at my watch only a handful of times over the course of the 24 hours.
With that said, I was hopeful to build up some padding in the first half of the day without blowing up too much. I was able to ski about 33,500 ft in the first 12 hours and then skied about 27,700 in the second 12 hours. It was much slower but still enough to get the record.
The surges came with pacing. I just kept trying to hang onto the back of Luke Nelson’s skis the last 6 hours. Some laps I could do it and we would post a really good time. Other times I could barely stay focused and I really slowed down.
Luke pacing Mike in the early morning hours.
Luke pacing Mike in the early morning hours.
Q10: When did you have your toughest moments? How did you push through?
The hardest part for me was the first 5 laps. I didn’t feel great, and I was feeling negative and not confident. I was worried that so many friends put their lives on hold to help me out and that I was going to fail. However, I just kept reminding myself I had a long day and that giving up wasn’t an option. After 7-8 laps I began feeling better and was able to fall into a really good rhythm.
Q11: How did you take care of your feet? Or your training prepared them for it?
Umm….I didn’t take care of my feet. I planned to switch boots and socks to dry them out but never did. And I paid the price. They hurt!
Mike's feet after 24 hours of skiing!
Mike’s feet after 24 hours of skiing!
Q12: Do you feel like that you reached your life-time best fitness? Or do you think such a long endurance effort is highly dependent on one’s mental state and overall mindset?
Definitely the latter. I know I could do better.
I also know that conditions are really important as well as mindset. I would like to think I will keep getting stronger every year at least into my 60’s 🙂
Q13: Something tells me that the 24h record attempt was only a very small portion of the whole project, so let’s talk about your training and preparations now…
Obviously, you are a very fit athlete year-round so you didn’t start from zero, but when did you specifically started to train for this?
I started training specifically for this late last fall around November.
Q14: Did you design a whole training plan towards your 24h attempt, or did you come up with a couple of specific key workouts and just plugged them into your usual schedule?
My training plan was specific to the attempt for sure I still wanted to race a bit, but my priority was to be the best prepared I could be for the 24 hour attempt.
I worked with Scott Johnston of Uphill Athlete and we devised a plan together that naturally focused a lot on volume and vert. The biggest thing to work on was to be really good at doing long slow days that weren’t too tiring so I could go out and do them again the next day.
It took work, but I had to get really good at operating at really low output in training so that I could boost my aerobic capacity which paid dividends once it was time for the 24 hour effort. My body was very used to “Race Pace”, which is slow and steady, by the time of the attempt.
Q15: Since you live a little ways from bigger mountains, and being a runner, how much were you running still? What other activities did you use for training?
I pretty much just skied. I have a couple areas I can drive to within 20 min from my home and we had a great winter, so I was lucky there.
I ran about a day a week for an hour. I also did some easy afternoon 1 hour spins on the bike trainer, and went to the gym 1-2 times a week for some light-to-moderate core work. I did harder gym workouts in the fall, but once the season started I backed off of all hard leg workouts in the gym.
Q16: While the focus was on volume during your training, I am wondering whether you incorporated also some higher intensity intervals, apart from jumping into few races?
Pretty much I just did 4-5 races, and then a handful of Zone 3 longer workouts – I would do 3x 20 min or 4 by 10 min at about 80 percent effort.
Q17: In the weeks prior, you did a couple of 8 hour ski sessions to climb a lot of vert. How many did you do and how much did you climb?
My two longest days were back-to-back 8 hour days and I did 20,000 the first day and 22,000 the second. Before that I did a handful of 15,000 days and probably 10-12 times 10,000 days.
A "regular" training day.
A “regular” training day.
Q18: I know you were training a lot on the original climb – named Benny Up after our good friend Ben Parsons – in the Whitefish Resort. It has some really steep sections so you wanted to feel it out. Do you remember how many times have you climbed it this winter?
Oh man, good questions. I don’t know. Maybe 50-60 times?
Q19: Since there was lots of vertical to be climbed on the D day, every gram would matter. Did you try to loose some body weight, or you were not too concerned about it?
It’s something that’s always on my mind and causes me concern at times. There is no debating the physics of hauling mass uphill.
I’ve tried losing weight in the past and have failed to do so. What I’ve realized is that it’s healthier for me to focus on being strong, healthy, consistent and injury and illness free. I’m better at those things than a lot of people, so if I’m a few pounds over my goal weight it’s worth it to me.
Q20: Was this the most challenging athletic thing that you have ever done? How would it compare to the battles at Hardrock 100 trail race, or some of your other adventures?
In many ways this reminded me of running 100 miles, but it was much harder because all the pressure was on me. I had no competitors. It was a clock, a mountain and me. I’ve never experienced that.
Also, it was up to me to set up the logistics of the event with the venue and to get all my friends to volunteer their time. There were many added stressors, which made the experience as a whole both more challenging but ultimately more rewarding.
Mike racing Pierra Menta in 2017.
Mike racing Pierra Menta in 2017.
Q21: Having this amazing experience under your belt, what would you change that you think could have made a reasonable impact on your performance?
I will start by saying I wouldn’t change my experience for anything. With that said, a longer slope that was extremely consistent at 32-33% grade would be perfect. Also, the melt-freeze conditions were hard for going up AND going down. I would have loved to have had some nice new snow for this attempt!
Q22: What would you recommend universally to an athlete that might be thinking of doing this? Or is it too person-specific?
I would say to anyone to let go of your preconceived notions. You would be surprised what you can accomplish just by walking uphill all day!
Q23: Coming from the trail running background, what first steps would you recommend other trail runners to do if they are thinking to pick up skimo?
Do a race. They aren’t as scary as you think. Also, buy the SkinTrack Manual For Ski Mountaineering Racing. I did and loved it. It’s a great resource!
Q24: You now have collected some great achievements in trail running and skimo. What are your future personal and athletic goals?
I am always working to just enjoy the process. I like mixing up my goals and sports. This has been fun but I am excited to get back to big mountains and racing next winter.
I will be running the Hardrock 100 this summer and will likely have some big running adventures planned before and after that to.
I am just going to do what inspires me, even if it’s a bit out of the ordinary. That strategy worked really well for me this winter as I really enjoyed preparing for the 24 hour attempt.
Thank you very much Mike for your time with these questions!
Stano

Filed Under: People (Interviews), Skimo Racing Tagged With: Mike Foote

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 – Feb 14, 2018: No Skimo at 2022 Olympics, Mike Foote Wins in Whitefish, Kilian Jornet Winning Again

February 14, 2018 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

Skiers in Colorado rejoice to the first snowfall of the season! Meanwhile, in the Canadian Interior, skiers are flocking to the ski areas due to high avi hazard in the backcountry. Us in the Pacific North West are emerging from another storm and frantically applying sunscreen and searching for the sunglasses we didn’t need since summer time.

2022 Olympics Without Ski Mountaineering

Last week, a little bit under the radar, an announcement has been made by the International Olympic Committee that no new sport will be added to the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. Three federations that have been recognized by the IOC have been hoping to include some of their disciplines in Olympic Games, these include skimo’s ISMF and ice climbing’s UIAA.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) sports director Kit McConnell claimed innovation at the Winter Games has already been ensured by the addition of new events within existing sports on the program:
“When you look at the innovations we had in Vancouver and Sochi [2010 and 2014 Olympic Winter Games], the winter program was already moving ahead, with not just new sports but new events in existing sports…”

USA and Canada Race News

COSMIC Tellurando – Telluride CO – Feb 10:

A trip to Colorado’s San Juan Mountains are always a treat. The box canyon of Telluride and more specifically the Main Street of Telluride served as the starting line for the 2nd year of the TELLURANDO, thanks to the amazing team at Jagged Edge Mountaineering. The race is a benefit for the Telluride Mountain Club PI Avalanche Foundation.

Lead pack at Tellurando. Photo by Brashear Photo.
Lead pack at Tellurando. Photo by Brashear Photo.
Athletes, including several members of the US Ski Mountaineering Team, began by running down Colorado Avenue at 5.30 AM while the ski town was still asleep. Top teams finished 23 miles and 11,000 feet of vert before a major snow storm, others had to brave the snow squall. At the end, 48 racers were treated to fresh pies and Howitzer shell trophies. National Team member Rory Kelly won the solo event while Max Taam and Scott Simmons teamed up to win the open teams division. On the women’s side, Holly Simmons won the solo category as Maddy Fones and Patricia Franco claimed a win in the teams division.
Also of note was a junior athlete (under 17) Kyle Soukup who finished 4th overall!
> Full Results

Whitefish Whiteout – Whitefish MT – Feb 10:

Ben Parsons on his way to win the 2015 edition on his home mountain.
Ben Parsons on his way to win the 2015 edition on his home mountain.
With a fantastic community behind this event, great course layout, and a full support from Whitefish Mountain Resort, this race is a must do for every skimo athlete. While there have been many that have shaped this event over the years there are two iconic personalities we want to recognize – Josh Knight, the resort’s events manager, and Ben Parsons who had been the magical force behind the local skimo community and have touched many lives beyond that.
On race day, close to 150 racers lined up to tackle a well redesigned race course featuring steep descents, very challenging skinning, two boot-packs, and a final big downhill instead of a finish at the top of the mountain like in the years past. The new changes made the race little longer and improved its flow.
Similar to last year, Mike Foote, US National Skimo Team member and an accomplished trail runner, took off like a bullet to never be seen again. Joel Shehan, one of Whitefish’ finest athletes, surprised everyone and managed to closely follow Mike for a good part of the first half of the race. While these two were running away with the top spots the battle behind them took much longer to settle. At the end, both steadily improving, Andrew Mayer and Jeff Shehan took 3rd and 4th respectively. SkinTrack’s Stano Faban chased up to 6th place after a slow first climb.
In the women’s race, another US National Team member, Michela Adrian, delivered a well paced effort to snatch the win from Chelsee Pummel. Third went to Lizzie English.
One more thing we would like to point your attention to is a successful weekly skimo night series the local community have created. With over 60 participants showing up on average, the five event series takes place in the five weeks leading up to the Whiteout race.
> Full Results

International Race News

It’s been an interesting year for World Cup racing. With a handful of cancelled races and some odd venues, there’s only been one individual event so far! Luckily the snow conditions in the Ecrins mountains in France were ideal for an individual and a vertical event.

Puy St. Vincent World Cup – Ecrins Massif, France – Feb 8-9:

Kilian Jornet (ESP) made his return to racing this weekend after a shoulder surgery this fall, though the Italians continued their domination with Robert Antonioli and Michelle Boscacci taking first and second in the individual event. Axelle Mollaret (FRA) upset the skimo queen Laetitia Roux (FRA) and both were chased by an Italian espoir athlete Alba DeSilvestro.

Marti Werner doing his best to stay with Kilian Jornet.
Werner Marti doing his best to stay with Kilian Jornet. Photo by ISMF.
Kilian managed to climb back to the top of the podium in the vertical event by out-running Swiss vertical specialist Werner Marti and currently the most consistent skimo athlete Michelle Boscacci. The vertical event was a particularly interesting show with athletes finishing at an outright run! Axelle Mollaret swept the World Cup weekend with a second gold in the vertical over Vicky Kreuzer (SUI) and Claudia Galicia (ESP).
John Gaston was the only North American athlete in attendance and finished 16th in the individual and 20th in the vertical.
> Full Results – all disciplines 
> Vertical race video
> Individual race video

Upcoming Events

Looking ahead, on February 24 will be the third race in the North East five-event skimo series – most likely to be a return to the January 20 venue of Berkshire East, given the highly unlikely chances of pulling off a 100% backcountry race at Mount Greylock due to another warm wet period coming up.
We’d also like to point your attention to a brand new event in Squamish, BC. Held entirely in backcountry terrain above the Sea to Sky Gondola, it should be a pretty awesome event. Check it out – www.squamishskimo.com

Filed Under: Events & Races, News Shorts Tagged With: Kilian Jornet, Mike Foote

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

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

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

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