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Peter Knight

2014 Canadian Skimo Team Camp at Rogers Pass

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This is a guest post from a recent Canadian Skimo Team training camp in Rogers Pass. I was unable to attend so I want to thank Peter Knight for the text and Travis Brown for the photos.
The Alpine Club of Canada had taken a page out of Alison Redford’s playbook and generously block-booked the hut for us so we would have lots of elbow room to eat and sleep as just Michelle Roberts, Martha Burley, Steve Sellers, and Travis and I were attending.

2014-asulkan-camp-travis-1

After a 3-hour ski up to the hut, through tracked out snow and watching numerous groups ski down, the sleeping bags and hut booties seemed more inviting than a couple of short laps above the hut in wind affected snow.
Monday brought a lazy start but with some ambitious goals. None of the weekend groups had skied above the hut and the weather and avalanche conditions were looking good, so we set our sights up to the top of Youngs Peak. Travis punched the track up the steep headwall and we quickly topped out.
2014-asulkan-camp-travis-2
I was expecting to pound out a couple of laps on the Steps of Paradise, but soon we were skiing down the other side towards the Forever Young couloir, which was untouched since the last snowfall. Meanwhile, some German ski mountaineering racers had topped out the couloir from the road so I had some company at the top while I waited my turn. We all made it down safely with varying levels of slough management techniques.

Michelle and Martha with Forever Young behind them.
Michelle and Martha with Forever Young behind them.
Typically these camps are a chance to ski lots of vertical, but with tired legs from racing two days before this adventure was an interesting diversion. After a couple of afternoon laps of the triangle moraine it was time for a classic staple of these SMCC Asulkan ski camps: the bonk-slog up the tree triangle back to the Asulkan hut at the end of the day.
Shortly after the last stragglers arrived back at the hut, the wind got much stronger and battered the hut all night. The wind sustained through the morning and brought warm temperatures along with it. Freezing levels rose above the hut, motivation levels did the opposite. Trees were uncovered by the wind and their snow was blown into the outhouse thanks to some broken locks. And it was raining. It was time to bail.
The ski down from the hut was interesting as the snow got slower and less supportive as we worked our way down. The snow could be described as elephant snot or fluffy powder depending on whether the person you were talking to was from Fernie or not. On the way down we encountered what is likely another full house at the Asulkan. Nobody was pumped to hear that it was raining at the hut.
Well at least I got back to Edmonton at a decent hour 😉

6h 34min: New speed record on the full Wapta Traverse by 1 hour!

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Back in 2012 my two good friends and Canadian Skimo Team members, Melanie Bernier and Ian Gale, partnered together for what at the end happened to be a new record for the full Wapta Traverse. They set it down to 7 h 35 min for this 43 km long and 2200 m of gain famous ski traverse in the Canadian Rockies.

By skiing down from Balfor Col guys were realizing a great time is in sight.
By skiing down from Balfor Col guys were realizing a great time is in sight.
Last Sunday, May 11th, a duo of another two skimo friends (that were still “novices” back in 2012) consisting of Peter Knight and Travis Brown took advantage of some fine weather and hit the traverse in what looks like stellar speed conditions. At the end, Peter and Travis shaved 1h of the old record and set the bar to 6 h 34 min!

When we got onto the glacier, there was 1-2cms of new snow on top of a very supportive crust and it was actually faster to ditch the old drifted in skintrack and make our own. – from Travis’ blog post

I like to think that the recent interview for Skintrack gave them the final boost of motivation that pushed them towards such a great performance – they had to match the hype with performance 🙂
And here is what Peter had to say about their effort in his usual style:

We weren’t feeling too bad afterwards and we contemplated doing a Bow Summit victory lap when picking up Travis’ car.

Wapta Traverse details

Here’s a screen picture after Travis uploaded their day from his Suunto Ambit 2 (watch review here).
wapta-speed-record
And here is a publicly available Wapta ski traverse map on Google maps:

For more info and photos from their day see their Suunto’s Movescount file and Travis’ blog post.

Wapta under 6h?

For over a year now, I have been long convinced the Wapta traverse can go under 6h, perhaps even close to 5h. However, everything would have to line up perfectly – conditions, people in shape in the right time, and sufficient snow pack that season.
What do you think? Can be Wapta done in 5h?

Interview with Travis Brown and Peter Knight – two young Canadian skimo hopefuls

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On the European skimo racing scene 24-years old racers are not considered youngsters anymore but in North American skimo terms that’s almost as young as they get.
Travis Brown and Peter Knight are two Canadian skimo racers with good potential – both of them have good engines and they are quick learners. On the interesting side, both of them are from prairies of Alberta and both of them came into skimo from different sports – one from running, the other from mountain biking.
Warning: In case some answers seem a bit weird then know that both of these guys have good sense of humour 😉

Travis and Peter on the summit of Mt Joffre in Alberta during their 11 hour mission. Details coming below.
Travis and Peter on the summit of Mt Joffre in Alberta during their 11 hour mission. Details coming below.

Enter Travis and Peter

Q: What is your athletic background? What are (or were) your main sports?

Travis on the track.
Travis on the track.
Travis: I ran track and cross-country for 5 years at the University of Calgary (1500m, 3000m and 10km XC). Then in need of something new, I picked up trail ultra-running when I graduated last spring.
Peter: I’ve been mountain bike racing more seriously since I was 16. I do some cyclocross races in the fall as well. I used to race on the road, but I got tired of playing silly mind games for 4 hours on a Sunday, so I got out of that before I got taken out in a big crash.
Q: What are your biggest (racing) accomplishments in those sports?
Travis: Won the Stampede Road Race 5km in 2012, Calgary; Mother’s Day race 5km; 3rd place CIS Academic All Canadian 2012; and most importantly I am a 3 time BSD Beer Mile champion (I have yet to attempt the Beer Skin, but I think my skills should transfer over well).
Peter: I’ve squeaked onto the provincial team a couple of times and I’ve battled for a couple of top 5’s in Alberta Cup races. The local mid-week mountain bike world championships win has thus far eluded me.
[Stano’s note: Beer Skin was a race I organized a week ago – involved drinking 4 beers over a 500m skin climb.]
Peter ripping the single track.
Peter ripping the single track.
Q: When did you start skiing and ski touring?
Travis: I started cross country skiing with my family when I was 2, and didn’t downhill ski until about 6 years ago. I dabbled in touring (read: slogging in alpine boots and Marker Dukes) during my first few years of University, but hadn’t done a ton until the last couple of years.
Peter: I think I was on skis when I was 4 and I started ski touring when I was 18.
Q: When did you discover skimo racing?
Peter during his first skimo race back in 2010.
Peter during his first skimo race back in 2010.
Travis: I first heard about skimo because some of the top trail runners use it as winter training (Killian Jornet, Luke Nelson, Max King etc.).  Being an injury prone runner always looking for low impact ways to boost my fitness I decided it was a perfect thing for me to try in the winter. My first race was the 2014 Castle Mountain Skimo Race and involved a lot of crashing and botched transitions.
Peter: My first race was the 2010 Dogtooth Dash. I was meaning to race the Sunshine 5000 in 2009 and 2010, but I had to do homework those weekends.
Q: Looks like both of you got hooked on skimo racing quite easily. What are the main reasons?
Travis: I love spending time in the mountains and skimo lets me get into all the areas I frequent in the summertime in a completely different way. When you can go touring and have fun with your friends for the day and call it training you know you’ve hit gold. I also love the mix between aerobic fitness, technical skills (transitions etc.), and finesse (downhill skiing).
Peter: Skiing up and down mountains as fast as possible and having races to keep me motivated is a much better way to stay fit through the winter than riding an indoor trainer, or struggling biking through the snow. I enjoy racing and I’ve met some interesting people, so I’m definitely hooked on the scene! That and “National Team member” will sound really good when I’m trying to launch my motivational speaking career.
Q: Which aspects of skimo racing were the most challenging to you? How did (or still do) you tackle them?
Travis: The technical side of the sport such as skinning technique, kick-turns, downhill skiing and transitions are still my weaknesses. Training at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary definitely helped my transitions because it’s only a 125m lap, so you end up doing lots. But the other stuff you can’t work on there, so I try and get out to the mountains as much as possible on weekends. I’ve also spent lots of time watching videos on sites like SkinTrack picking apart transitions .
Peter: I am certainly not fearless on the descents in either mountain biking or skimo and speed there will come with more skiing and leg strength. I sometimes have a bit of trouble skinning fast and opening up my stride on flatter sections, so I think I have to spend some more time on the classic XC skis.
Peter chasing Travis at the 2014 Canadian Skimo Cup final race.
Peter chasing Travis at the 2014 Canadian Skimo Cup final race.
Q: How do you think skimo training and racing is beneficial for your other sports?
Travis: Because skimo very closely mimics the bio-mechanics of running without the impact, I’ve noticed a big boost in my running strength and endurance so far this spring because I can maintain high volume of training all winter. I also find the change in sport helps to keep my motivation levels high, and by the end of ski season I am ready and excited to jump back into running.
Peter: The race length is about the same. On steeper climbs the motions are fairly similar. I’m getting some racing in while others are riding indoor bikes! The beating the legs take on the descents must be good for the bones!
Q: How do you train during the months without snow? Only running and biking or other activities as well?
Travis: In the summer, I stick to mostly trail running, with some time on the road bike and in the gym. I also spend some time out with friends climbing, hiking etc.
Peter: Only biking for me. Or sometimes I’ll hike up a mountain and ride my bike down and call it “training”. Not much running for me, I think the furthest that I have run is 8km! I keep telling myself to do more running to work on my stride but never get around to it.
travis-brown-running
Q: What do other athletes from your previous sports say about you racing skimo? Were they even aware of it before you exposed them to it?
Travis: I spend a lot of time explaining what skimo is, or they say “ohhh that’s that thing Killian does in the winter isn’t it?”. A lot of them think I’m a little crazy, but I try my best to convince them to give it a try.
Peter: I think everyone that I’ve talked to is intrigued by the sport, but I don’t think that they had heard about it before. Some have seen the videos. Maybe they’ll give it a more serious look if I could throw down an impressive early season result.
Q: Where do you guys live, work and train these days?
Travis doing what skimo racers can call training - ski touring.
Travis doing what skimo racers can call training – ski touring.
Travis: I’m currently living in Calgary, working as a personal trainer and during the week I trained at Canada Olympic Park (125 vertical meters of groomed ice) and got out to the mountains to ski in Banff and Kananaskis almost every weekend.
Peter: Edmonton. I do my skiing based out of Canmore on the weekends when I decide to make the drive.
Q: Ideally, where would you want to live, work and train in the future?
Travis: I would love to live out in the mountains, but will be going back to school soon, so that probably won’t happen. Calgary isn’t too bad because it’s about an hour and a half to get to the closest good skiing.
Peter: Anyone know of a ski town with mechanical engineering jobs?
Q: Do you have a coach? If not, where do you look for guidance and information?
Travis: I’m self-coached. I have a pretty good grasp on training concepts from training for track, getting a Kinesiology Degree and being a Certified Personal Trainer. I’ve also done a bit of reading on what others are doing for their skimo training (aka blog creeping) but for the most part I just adapt my typical running workouts to the skis.
Peter: Mountain bike racer Matt Hadley has been coaching me since the fall.
Q: From your point of view, is there anything specific skimo in Canada lacks to attract more new people? And is there anything specific that skimo in Canada has better over other sports?
Travis:
I think the biggest area for improvement is access to information about races, and race registration. Coming from running, where the racing scene is well established and race details and registration are available months in advance finding info on skimo was quite difficult. I’m used to planning my race season 6-8 months before, being able to easily look up previous results etc. and had to work very hard to find out information about skimo when I was first starting.
The best thing about this skimo community is how friendly and genuinely nice everyone is. I felt very welcome, even at my first race when I knew nobody, and have met a ton of great people from all over North America at every race since (Even the legendary Stano!). These friendships have led to some epic ski days, with more to come.
Peter:
Judging by what is popular these days, I think skimo is missing mud, barbed wire, electric cables, chasing zombies, coloured flour, standardized distances, mass marketing email lists, and $200 races. On a more serious note, a “grand” course or stage race and mid-week races might attract more people.
What does skimo have over other sports? In Skimo, you can race along alpine ridge lines, bomb down descents and it’s all over in couple of hours, so you still have time to do a couple of laps off the lift after. And not many sports in Canada have Stano!
Stano:
Thank you boys very much, but don’t get too friendly as I might have one more good season in me 🙂
Q: What would you advise to young trail runners and mountain bikers if they want to try skimo so they have a good experience right the first time?
Travis:

  • You don’t need the lightest gear to have lots of fun, but it definitely helps if you want to be competitive.
  • Practice with your gear to get it dialed in before you get to the start line. You can save a lot of time with efficient transitions.
  • Don’t forget to practice skiing downhill on your race skis too! I’ve always considered myself to be a good downhill skier, but felt like a 4 year old getting off the magic carpet my first time using race skis off-piste.

Peter:

  • Try a race. It doesn’t matter what you have for gear; if you are fast, you will pass people on lighter gear.
  • Find a good group to go skiing (“training”) with.
  • Understand that there are technical elements that make skimo unique: transitions, descents, steep skinning, kick-turns. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t have these dialed right away, they will come with practice.
Peter manged to get a good form at the end of the 2013 season and became Canadian National Champion.
Peter manged to get a good form at the end of the 2013 season and became Canadian National Champion.
Q: You guys recently did a one day assault on Mt. Joffre in Kananaskis country, Alberta. You did in less than 11 hours, tell me about the adventure.
Peter:
Mt. Joffre (3450m) is located in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park in Kananaskis country. It is the highest mountain in K-country and one of the 11,000 footers of the Canadian Rockies. It is usually done over 3 days and the guidebook claims a round trip distance of 28km, but our GPS’s were reading closer to 40km and 2150m of vertical when we got back to the car just under 11 hours after starting.
I have been fascinated with this mountain ever since I read a trip report from a day trip 2 years ago. I made an attempt but bailed just 250m from the summit as we didn’t have the cojones to continue up the face. And I realized that having a good and fast partner would be crucial for a fast and successful attempt.
It seemed that Travis was keen on going for a long tour but it had snowed the day before so the Wapta traverse probably wouldn’t be very fast and there was the potential of getting shut down by clouds on the Balfour Col. He suggested going for Joffre, so we headed out from Canmore in the other direction!
Q: Compared to trail running gear, skimo gear is expensive, but compared to mountain biking or cycling it is fairly cheap. Can you provide brief summaries for both sports of what you need to enter with a total price at the end?
The below prices are for new gear.
Travis – trail running gear:

  • Trail Running Shoes $130-180
  • Hydration system: $30 (Handheld) $90-180 (pack)
  • Some longer and more remote races have required gear (Toque $20, lightweight windbreaker $70, gloves $20, survival blanket $10, headlamp $40-180)
  • Other than that, you can wear any regular running clothing you already have (shorts T-shirt) or spend up to $150 on each of those for fancier compression gear
  • Total: $400-450
  • Basic: $160
  • Top of the line everything: around $1000

Peter – mountain biking:

  • Bike: Hardtail – $2000+, Full suspension – $3000+. Add another $1000 each for Carbon frame/wheels.
  • Kit (shorts/jersey/socks): Usually ~$200, but you might want to have a couple of sets, unless you really like doing laundry!
  • Jacket: if you want to stay warm while training or racing when it is cold or wet: $100-200.
  • Shoes: $200. Some people have separate shoes for their road bike so double that.
  • Helmet: $100, does the trick.
  • Sunglasses: $75
  • Gloves: $40
  • Tube/pump/multitool: $40
  • Total: $2750+
  • And all of the parts you will break!

Stano – competitive skimo racing gear:

  • Race skis: $650 and up
  • Skimo boots: $750 and up
  • Bindings: $500 and up
  • Skins, 2 pairs: $250 and up
  • Skimo race suit: $300 and up
  • Pair of XC ski poles: depending on quality but as low as $40
  • Avalanche gear (beacon, probe, shovel): $350 and up
  • Helmet: $150, but cycling or climbing helmet is OK too
  • Wind breaker jacket and pants: $150 and up
  • Total: around $3000
  • And you probably own all the other things already (base layers, ski clothing, goggles, sun glasses…)

Q: What skimo gear are you currently racing on? Any plans to change or upgrade? If yes, then to what?
Travis:

I had some older gear for my first race but upgraded pretty quickly when I realized its limitations. I’ve really enjoyed my current setup, but might look into some Alien 1.0’s in the future when I win the lottery.
Peter:
Dynafit DyNa World Cup skis, Low Tech bindings, and Pierre Gignoux XP444 boots. If I was able to ski more, I’d think about getting a second pair of the entry level race boots for training, etc… Oh and 140 cm poles and I am 187 cm tall. You forgot to ask that!
Stano – just for comparison:

Wanna try skimo too?

Are you in a similar position as Travis and Peter were only few years ago? If yes, don’t hesitate to reach out via email or simply leave your question below and we will answer ASAP.

Canadian team summer skimo training camp – Revelstoke, Sep 15-16, 2012

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Since 2009 Canadian National Ski Mountaineering Team have been meeting every September for our summer training camp.
Previous camps were usually hosted in Canmore, AB by Steve Sellers but this year we thought it’s time for a change and organized it in Revelstoke, BC.
The team was pretty much complete with one exception – everyone’s favorite and North America’s fastest, Reiner Thoni, couldn’t make it as his old truck started to come apart a day before his departure.

Camp concept

The idea behind this camp wasn’t about training hard. It was about getting together and have good times.
We are also trying to blend in some younger blood into the team before people find themselves sharing a room at World Championships in February, 2013.
Attending: Melanie Bernier, Martha Burley, Steve Sellers, Stano Faban, Brad Schalles, Peter Knight, Adnrew McNab, Ian Gale, Jeff Colvin, Julie Matteau.

Day 1: hiko-running-scrambling Mt Cheops (2605m)

Summary of day one and all photos are from Brad Schalles (WestCoast Skimo – http://westcoastskimo.blogspot.ca/), one of new additions to the Team. Watch out for Brad this year, he will be the NA dark horse this year.
On Saturday the group split up, with five of us heading up to Rogers Pass for a run and scramble up 1300m to summit Mt Cheops. After meeting up with Steve, who had spent a cold night at the pass, we headed up the trail in the crisp morning air.
The run up to Balu Pass was fast and we all felt light on our feet on the superbly maintained trail. We made it to Balu in an hour and thirty minutes – we all remarked on how much faster it was to run up the valley rather than ski.

Just below the summit rock atop Cheops Mountain, from left: Steve Sellers, Martha Burley, Melanie Bernier, Stano Faban, Brad Schalles.
After a quick snack on top of the biggest rock we could find, we scrambled along the ridge to the top of Mt Cheops. At the summit we pulled a few bouldering moves to ensure that we were on the tippy top of Mt Cheops. We had a snack and took a group photo in our team Rab jackets, and then we set off down the ridge towards our next stop: an ice cold dip in Connaught Creek (which just might be the coldest creek in Canada).
We made a light-speed trip back to Revelstoke (thanks to Slovakian over-drive), and we regrouped at a fine local establishment with Andrew and Peter. They had spent the day at the Martha Creek Melt Down where Peter placed 1st and Andrew 4th. After a great night caching up and talking all things skimo, we headed home to rest up for the next big day of the camp.
Descending from Cheops with the Trans-Canada highway one vertical mile below us.

Day 2: Skimo pentathlon + bike ride

Watching the summer London Olympics left me with lots of inspiration and so on Sunday morning we all met at Revelstoke high school stadium. The leader for this session was Jeff Colvin – one of the fastest Canadian skimo racers few years back – who is a track & field coach at the school.
Under Jeff’s leadership we all completed the following “skimo pentathlon”:

  • 100m sprint
  • shot put
  • star run (agility run)
  • long jump (from stand-still)
  • 800m run

Everyone had loads of fun as none of us knew what to expect from each discipline. On top of that, by the time our heads somewhat grasped one skill it was time to move to something else – testing our adaptiveness in the process.
Women’s pentathlon was won by Melanie Bernier and men’s main prize went to Brad Schalles who blew everyone in the 800m run on top of winning the 100 dash.
» Revealing video coming soon 🙂
Afternoon
After a season planing meeting during the lunch we split into road and mountain biking groups.
In fact, it was only me and Brad riding the road. We had a good 3h ride in the sunset lit valley north of Revelstoke, riding the always twisting road on the shores of 130km long Lake Revelstoke.
The mountain bike group rode the shadowy side of the valley, however, great Revelstoke trails kept them warm too.

Next camp

Team’s next camp is in the works. It will likely be already on skis somewhere high in the beautiful Canadian mountains.

Face shots at ROAM Randonnee Rally – ski mountaineering race at Whitewater (Nelson, BC)

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With Whitewater’s excellent ski resort terrain, backcountry and an original vibe it is only logical that it hosts an event from Canada’s skimo racing calendar. The race is also one of many events that take place over the weekend-long annual Cold Smoke Powder Fest.
And why ROAM? Simply, ROAM (Rivers, Oceans and Mountains) is a great store with the best outdoor equipment in the center of Nelson, BC.  It is one of the main forces behind the whole festival and the skimo race, to which the store lends its name.

The race the strongest man won

After about 30h of snowfall, combined with a newer (longer) course, the race was set to be a “skins’ glue game” and a great endurance challenge. These conditions also meant that the pack of front hounds was kept somewhat together until the second to last descent.

ROAM randonnee rally race course 1
This shows the first loop of the course dominated by a long traverse on a wide ridge leading over the top of White Queen. The descent (marked red) under the big alpine basin brought racers back to the ski area.
From the very start Andrew McNab took it by the horns. Only on few occasions I (Stano Faban) was able to bridge up to him and break the trail. Others were always very close; among them Canada’s fastest girl Melanie Bernier.
First climb was a short 3min sprint up a cat track road. Then a quick treed descent onto cross country trails for about 5min of on-and-off skating. After that a long climb (500m) in the trees took us up on the shoulder. We followed it up and down (about 200m) for another 20+ minutes. Then finally a proper descent with lots of face shots brought us to the heart of the ski area.
Andrew left this bottom transition with 1-2 minute lead with another 5 of us closely together. From here on he marched like a man possessed. I managed to keep his lead in check and shed the others but only by following in his tracks. This climb (about 350m) was split with a tough boot-pack and delivered us on top of a great powder run called Elevator Shaft.
ROAM randonnee rally skimo race course 2
The start/finish are was just below the skins-on transition Andrew left with some lead. Course lead up Mother Load, boot-packed to the ridge, ski down Elevator Shaft and the drainage below. Then back over the long ridge, ski down through the saddle and Mother Load to the finish.
Throughout the whole race, especially on the last climb (about 500m), Andrew did huge amounts of work and even though I caught him before the top I was totally happy to let him ski for glory from this last top transition. And that is not to say that he needs any head start when it comes to skiing 😉
Behind us, over the last hour of racing, positions were exchanged regularly until the very end. Peter Knight bested Melanie Bernier and Nick Elson to the line and rounded the men’s podium while Melanie took the women’s top prize in front of Julie Matteau and Alexandra Dubois.
The race was long (new snow and 1610m of climbing in total) with Andrew winning in 2h 47min and the rest of us trickling in behind him in about 1-2min intervals.

Full results

» Men’s Race course
» Women’s Race course
» Men’s Rec course
» Women’s Rec course

ROAM Randonnee Rally: Nelson's rando skimo race on Feb 25, 2012

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ROAM Randonnee Rally ski mountaineering race (6th annual) is only one of many events and festivities taking place during the annual Kootenay Coldsmoke Powder Fest.
The festival starts on Friday, Feb 24 and goes on until Sunday, Feb 26. It is a great mix of clinics, demos, comps, fun and parting on the slopes of Nelson’s, BC Whitewater ski resort.

Randonnee Rally quick facts

Schedule:

  • Race Meeting: Friday, February 24 – 5:00 PM – ROAM Shop – 639 Baker Street Nelson, BC.
  • Race Sign-on: Saturday, February 25 – 8:00 am Whitewater Ski Resort
  • Race Start Time: Saturday, February 25 – 9:00 am by the bag piper at Whitewater Ski Resort

Two race courses: Open course (about 4500 ft of climbing) and Rec course (about 2000 ft of climbing)
Categories: Men, Women, Vet 50+ can choose to race as Race, Recreational and Splitboard Rec
Entry fee: $35
» More info and registration: online or on site
» First timers might want to check out this article: 6 tips to get you ready for your first skimo race
See why you should check out Whitewater:

Results, video and report for Vert180 skimo race (Dec 3, 2011)

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Fun, great snow and “go-go-go” were the words flying around at start/transition area of the Vert180 skimo race at Canada Olympic Park. As a great surprise  (in Calgary terms) about 15cm of powder fell during the event and temperatures didn’t even drop below  -8 C.
Over 70 racers competed in various categories – solo, 2 or 4 person relay teams. Race course lap was the same for all and tested everyone’s skimo racing skills. Yes, the downhill at COP is not the most exciting but the atmosphere of a lap night race easily makes up for it.

Race results and some interesting facts

The solo categories were won by Peter Knight in men’s and Heather Anderson in women’s. They managed to complete 15 and 13 laps respectively.
523 was the number of total laps climbed in all categories combined.
There were 4 youth and teenage racers spread around various teams – Anna Sellers, Stephanie Toft, Kate Kuba and Martin Carnogursky (3 girls, 1 guy).
Fastest lap recorded was by Reiner Thoni at 7 min 23 sec and happened around 1h into the race. For women, this honor likely went to Melanie Bernier but an official time wasn’t recorded.
Youngest racer was a 12 year-old Anna Sellers from Canmore, Alberta. It is worth to mention that Anna competed in a biathlon race earlier that day! And did a classic cross country race on Sunday!
Photos and a different spin on the report from Golden Skimo.

Were you there? Or weren’t but have questions?

If you participated or volunteered share your experience with others below.
If you missed the event but have questions about it or want to attend other skimo events ask via comments below.