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Skimo News Jan 7/8: Canadian Team Trials, COSMIC Racing, and National Championships in Italy, Switzerland, and Catalonia

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Wolf Creek Men's Podium
Wolf Creek Men’s Podium
With a break from racing over the Christmas holiday, action resumed in all the usual places over the weekend of January 7th and 8th. The current storm hitting much of the West Coast, Utah and parts of Colorado are certainly going to make things look nice for next weekend’s racing!
While not exactly racing news, many of us are aware of the tragic death of Ben Parsons in an avalanche. Please consider donating to the Go Fund Me campaign set up to support his young family: Go Fund Me

USA Race News

Wolf Creek Skimo Race – Jan 7

First we go to the US where the COSMIC series continued at Wolf Creek Ski Area. Paul Hamilton topped the podium with 2015 National Team members Scott Simmons and Billy Laird. The women’s race was not well attended but attracted the highly talented mountain runner Najeeby Quinn who took the win over Madeleine Carey of Santa Fe.
Results

Canada Race News

Castle Mountain/Canadian National Team Trials – Jan 7/8

The fourth annual Castle Mountain Skimo Race – also serving as the Canadian National Team Trials – was held over the weekend in Pincher Creek, Alberta. Castle always attracts a decent crowd with it’s proximity to Calgary and small-town hill feel.
Saturday’s sprint was held adhering as close to the World Cup format as possible with a qualifying round and then quarter, semi, and final rounds contested in heats of four. Essentially serving as a practice event for athletes competing at the upcoming World Championships, it was a good reminder of some of the basics with a few exciting heats! Eric Carter stayed ahead of the men’s field while Kylee Ohler absolutely dominated the women’s. Special mention should go to Tom Stephens, a junior athlete, who managed to snag a spot in the men’s finals!

Castle Mtn. Individual Start
Castle Mtn. Individual Start (Glenda Zamzow Photo)
Despite dire weather predictions, a skiff of new snow and reasonable temperatures with low wind made Sunday’s individual race very reasonable. Racers tackled two big climbs through the ski area with excellent side-country descents. Nick Elson and Eric Carter took turns breaking trail on the first ascent before turing up the speed on the second groomed ascent where Carter broke away for the win with Travis Brown and Peter Knight rounding out third and fourth place. In the women’s race, Kylee Toth Ohler continued to ski well ahead of Michelle Katchur-Roberts and Lori-Anne Donald. A notable new face was Gary Robbins, Coastal ultra-runner and race organizer who placed a very respectable fifth in his first serious stab at skimo racing.
Glenda Zamzow Photos
Results

Snow Trail Vertical – Dec 17/Jan 7

Skimo East Photo
Skimo East Photo
The first two of three Vertical races organized in preparation for the Orford Snow Trail event held on March 18th in Quebec. These races feature a unique format allowing athletes to use whatever mode of human powered travel they prefer to compete to the top including by foot, snowshoe, or ski. The first even was well attended by youth athletes including two 11-year old ladies. The women’s event was won by local MTB legend Isabelle Bernier and the men’s by Mathieu Ladouceur.
The second event featured a well groomed course and despite cold temperatures, was well attended. The men’s category was won by Roger Girard while the women’s race was upset by local skimo champ, Lyne Bessette.
The winners overall of the series of 3 races will win a free registration for the Snow Trail 2017. The organization team of the Snow Trail will have a value of more than 6,000$ in prized to give to the participants during the winter. At the cost of 20$ (including a beer for after the race), there is no good reason not to take part of the preparatory series and enjoy the mountain! For more details, please visit the Endurance Aventure Website.

International Race News

Early January is designated by the ISMF as the period for National Championships to be held so throughout Europe, athletes were racing for their respective countries titles.
In Switzerland, the Individual and Sprint National Championships were held with Werner Marti and Maude Mathys (recently returning from an anti-doping violation and subsequent ban) taking the respective wins in the Individual. Super-espoir Remi Bonnet finished fifth. The Swiss king-sprinter Yannick Eccour only managed fifth in the sprint event with Iwan Arnold and Deborah Chiarello leading the podium.
Over in Italy, Roberto Antonioli and Katy Neve won the Individual National Championships with Alba De Silvestro moving into the senior Women’s ranking and taking a respectable podium position. Michelle Boscocci was the only name notably absent from the men’s race but is sure to be on top form for worlds.
Over in the Pyrenees, power-couple Emelie Forsberg and Kilian Jornet dominated the Catalonian National Champs with Mark Pinch and Claudia Galicia Cortina comfortably taking second position.
The next bout of European racing comes on January 21st and 22nd when the World Cup commences at the wonderful Font Blanca venue in Andorra!

Italian Championships
Italian Championships

Upcoming Races

The skimo season is back in full swing in North America with races throughout the US and Canada on both sides of the divide. Find your closest event and get after it! Likely the biggest turnout will be at the Sunlight Heathen Challenge where US athletes will be competing for spots on the World Championships Team. The Sprint and Team’s race  teams will be determined but also up in the air is the coveted fourth and final spot for both the men’s and women’s individual event.
Cosmic Series – Powderhorn Grand Mesa Grind – Jan 14
Cosmic Series – Sunlight Mountain Heathen Challenge – Jan 14/15
Skimo East Series – Trail de nuit de Stoneham – Jan 14
North East Rando Series – Berkshire East – Jan 21
Canadian Cup – Fernie Lizard Skinner Skimo Race – Jan 21

Want to contribute to SkinTrack?

We are looking for brief race report submissions from Colorado and Utah athletes, and from the East Coast as well.
Also, we would be very happy to provide more exposure to women’s races and so we are asking you ladies to submit your race reports.
Get in touch via email or comments below!

March 1-14 Skimo Racing News Shorts: Powder Keg, Five Peaks, Pierra Menta, Skimo East

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It was a busy two weeks of racing in North America and Europe! Read on to if you have missed anything.
» For previous weekend’s racing news see here.

USA West

Wasatch Powder Keg – March 4-6, 2016

The Wasatch Powder Keg and North American Ski Mountaineering Championships held at Brighton Ski Resort brought together some stiff competition for the racers and big challenges for the race organization.
The Friday night sprint race was a big success with Tom Goth from Salt Lake City and Kylee Toth Ohler of Calgary taking home the North American Sprint Championship titles. The sprint race course was a 107 meter (353 feet) climb with a flat start, several switch backs, a boot-pack, and another short climb followed by an 8 downhill gates descent. The fastest men’s time for any lap was Tom Goth’s 3:18 winning lap. The fastest women’s time was a tie between Kylee’s winning lap and Gemma Arro’s qualification lap in 4:08.

The individual race was held on Saturday in beautiful spring conditions. Tom Goth again took the North American Individual Championship title while Stevie Kremer of Crested Butte drove late into the night to race and win the Women’s title. The winning times were 2h 13min for Tom and 2h 35min for Stevie.
The 2016 Powder Keg individual race was held on a new course that utilized less in-bounds terrain and was enjoyed by all racers. The course conditions were challenging with a hard refreeze on Friday night leading to some very hard and icy climbs early in the day. We were excited to have our largest junior showing to date with 6 male and 3 female athletes ranging in age from 9 to 16.

Why the teams race was cancelled!
Why the teams race was cancelled!
The race organization had been watching the weather closely all week and were anticipating a Sunday morning storm. Contingency course plans were set in motion on Saturday afternoon, however, Sunday morning brought a much stronger storm than expected. The organizers and volunteers headed out on the course and 5 minutes prior to the race start made a difficult decision to cancel the event. Snow was falling at more than an inch per hour, ridge top winds were sustained at over 35 mph and gusting to 75 mph, making snow-pack stability quickly deteriorating. While disappointed, all racers were supportive of the decision and most made the best of it with their own in-bounds team vertical to the top of the Millicent Express Lift.
Results HERE
Thanks to Mike Foote, Chad Brackelsberg and Nick Francis for their contribution!

The Five Peaks – March 12, 2016:

Breckenridge Resort held the annual Five Peaks teams race despite somewhat sparse snow conditions. Marshall Thomson and Rory Kelly went relatively unchallenged on the men’s side while Stevie Kremer and Lindsay Plant stayed almost 10min ahead of Jessie Young and Jari Hiatt.
The Five Peaks RESULTS
The Five Peaks Photos

Jessie Young and Photo: Climbbetty.com
Jessie Young and Jari Hiatt on one of the boot-packs. Photo: Climbbetty.com
Want to see more coverage of women’s racing? We need a female correspondent! Send us an email if you’d like to contribute!

8e9db461-0ecd-40e8-b569-c009c6ba4284Upcoming:

Next up on the COSMIC schedule is Cody’s Challenge in Steamboat Springs, CO.
Also make sure to save the date on April 9th for the Big Sky Shedhorn Skimo race. This promises to be an exciting one, with crampons, ice axe and whippet on the mandatory gear list (!?). Check out their Facebook Page for more info and updates as well as registration.

USA East

Jay Peak – March 5, 2016:

Photo: Stephenie Cote
Photo: Stephenie Cote
The longest-running skimo venue in New England since 2005, the Jay Peak race was totally revamped two seasons ago by Quebec Dynafit rep Jeff Rivest, now co-director of Skimo East. Although entirely in-bounds, racers were appropriately challenged by difficult boot-packs and steep descents, sometimes even in tight glades. And unlike the rest of New England during this “historic” “winter” season, Jay Peak actually had lots of snow! Long-time Quebec champion and former professional cyclist, George Visser took the win, followed by Northern NH trail runner Andrew Drummond in his skimo season debut, and Boston-area Brian MacIlvain in his first major podium. Skimo East co-director and former Canadian Olympic cyclist Lyne Bessette was the top woman and also finished fifth overall, only several seconds off the podium.

Owl’s Head – March 6, 2016:

Although various Presidential candidates might object that Owl’s Head is on the other side of any pending border wall, this Quebec stop in the Skimo East series the following day was combined with Jay Peak for the weekend standings. George Visser and Andrew Drummond once again took the top two spots, but Northern NH famed mountain man Tristan Williams made the podium in only his third skimo race. Lyne Bessette dominated the female field as always, placed fifth overall in only a little over a minute off the podium, and took third overall for the combined weekend results. In the combined weekend’s highly unofficial Nations Cup, the United States avenged its split decision against Canada over a month earlier at Burke by winning on all four conceivable measures.
Photos by David Moore

Magic Mountain – March 12, 2016:

Although the nation moved the clocks ahead a mere hour on the weekend, New England seemed to skip a month ahead with the final weekend of operations for many ski resorts. Fortunately, Magic in Southern VT had just enough remaining snow for long efficient skin tracks and some decent skiing. As for the boot-pack, who needs snow for that, right? Jerimy Arnold took the win followed by Josh Flanagan, with QT2 Systems triathlon coach John Spinney on his first podium in his skimo season debut.
Skimo East Results HERE

Photo: Stephenie Cote
Photo: Stephenie Cote

Upcoming:

Pending ski resort closures and dwindling terrain options have led to a game of musical chairs for the remaining races. The disappearance of the Northern VT backcountry snowpack has cancelled the Bolton Valley 24-hour race and the Sugarbush traditional race, so the Southern VT Bromley race has been moved ahead to March 19 to take advantage of the resulting opportunity in the schedule and the remaining snow. The Northern VT Stowe evening crit-style race on still on for March 26, as is the Central VT Pico race for March 27 even though the resort will have been closed for two weeks by then.
Thanks to our Skimo East SkinTrack.com correspondent Jonathan Shefftz for the write-up!

Canada

No racing took place in Western Canada since our last update (good for the Coastal guys who have been enjoying lots of powder lately) but we are looking forward to Canadian National Championships – the Ken Jones Classic in Lake Louise, AB. This is shaping up to be potentially one of the most competitive skimo races in Western Canada in recent history. A strong contingent of skiers from the Coast will be looking to challenge the Rockies locals but registrations are coming in from the US as well.
Nick Elson will be trying to take his second and consecutive National Championship title but will have a couple of serious challengers. There are the usual suspects like Peter Knight, Travis Brown, Stano Faban… but Rob Krar, an ultra-running champion, will be looking to see where he stacks up among the Canadians if he plans to make a National Team bid for next season. On the women’s side, Kylee Toth Ohler is skiing very strong at the moment but with Melanie Bernier back on this side of the Atlantic, the two will most likely fight it out.
If you are looking for a reason to visit the gem of Rockies, book a ticket to Calgary, come race at Lake Louise and then shred pow in Rogers Pass the rest of the week!
Registration is LIVE

Europe

Photo: Pierra Menta Facebook Page
The classic ridge climb to the summit of the Grand Mont. Photo: Pierra Menta Facebook Page

Pierra Menta – March 9-12, 2016:

It’s the mythical Pierra Menta – four days of racing in beautiful Areches-Beaufort, France. We would have written separate articles for each stage if we had a correspondent in attendance (like last year) but here’s a quick summary:
Killian Jornet and Matheo Jacquemond dominated by winning three of the four stage and by 10 min lead over 10 hours of racing. The Italian favourites (last year’s champions) dropped out with an ear infection while the other Italian team – Michelle Boscacci and Robert Antonioli – skied to a strong 3rd place overall finish. They were bested to second place by the French team and hometown favourite cheese maker William Bon Mardion and Xavier Gachet.
For the women, the ‘Queen’ of skimo Laetitia Roux paired with her young French phenom teammate Axelle Mollaret and really dominated the race, winning the overall by 50 min over 13 hours of racing!  This must have been a bit of a pill to swallow for Roux’s long time Pierra Menta teammate Mireia Miro who was competing with her Spanish teammate Claudia Galicia and finishing in second. The Italian team of Katia Tomatis and Martina Valmassoi rounded out the podium.

Pierra Menta 2016 Champions. I just don't understand how that is not the skin suit of the Canadian National Team - flannel and jeans!?
Pierra Menta 2016 Champions. We don’t understand how that is not the official skin suit of the Canadian National Team, flannel and jeans, eh? 🙂
While the Canadians didn’t field any teams this year, USA sent the Colorado dream team of John Gaston and Max Taam as well as Scott Simmons and Paul Hamilton (making his debut on the European skimo circuit). Gaston and Taam raced well the entire week, maintaining a steady position, and finished in 15th, tying the previous best men’s North American finish. Simmons and Hamilton went very well the first three days but botched the last day. Yet they still finished with a very respectable 41st place.
Videos and Results HERE

Upcoming:

The ISMF calendar continues with a vertical, individual, and sprint event in Mondole, Italy at the Prato Nevoso ski area. Hurting badly for snow earlier in the year, Prato Nevoso is looking good to go. Don’t expect Kilian Jornet to slow down and Laetitia Roux will likely continue to dominate with the loss of several top women to injury.
The next Grande Course race to come is the bi-annual Tour du Rutor in Italy at the beginning of April.
ISMF Racing News
Check out our big 2015/16 skimo calendar for upcoming events this week and into the future. Still lots of racing left this season!
 

Jan 10-11 News Shorts: Skimo racing weekend all over the World

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This past weekend was the first big racing weekend of the season with events happening all over North America and several National Championships in Europe.

The field takes off at Outdoor Retailer skimo event. Myke Hermsmeyer photo.
The field takes off at Outdoor Retailer skimo event. Myke Hermsmeyer photo.

USA

On Thursday, part of the huge Outdoor Retailer event in Salt Lake City (stay tuned for new gear news tomorrow), there was a skimo demo event held at Solitude Resort, Utah. Racers completed four laps for a total ascent of just over 700m. Tom Goth pulled away early and held on for the win. Marshall Thompson and Pete Swenson rounded out the podium. The women’s event looks to have been won by Janelle Smiley with Jax Koudele on the podium (though we are waiting for result confirmation!).
Western US racers will reconvene next at Sunlight Resort for the Heathen Challenge.

Canada

Canadian Team women ready for sprint finals!
Canadian Team women ready for sprint finals!
In Canada, the Western contingent met at Castle Mountain Resort in Alberta for a double header. Saturday was the first ever sprint event held in Canada. Despite a relatively small turnout, the event was fast paced and featured a fun course. Racers had three rounds of sprinting and the Men’s event was won by Eric Carter (SkinTrack.com) with Travis Brown and Matt Reid rounding out the podium. With just three women racing, the ladies had a great chance to practice sprinting against each other. In the finals, Mel Bernier won handily with Kylee Ohler putting on a good fight to keep Bernier honest, with Michell Roberts completing the podium.
Sunday’s individual event featured two big climbs covering 1500m of vertical ascent. The race began with a very technical skin track to the very top of the resort where it followed a ridge that became more and more exposed to blasting winds as the race continued. The first descent of an in-bounds 700m chute was in good shape and made for a fast descent. The second climb began on groomed runs before turning out of the resort boundary and up a steep cat skiing road that made skinning very difficult. However, we were rewarded with an excellent descent down untouched cat ski terrain in nice powder to the finish line.
Men's Semi-Finals at Castle Mountain sprint race. Marc Gallup photo.
Men’s Semi-Finals at Castle Mountain sprint race. Marc Gallup photo.
Peter Knight took off hard from the gun but was quickly stripped of the lead by Nick Elson, clearly on a mission for redemption after falling in a semi-final heat and missing the chance for a top spot in the sprint. Elson took off up the technical skinning section and showed his skinning abilities, holding his lead over Eric Carter and Knight for the remainder of the race. The women mixed in with the men and spread out a bit, but kept the same finish order as the previous day – Bernier, Ohler, Roberts.
» 2016 Castle Mountain complete race results (PDF)
Western Canadian racers will be heading next weekend south of the border to race the Whitefish Whiteout before returning to the southern Canadian Rockies for the new Lizard Skinner event in Fernie, BC.
Meanwhile, at Mont Tremblant, the quickly growing Skimo East series contingent met for their first race of the season. Athletes had two hours to complete as many laps as possible of the course. Each loop featured 500m vertical gain and two booters with the leaders completing three. George Visser was challenged by newcomer Joel Desgreniers with Patrick Lussier rounding out the podium. Lyne Bessette the only female to complete three laps with Carmen Labbe and Isabelle Marcotte finishing 2nd and 3rd with two laps each. The next Skimo East event will be at Berkshire East on Jan 23.

Europe

While much of Europe has been in a drought for snow, several countries held their national championship events. The usual suspects took the majority of the top places though a surprise did come with Emelie Forsberg beating Latetia Roux in the French Champs at Maribel.
National Champions:

  • Switzerland: Martin Anthamatten & Jennifer Flichter
  • Austria: Christian Hoffman & ?
  • France: William Bon Mardion & Laetitia Roux
  • Italy: Michelle Boscacci & Roberta Pedranzini

Racers are now making their way towards Andorra for the first World Cup of the season: