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Tour du Rutor

April 1-12 Skimo Racing News Shorts: Tour du Rutor, Shedhorn SkiMo, Ski Ecrins

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Our skimo racing recap from last two weekends here in North America and Europe!

USA

Shedhorn Race at Big Sky, Montana – April 9:

Over the last weekend, and for second year in a row, the Big Sky Resort in Montana hosted the Shedhorn SkiMo Race which is now arguably the most technical race in North America. Boasting serious steep descents, plenty of boot-packs and close to 3000m of vertical gain spread over 6 climbs it is shaping up to become a beast of an event going into the future.

High consequence boot-pack. Photo by Myke M
High consequence boot-pack. Photo by Myke Hermsmeyer.
In the men’s race, it was Eric Carter and Tom Goth who took it by the horns during the first big climb. Unfortunately, not long after Tom broke his boot and abandoned the race. From there on, Eric, was pretty much unchallenged and was able to enjoy the beautiful course set by the local ski patrol team and COSMIC series team. He won in 3h 52min with Teague Holmes and Ellio Barcikowski completing the podium.
In the women’s race, we are not sure how it exactly went down as we don’t have regular (or even occasional) correspondent, but overall everyone enjoyed the raced as well! Meredith Edwards took the win in 4h 58min and was followed home by Inge Perkins and Michela Adrian.
Here is what Eric Carter had to say after returning home from Big Sky and as he was just literally changing bags to jump on a flight to Europe to do Patrouille des Glaciers later this month:

It was definitely a super fun race over big terrain! The skiing was full on. I even stopped to pull out my ice axe after I dropped into the first descent. It was steep and long ways down should you fall… Now, over to Euroland for PDG. We have a good team and some goals! Will see how it goes, will be in touch!

» Full results for Shedhorn Skimo race

Europe

Tour du Rutor stage race – Long Distance World Cup – April 1-3:

Just like the more famous Pierra Menta in France, Tour du Rutor is a cool multi-day skimo stage teams race. It takes place over three days every second year at the well-known Valle d’Aosta, a region in northwest Italy.

Matteo Eydallin during the second stage. Photo by Stefano Jeantet.
Matteo Eydallin during the second stage. Photo by Stefano Jeantet.
There were no surprises in the women’s race as the very strong French team of Laetitia Roux and Axelle Mollaret confirmed their domination by winning every stage. Overall, second place went to a Swiss team of Jennifer Fiechter and Severinne Pont Combe and third, after a bit of a rough first day, went to Italians Elena Nicolini with Laura Besseghini.
In the men’s race, there were multiple favourites but no team was really standing out as they were a mix of strong upcoming generation matched by experienced partners. In the end, the Italian team of Matteo Eydallin and Michele Boscacci delivered a flawless performance to win overall after winning first two days and finishing third on the last day. Our SkinTrack chips were on the “dark horse” Swiss duo as the well experienced Martin Athamatten teamed up with strong but still very young Remy Bonnet. They finished second but watch out for Bonnet to start winning World Cups by next year! Third place went to a team of great French skiers, a cheese maker William Bon Mardion and ski lifts electrician Xavier Gachet who’s father won the 3rd Pierra Menta.
» Overall and single day results can be found HERE
» Here you can watch couple of videos from the race.

Ski Ecrins stage race – ISMF series – April 9-10:

This is a two day French skimo stage teams race that Eric Carter and Pascal Egli (SWI) managed to win last year.
This year’s Ski Ecrins race saw wins of Gary Ozeray and Steven Blanc in men’s category and Laetitia  Roux and Tania Naville.

2014 SkiMo Racing Videos: Pierra Menta, Tour du Rutor, Wasatch Powder Keg, Grand Traverse, Sella Ronda, World Cup

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2014-skimo-videos
Around this time every year I spend some time on YouTube searching for the best videos and short films from the world’s skimo races. Since the skimo is still somewhat of a niche sport usually the best videos are also from the biggest races but there are also some gems to be found from the smaller events.

Atmosphere of Pierra Menta 2014 (FRA)

This very well done video by Montura, one of Pierra Menta’s sponsors, shows the amazing athmosphere of the race through characters of the race or just random locals.
The 2014 Pierra Menta was the 29th edition of the race and the winners after 4 stages were:

  • Italian men Matteo Eydallin & Damiano Lenzi,
  • Laetitia Roux (FRA) and Maude Mathys (SWI) for women,
  • with Canada’s Melanie Bernier claiming fourth with Valentine Fabre (FRA).
  • Full results are here.

15 minutes:

3 stages of Tour du Rutor 2014 (ITA)

Tour du Rutor is an Italian skimo stage race that is held every second year. Next edition is promised for April 1-3, 2016.
The course goes through beautiful terrain and the event usually starts one week after Pierra Menta. Because of its later place on the skimo calendar, starts are usually on foot due to less snow low down in the valleys.
The winners of the 2014 Tour du Rutor 3 day stage race were:

  • again, the Italian men Matteo Eydallin & Damiano Lenzi,
  • again, Laetitia Roux (FRA) and Maude Mathys (SWI) for women,
  • while Canada’s Melanie Bernier finished fifth but partnered with Marion  Maneglia (FRA).
  • For full results go here.

Stage 1 – 10min:

Stage 2 – 6min:

Stage 3 – 5min:

Wasatch Powder Keg 2014 (USA)

Currently, the biggest skimo race in North America spreads over 3 days – sprint on Friday, individual race on Saturday, and teams on Sunday – was labeled as the North American Championships this year and so most of the fastest racers from US and Canada came to measure up.
For a full report and race results visit our coverage of the 2014 Powder Keg.
Sprint race – 3min:

Individual race – 3min:

Grand Traverse 2014 (USA)

Despite the need for significant course changes, due to high avalanche danger in Colorado in March, the 2014 edition of the Grand Traverse still delivered the challenge everyone was training for.
The 2014 Grand Traverse was won by:

  • a men’s team featuring Brian Smith and Bryan Wickenhauser,
  • and by Stevie Kremer and Jari Kirkland.
  • Full results are here.

Sella Ronda Ski Marathon 2014 (ITA)

This is not a very technical race and thus superbly well attended – 1200 racers this year. It is held during the evening hours and navigates around the beautiful Gruppo di Sella massive in Italian Dolomites. Usually goes down late in March.
Winners for the 2014 edition of this 40+ km race were:

  • Italian’s Pietro Lanfranchi paired with Tadei Pivk for men,
  • and for women it was the most accomplished pair in skimo history, the Italians Roberta Pedrazini with Francesca Martinelli
  • Full results here.

6 minutes:

Ski Mountaineering World Cup Circuit 2014

Starting in 2013, the International Ski Mountaineering Federation really stepped up their game with producing high quality videos and galleries from each of the Wold Cup events.
Here is the video gallery archive page for even more skimo porn 😉

Skimo racing 2012-2013 World Cup and World Championships calendar

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Top level ski mountaineering racing calendar is now out:

  • No team races on the WC calendar, except at the World Champs!
  • The World Cup itself will have 5 rounds – hosted in Italy (2), Switzerland, Andorra, with finals in Norway.
  • The 2013 Ski Mountaineering World Championships will take place between Feb 9-15, 2013 in Pelvoux-Puy, France.
    – likely the same venues as for the Euro Champs in 2012

ISMF World Cup calendar for 2012-2013 season

Jan 12-13, 2013
Vertical + Individual
World Cup Skialp Race Ahrntal (Valle Aurina, Italy)
All categories
www.skialprace-ahrntal.com
Jan 25-26, 2013
Sprint + Individual
World Cup Alpiniski (Les Marécottes-Salvan, Switzerland)
All categories
www.alpiniski.ch
Feb 9-15, 2013
Team + Relays + Sprint + Vertical + Individual
World Championships (Pelvoux-Puy Saint Vincent-Vallouise, France)
All categories
www.ski-ecrins.com
Mar 02-03, 2013
Sprint + Individual
World Cup Skialp3 Presolana (Clusone, Italy)
All categories
www.sciclub13.it
Mar 09-10, 2013
Vertical + Individual
World Cup Font Blanca (Ordino, Andorra)
All categories
www.fontblanca.ad
Apr 13-14, 2013
Sprint + Individual
World Cup Artic Race (Tromso, Norway)
Only senior and espoir
www.arcticrace.no

Other big ski mountaineering races in 2013

Pierra Menta, France – Mar 21-24, 2013 (www.pierramenta.com)
– 4 day stage race [teams of 2] Trofeo Mezzalama, Italy – April 2013 (www.trofeomezzalama.org)
– 1 day high altitude, long distance race [teams of 3] Adamello Ski Raid, Italy – April 2013 (www.adamelloskiraid.com)
– 1 day high altitude, long distance race [teams of 2] Tour du Rutor, Italy – not in 2013! but will be back on Mar 28-30, 2014 (tourdurutor.com)
– 3 day stage race [teams of 2] Patrouille des Glaciers, Switzerland – not in 2013 as it historically rotates with Mezzalama, should be back for 2014 (www.pdg.ch)
– 1 day high altitude, long distance race [teams of 3]

Videos: Tour du Rutor challenging Pierra Menta for the most beautiful skimo stage race

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Stage racing is a well known racing format in road cycling and mountain biking but not much in ski mountaineering world. I believe it is a great format for any endurance sport and especially a sport where we travel fast, over challenging terrain, with tons of views on high-traverse like routes.
Over the past weekend I paid attention to results from Tour du Rutor, a 3 day skimo stage race in Italy, and I want to share with you great videos the organizers put together from each stage this year.
Of course, Pierra Menta (4 days) in France is the biggest skimo stage race but it looks like Tour du Rutor is as beautiful.
I participated in Pierra Menta in 2010 with other Canadian Skimo Team members and learnt about Rutor that same year. Pierra Menta was hands down the best skimo racing experience I ever had but a year from the next edition I am thinking about the Rutor as well 😉

All videos from Tour du Rutor and Pierra Menta, both 2012

This is a true skimo racing porn – 3 stages from TdR and 4 from PM. You need only 38min to watch all 7 videos in one shot.
 Stage 1 – Tour du Rutor 2012

Stage 2 – Tour du Rutor 2012

Stage 3 – Tour du Rutor 2012

Stage 1 – Pierra Menta 2012

Stage 2 – Pierra Menta 2012

Stage 3 – Pierra Menta 2012 (over Grand Mont)

Stage 4 – Pierra Menta 2012