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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!
 

News Shorts: Powder Keg, US Nationals, Pierra Menta

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The last two weekends were full of skimo racing action on both sides of the Atlantic. While many of the best US racers fought during 3-day long back-to-back racing weekends a couple of their colleagues and Canadians took Pierra Menta by the horns.

Wasatch Powder Keg at Brighton, UT (Mar 6-8, 2015)

Personally, I was planning to make the trip to the Wasatch country and then head over to Colorado for the US Nationals but the snow conditions and weather played enough with me that I decided to cancel the trip and shuffle work schedule back into normal. Turns out I missed some good skiing at the end but heck, who knew?
As usual, the organizers, Chad Brackelsberg with his wife Emily, prepared three courses to challenge everyone over the three days.
Sprint on Friday:

  1. John Gaston (men) / Michela Adrian (women)
  2. Max Taam / Sarah Cookler
  3. Michael Barlow / Lauren Kuennen

Individual race on Saturday:

  1. John Gaston (men) / Stevie Kremer (women)
  2. Max Taam / Jari Kirkland
  3. Jon Brown / Lauren Kuennen

Teams race on Sunday:

  1. John Gaston & Max Taam / Stevie Kremer & Jari Kirkland
  2. Rory Kelly & Michael Barlow / Michela Adrian & Lauren Kuennen
  3. Jon Brown & William Laird / NA

» All results from Powder Keg 2015

US Skimo Nationals at Crested Butte, CO (Mar 13-15, 2015)

The three day racing weekend in Colorado had a similar format as the Powder Keg, except on Friday night it was time to race the vertical instead of a sprint.

Vertical results
Vertical results
Vertical on Friday:

  1. John Gaston (men) / Stevie Kremer (women)
  2. Rory Kelly / Lindsay Plant
  3. Joe Howdyshell / Megan Kimmel
Individual results
Individual results
Individual on Saturday:

  1. Max Taam / Jessie Young
  2. John Gaston / Stevie Kremer
  3. Jon Brown / Lindsay Plant
Teams race results
Teams race results
Teams race on Sunday:

  1. John Gaston & Max Taam / Lindsay Plant & Jessie Young
  2. Rory Kelly & Michael Barlow / Sarah Cookler & Ann Gonzales
  3. Brian Smith & Stig Somme / NA

Pierra Menta at Areches, France (Mar 11-14, 2015)

The 30th edition of Pierra Menta, the famous four-day stage skimo race, attracted a couple of the top North Americans this year.

Nick Elson with Eric Carter today at Pierra Menta. Photo by Andrea Kuba.
Nick Elson with Eric Carter today at Pierra Menta. Photo by Andrea Kuba.
For the men’s race, my co-author on the Manual For Ski Mountaineering Racing e-book, Eric Carter (USA), partnered with our mutual friend Nick Elson (CAN), and the boys did superbly well! They finished 15th overall, thus, repeating the North American maximum in this race after Reiner Thoni & Andrew McNab (both CAN) finished at the same place in 2013.
A bit further down the results but with the same dedication and enthusiasm the USSMA had its president, Nick Francis, race to 135th place with Eric Bunce.
In the women’s race, Melanie Bernier (CAN), lined up for her 4th Pierra Menta with Malene Blikken (NOR) and the girls raced to a very nice 6th place overall! Historically, North American maximum, and Bernier’s as well, is 4th place overall for women.
» Full 2015 Pierra Menta results
For photos and to read our daily Pierra Menta coverage see these posts:

East Coast events

There were couple of races taking place on the other side of the continent but I have no reports or results from there.
If anyone from the East is reading, you can get in touch with me here.

Upcoming events

Mar 21 – Ken Jones Classic (Lake Louise, AB)
Mar 21 – Bromley Mountain Rando Race, VT
Mar 27-28 – Grand Traverse, CO
Mar 28 – Bear Valley Adventure Race Series, CA
April 4 – Cody’s Challenge, CO
May 2 – Ram’s Head Randonee, OR

Andrew McLean interview: North America’s Skimo Pioneers Series

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andrew-mclean-skimo-pioneer-3
This interview kicks off a series of quick 5-question interviews with people that can be definitely considered North America’s skimo pioneers.
Without revealing the actual names, we are going to talk to some really interesting “skimo old timers” over the next few weeks.
» Interview series archive – North America’s Skimo Pioneers Series.
Series supporters:
This interview series is presented by Skimo.co and Cripple Creek Backcountry.
supporters

5 Questions for Andrew McLean

I am thrilled to start this series with Andrew for couple of reasons:

  • He is a person I tried to follow in my first ever skimo race on the North American continent (around 2002/03, I don’t exactly remember).
  • He was the very first person I interviewed for SkinTrack back in 2009.
  • And obviously, he is a North American ski mountaineering icon!

Q1: What is your sporting/racing and outdoor activities background?
I started skiing when I was about four years old and then rock climbing in my 20’s.  When I started working for Black Diamond Equipment in 1990, I became interested in backcountry skiing as it was a perfect hybrid of two sports that I already loved.
Q2: When and why did you decide to give skimo racing a serious shot? What did you think of the sport at that time?
I first knew about skimo racing from a trip to France where I saw a result sheet from a previous race and couldn’t believe how fast people were covering such amounts of vertical!  I started to look into the sport and thought it would be fun to bring it to the US.  John Scott at Life-Link had held a race at Jackson Hole the previous year, and the next season Black Diamond got on board to host The Powder Keg.
[The above paragraph refers to a period around 2000-2003.]
andrew-mclean-skimo-pioneer-2
Q3: Can you list a couple of your biggest accomplishments in skimo, in other sports and/or in the mountains?
I finished second place overall in the Dynafit/Life-Link series, which was fun, but I think some of my favorite skimo moments were putting on the first World Cup races in the US.  It was a two year process, and aside from becoming an International Judge, I had to complete quite a few other criteria, including holding a demonstration race.
The first World Cup was fantastic as some of the Swiss and Catalonian teams showed up and impressed everyone with what was possible in skimo racing.  The second year of the World Cup had even more people and we were able to do it on a fun, challenging course in great conditions.
[For more details on North American skimo history see our Manual for Ski Mountaineering e-book.]
Q4: What sports and activities do you enjoy the most these days?
Ski touring, especially to new and exciting places.  I also do some mountain biking, rock climbing and mountain unicycling.

Andrew and his partner used kites to reach ski lines on Baffin Island.
Andrew and his partner were (one of) the first to use kites to reach ski lines on Baffin Island.
Q5: With years of experience from multiple sports, what would be the two most important pieces of advice you would give to new comers into skimo?
Enjoy the overall event and the people.  Regardless of how well you do in the race, you will learn a lot about becoming more efficient in the mountains, which means more vertical, more powder and more smiles.

Beyond

» You can follow Andrew’s adventures and activities at http://straightchuter.com/.
Keep checking back and follow SkinTrack on Facebook, Twitter, or subscribe on YouTube.

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 😉

2014 Wasatch Powder Keg aka North American SkiMo Champs: 3 Days of Fast Racing over Challenging Courses

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powder-keg-2014-banner-600
Hosted at Brighton Ski Resort, UT the Wasatch Powder Keg has long been on To-Do lists of many people and it seemed like all of us 1st timers showed up for the 2014 edition. Record participation once again proved that skimo in North America is growing rapidly and that the Powder Keg is the most popular race on the continent.
Participation numbers – combined for men and women in all categories:

  • Sprint race: 54 people
  • Individual race: 162
  • Teams race: 33 teams of 2

Sprint race – Friday, March 7th

This fairly new discipline for skimo racing  – last 3 seasons on the World Cup scene – has become the one most likely to make it into the Olympics (the decision should come in July).
powder-keg-sprint-race-2At Powder Keg, the sprint attracted a notable number of races and at 4pm Chad Brackelsberg (PK’s organizer) sent off the first athlete on the 4-5min course of a qualification round, with athletes being sent off in 30 second intervals. After that, 12 fastest men were seeded into two semi-final “full contact” heats, and 6 women created the finals heat.
The course consisted of about 30m of flat skinning, leading into a diamond shaped skin tracks where racers could pick their path as pleased for about 40 vertical meters (150 feet). Then it was time to quickly transition into boot-pack mode and run up another 30m before clipping back into the skis for a 20m flat section. After a skins-off transition, couple of skating strides brought us to 6 turn slalom gates downhill, and finishing the whole thing with a 15m false flat skating section.
Men’s finals – drama for 3rd:
powder-keg-sprint-race-1Wasatch’s own Jason Dorais showed no mercy and flew up the boot-pack like a rocket which netted him the sprint gold. While skinning towards the booter transition Jason was still closely followed by Reiner Thoni who eventually comfortably secured 2nd but was no match for the local skimo icon. However, the most drama was created by Andy Dorais and Andrew McNab racing for 3rd. Once on the downhill portion, Andy seemed to have the bronze in the bag until he lost some speed 3 turns from the skate finish, and Andrew miraculously managed to pass him on the outside 2 turns later and then “padded” the gap with strong skating.

  1. Jason Dorais (USA)
  2. Reiner Thoni (CAN)
  3. Andrew McNab (CAN)

Women’s finals – drama for 1st:
The women’s sprint final was even more exciting to watch and just like in the men’s final everything seemed to be decided way before. From the gun, Melanie Bernier took to the lead with the other five ladies right on her tails. Right before the boot-pack Gemma Ribot made her move to match Melanie into the transition, and just like Jason Dorais she took off with a frenetic uphill run. Gemma emerged on the downhill with a very solid lead but like Andy Dorais lost momentum in one of the gates and allowed Melanie to quickly close the gap. At the end, Gemma manged to take the gold by only about half a ski length. Due to similar circumstances, drama for bronze was in the making as well but Sari Anderson seemed to regain control to fend off rapidly approaching Jari Kirkland.

  1. Gemma Ribot (SPA, but living in Utah)
  2. Melanie Bernier (CAN)
  3. Sari Anderson (USA)

» Full sprint results – sprint results (PDF)
First and fourth photo by Rick Carter, other two from ISMF:

Individual race – Saturday, March 8th

Even only a brief look at the start list of the individual race of the 2014 Powder Keg revealed that this would arguably be the most contested skimo race of all times in North America. And the question was: “Can Reiner Thoni prevail once again, or would it be John Gaston confirming his talent, or Jason Dorais using his local knowledge to snatch the NA crown this time around?”
In women’s race, the field was stacked as ever as well. You know a battle is coming when a reigning UTMB champ, Stevie Kremer, lines up against Melanie Bernier who just recently won a bronze medal in World Cup race, and then you still have another very fast women itching to go – Gemma Ribot, Janelle Smiley, Sari Anderson…
Men’s race – Top 5 within 2 minutes!
powder-keg-individual-race-2Right off the gun a very fast pace was set by the usual suspects and pretty much each climb and descent failed to create any significant gaps between top 5-7 racers. With that, it all more-or-less came to the last climb and descent combo on which John Gaston opened a 17sec gap on Jason Dorais, with Marshall Thompson only 38sec further back. Reiner Thoni wasn’t able to follow the strong pace at later stages and came in 7th.

  1. John Gaston (USA)
  2. Jason Dorais (USA)
  3. Marshall Thompson (USA)
  4. Tom Goth (USA)
  5. Scott Simmons (USA)

Eric managed to place a very solid 12th which was only a sign of things to come the next day.
 Women’s race – Top 2 separated by 28sec only!
powder-keg-individual-race-1After over two hours of racing it was a very well pacing Janelle Smiley to take the win just in front of a local skimo queen Gemma Ribot. Stevie Kremer came in about 5min back but comfortably ahead of Sari Anderson. The fifth was taken by a very strong yet fairly knew to skimo Kate Zander, who should be a force to watch out for in the future.

  1. Janelle Smiley (USA)
  2. Gemma Ribot (USA)
  3. Stevie Kremer (USA)
  4. Sari Anderson (USA)
  5. Kate Zander (USA)

» Full individual results:

# 1, 4, 5, 6 photos by Rick Carter, rest from ISMF.

Teams race – Sunday, March 9th

To put the nail in our energy coffins but happiness on our faces, the Powder Keg crew came up with one hell of a long technical course that would have satisfied any skimo geek. With way over 8000 feet of climbing it featured an ascender/via ferrata boot-pack, ridge travel, really good skiing, and some gnarly icy skinning since the sun failed to do its job.
Men’s race – All came down to last 1200 feet:
powder-keg-teams-race-4For the first 1,5h of racing no significant gaps were established by the top 5 teams as everyone was mostly dealing with the technicalities of the course and saving energy for later stages. On 3rd or 4th descend John Gaston broke his boot but managed to kept his cool despite his big weapon – super fast skiing – was neutralized. And so, two strong teams started the last ascent (6th) that featured around 500m of climbing together – John Gaston with Max Taam, and local’s Jason Dorais with Tom Goth. At the end, Max and John slowly opened and kept steadily increasing their gap on the SLC boys all the way to the top transition. John’s boot somehow held on the last sketchy downhill and they managed to win by just only one minute. Third place went to Teague Holmes and Marshall Thomson who managed to escape from SkinTrack’s Eric Carter and his partner Nick Elson on the last ascent as well. Eric and Nick really produced a performance of their skimo lives but at the end just had bow down to their more experienced rivals.

  1. John Gaston + Max Taam (USA)
  2. Jason Dorais + Tom Goth (USA)
  3. Teague Holmes + Marshall Thompson (USA)
  4. Eric Carter + Nick Elson (USA + CAN)
  5. Cary Smith + Pete Swenson (USA)

Women’s race – 4 minutes after 4 hours:
powder-keg-teams-race-1The women’s race started to shape up right from the beginning as Janelle Smiley and Lyndsay Plant were pulling away on the first two climbs and into the via ferrata. However, the battle was won until the second half of the race and at the end they prevailed by 4 minutes over strongly climbing Stevie Kremer and Jessie Young. Third went to the newly discovered Kate Zander and a skimo veteran Jari Kirkland.

  1. Janelle Smiley + Lyndsay Plant (USA)
  2. Stevie Kremer + Jessie Young (USA)
  3. Kate Zander + Jari Kirkland (USA)
  4. Lyndsay Mayer + Melanie Bernier (USA + CAN)
  5. Sarah Cookler + Zinnia Wilson (USA)

» Full teams race results – teams
Photo #2 by Rick Carter, rest from ISMF.

Personal account

With lack of training this season and quite high altitudes at Brighton I wasn’t expecting any miracles, mostly I wanted to finally experience the Powder Keg. But racing at 3000m while living at 14 went a bit harder than I thought.

With Tim after Sunday lunch.
With Tim after Sunday lunch.
The sprint went reasonably well since I managed to pull off smooth transitions at all points in the qualifying round. But in the semis I messed them up.
After three mostly sleep-less nights at 2200m the individual went downhill right from the start. I was constantly treading the line of stopping to gasp for oxygen and just keeping it going. The highlights were that I enjoyed the whole course very much and did not back off skiing fast even after hitting a tree on the third downhill.
Despite another short night my warm up before the teams race felt better than the days before and I was looking forward to take on the big teams race course with an avid SkinTrack reader Tim Zander. We connected via email only couple of days before and I thought why not race with someone that can benefit from my experience. And the Sunday’s race quickly became my weekend’s favourite as Tim and I enjoyed the technical course while occasionally chatting about all things skimo. Tim dug very deep on the last climb but still skied strongly down to the finish. My feeling is that this will help him in future races to race much harder and faster than before as he was quickly picking up any technique tips and pushed beyond of what he thought was possible.
At the end, I want to say Thank You to everyone that have expressed their appreciation for the SkinTrack website, it was great to hear kind words even during the races right in the skin track 🙂
And big Thank You to you Tim for your great enthusiasm during the whole race on Sunday, it was great 🙂

March 1-2 Weekend Skimo Racing Roundup

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World Cup

2WC2This weekend marked the second to last World Cup race of the season at Les Diablerets in Switzerland, dominated by Spaniard Kilian Jornet and Latetia Roux of France. The weekend started with an individual race covering 1850 vertical meters for the men and 1650m for the women. Kilian (ESP) broke away early in the race, chased by Damiano Lenzi (ITA) and William Bon Mardion (FRA).  Unfortunately, while attempting to pass Bon Mardion, the Italian crashed with a tree and was unable to regain 2nd position. Roux (FRA) finished the women’s race solo with Maude Mathys (SUI) and Emily Forsberg (SWE) chasing minutes behind.
2WC1The final vertical event of the World Cup season took place on Sunday and again Jornet and Roux took the top of the podium.  The race climbed 560 vertical meters and was completed in 22min 51sec by Jornet with Roux only requiring an additional 3min. Damiano Lenzi  (as well as Roux) solidified his World Cup win in the vertical specialty with a 5th place finish.
This weekend’s results put Jornet in the leaders position of the overall World Cup but he could still be surpassed in the event of a poor race in the World Cup finals in Tromso, Norway. Jornet had this to say about his weekend:

TODAY’S RACE WAS HARD FOUGHT AND DIFFERENCES WERE MINIMAL. MY ASSESSMENT OF THE WEEKEND IS VERY GOOD AND I ALSO MANAGED TO PUT MYSELF IN TOP POSITION OF THE WORLD CUP RANKINGS. NONETHELESS, THE SCORE DIFFERENCE IS NOT VERY HIGH SO I’LL HAVE TO GIVE EVERYTHING OF MYSELF IN THE FINAL ROUND, WHICH WILL DECIDE THE CHAMPIONSHIP.
-Kilian Jornet to Atomic.com

Again this weekend, no North Americans competed in World Cup events. The final World Cup is scheduled for April in Tromso. Stay tuned!

North America

2P41In the West, all eyes were on the Audi Power of Four race in Aspen, Colorado. Racers in teams of two competed on a 26 mile course, covering 12,000 feet of elevation gain (3000m) in 5hrs 20min for the fastest pair. The race featured a 6:30am start time and 3 to 10 inches of fresh snow on course for the leaders to break through. High winds and low visibility made for difficult conditions to deal with but most of the teams persevered.
Locals John Gaston and Max Taam teamed up to take on the rest of the competitors and Gaston had the following to say about their preparations going into race day:

We knew the wet weather and new snow would definitely play a big factor, and that the race would be effectively neutralized until Highland Bowl. With that in mind, our main goal was to be the first team into Congo trail. A lot of time can be gained or lost there, and there’s absolutely nowhere to pass if someone’s holding you up in front. Then it was just a matter of keeping it pinned up Midnight and really focusing on not blowing up. And of course not breaking any equipment!

Gaston also had the following to say about the course itself:

The course is great. The Highland Bowl/Congo trail descents, as well as the finale down Ajax, are some of the best skiing of any race on the calendar, and really require strong ability. It’s a lot easier to make up two minutes on a descent than two minutes on a climb when they’re that long. The climbs are certainly not the most interesting out there, with a lot of groomers and cat tracks. This is something the Aspen SkiCo is working on every year though and is getter better at. It’s just logistically really tough to route 26 miles of skin tracks. Hopefully in the future the volunteer staff can grow and they’ll be able to work on this.

Gaston and Taam relied on their ability to work as a team, watching over one another’s fuelling and hydration throughout the race.
Scott Simmons and Marshall Thompson pulled into the finish ~13min after Gaston and Taam despite a binding issue, with Brian Smith and Bryan Wickenhauser just  5 min behind them.
» Results HERE
The East Coast contingent competed at Mt. Greylock. Jonathan Shefftz sent us this recap of the racing:
Mount Greylock, in the northwestern corner of Massachusetts, was the site of the first-ever 100-percent backcountry Eastern rando race featuring almost 6,200 feet of vertical for the full course, spread out over three ascents and challenging ski descents on March 2nd.
All three descents included the core of the historical Thunderbolt ski trail plus the Bucket Trail, but the first descent also included the aptly named “Chute” and a ski-friendly portion of the Appalachian Trail (i.e., coming off the summit).  The final descent included a maze of trails back to the trailhead.
This was a separate event from the March 1 Thunderbolt race, a revival of the original 1930s “down mountain” race, although both were supported by the Thunderbolt Ski Runners club and Thunderbolt Ski Patrol.  The March 1 race was essentially a time trial version (i.e., ascent and descent timed separately, as opposed to continuously) of the first lap of the March 2 rando race, so an excellent opportunity to warm up for the rando race and become familiar with the terrain.  Plus although the focus for most participants is the descent, separate prizes are awarded for the fastest ascent and the King and Queen of the Mountain for fastest combined time.
Chris Busch at finishFor the March 1 “down mountain” race, your faithful correspondent was the defending King from 2011, and also the record holder since the 2012 and 2013 races were cancelled.  However, I focused exclusively this year on serving as a member of the Thunderbolt Ski Patrol on race day, so Jerimy Arnold snatched the win.
For the March 2 rando race, Jerimy Arnold once again dominated, although Josh Flanagan surprisingly was fairly close behind.  Surprisingly because Josh had competed the prior day in the Aspen Power of Four, then after logging 12,000 vertical in that race, drove to Denver, slept three or four hours on the plane, and drove two-and-a-half hours the next morning from Boston to Greylock just barely in time for the time.  I filled out the podium for the Eastern Team Hagan.
Nina Silitch was, as always, the fastest woman, and also finished fifth overall despite missing the final turn in the aforementioned maze, resulting in a descent below the finish, and a final skin ascent.
» Results HERE: Results, Greylock 2014

Upcoming Races

The major upcoming race this weekend is the Wasatch Powder Keg at Brighton resort in Utah. One of the jewels on the USSMA calendar, the PowKeg features three days of racing, starting with a Friday night sprint race where racers complete a qualifying round and then the fastest racers continue on to head-to-head rounds. Saturday is a individual distance race followed by a technical teams race on Sunday where racers must compete with a partner and use a harness and equipment to cover technical terrain.
Race Director Chad Brackelsberg is predicting snow throughout this week, ending on Friday when a high pressure ridge should move through the region with the likelihood of sun throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday. It is still up for debate if the sprint race on Friday will be in heavy snowfall or clear weather. Brackelsberg provided the following links to obsess over:

Brackelsberg also asked us to remind all racers that officials will be checking everyone at the race start and finish for mandatory gear. Gear lists can be reviewed on the race website here. Finally, Brackelsberg offered the following predictions for the race outcome:

I predict an extremely tough fight for the Saturday podium.  I think it could be Tom G, Jason D, Reiner T, John G, Max T or anyone from several others.  My top 3 in any order will be Reiner, Tom, and John, but I have no idea in what order.

-Wasatch Powder Keg Race Director Chad Brackelsberg
There will be a strong Canadian contingent in attendance at the Powder Keg including top racer Reiner Thoni. Thoni will be paired with Andrew McNab for the Teams race. As a team Thoni and McNab have raced together on numerous occasions at the Pierra Menta, World Championships and at last year’s Atomic Waymaker event. While Thoni expects to have to work for placing, he is hoping their strong descent skills will work to their advantage.

This year I think both of us have been doing much more powder skiing than racing so the longer race might be better suited to us.  It will be interesting to see how it all plays out, the US guys are looking strong.
-Reiner Thoni

When asked about racing at altitude, Thoni offered the following advice:

The altitude adds to the challenge but with most racing being below 12,000 feet I feel it’s still in a reasonable range from what I’m accustomed to.  I live at 2000 feet but spend a lot of time skiing around 5000-9000 feet so from where I do most of my skiing it doesn’t feel like a huge adjustment.  It seems some times ignorance is a bliss, maybe I will just eat a lot of brussel sprouts 😉

-Reiner Thoni
Stano Faban will be racing with Tim Zander, and Eric Carter and Nick Elson will be teaming up. John Gaston will again pair up with Max Taam and Gaston had this to say about race predictions:

I think it’s going to be a real battle either way, and weather/conditions/powder could play a big role. I see a big battle with a lot of players. Reiner and McNab, Tom, Jason, Marshall, Max. Everyone’s going real well right now.
-John Gaston

It is safe to assume that altitude, duration, weather, and technical ascent and descent skills will all play a major role in the outcome of this race. The women’s race is tough to predict but Canada’s Melanie Bernier will be gunning for a top spot on the sprint podium. In the teams race, Mel will be paired with Lyndsey Meyer and should be expected to compete strongly with Sari Anderson and Stevie Kremer. Mel had this to say about the competition between the Canadian and American women:

I think the US have a good up of strong women. The ranking should be similar to the Jackson Hole Race earlier this year.
-Melanie Bernier

Our East Coast friends have two race options this weekend. SkinTrack correspondent Jonathan Shefftz sent in this preview. The Jay Peak VT and Owl’s Head QC races have been rescheduled from their original January dates.  The Quebec Dynafit rep Jeff Rivest has reinvigorated the race with an entirely new layout for this year.  By contrast, the Owl’s Head is entirely new, and ascends via a new backcountry sector, so this will be a new venue for everyone.
The very strong Equipe Quebec is sure to attend in force, and Team Hagan’s Jerimy Arnold and Josh Flanagan might sally northward to meet them.  (Your faithful correspondent will be unable to attempt to repeat his 2008 win.)  Perhaps Jan Wellford can be convinced to emerge from his Adirondacks redoubt and take a weekend off from Mordic racing to repeat his dominating performance from the February 23 Mad River Valley VT race.
For the women, Nina Silitch is as always the favorite.  Danielle Deguire is probably a bit faster skinning, although still relatively new to skiing, and of course unable to match Nina’s sprint-specialist transitions.  Should be some interesting lead-changing among them, and with Nina fresh from her dozen years in Europe, some interesting French dialogue too!

2013 Wasatch Powder Keg: 3 races in 3 days, Mar 8-10

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The growth of the Wasatch Powder Keg into a three day event this year is a clear signal that more and more people fall in love with ski mountaineering racing each winter season. Also, it is a true testament to the quality of work its organizing crew has delivered year after year.
This is Powder Keg’s 11th edition and, as of now, it is the largest skimo race in the North America and the second oldest. There were few others that started sooner but have not stood the test of time.

Wasatch Powder Keg 2013 skimo race

Quick facts

All 3 events will be hosted at Brighton Ski Resort, Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah.

Friday:

  • 1 Division
  • Race course: TBD
  • Race Entry: $20

Saturday:

  • Race & Heavy Metal divisions course:  6 climbs, 6,500 feet of climbing, 11 miles
  • Rec division course: 4 climbs, 3,500 feet, 6 miles
  • Race Entry: $70

Sunday:

  • Teams of 2
  • Race course: TBD
  • Race Entry: $70 per person / $140 per team

Registration:

Opened on January 1, 2013 (register by February 25, 2013 to get your technical race shirt).
Register for all 3 events for $150 per person.

More details

For more or to register check out Powder Keg’s website – http://wasatchpowderkeg.com