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Whitefish Whiteout

Jan 16-17 News Shorts: John Gaston races a World Cup while others battle back home, Kilian Jornet wins twice

January 19, 2016 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

Max Taam leads the 2016 COSMIC Sunlight Dynafit Heathen Challenge. Myke Hermsmeyer Photo.
Max Taam leads the 2016 COSMIC Sunlight Dynafit Heathen Challenge. Myke Hermsmeyer Photo.
Another full weekend of racing in the US and Europe while the Canadian Series takes a break. Read on for more news from last week in skimo!

USA

Heathen Challenge
Racers convened at Sunlight Resort in Colorado for the Dynafit Heathen Challenge. The race featured beautiful weather and a full course with 4500+ feet of climbing. Max Taam put together a solid performance throughout with a small group of chasers to push the pace. Paul Hamilton, Teague Holmes, and Brian Smith all fought to round out the podium with Hamilton and Holmes edging out Smith.
Jessie Young continued her domination of the women’s scene finishing one minute ahead of Lindsay Plant and two minutes ahead of Sari Anderson!
» See full results HERE
Whitefish Whiteout

Peter Knight skiing to victory at the Whitefish Whiteout. Peter Knight Instagram.
Peter Knight skiing to victory at the Whitefish Whiteout. Peter Knight Instagram.
The Whiteout’s eight edition, traditionally held at Whitefish Resort in Montana, delivered deep powder as it usually does! A large contingent of Canadians traveled south for the race to take on a strong group of Montanans. Peter Knight (CAN) took off hard from the line with his eyes on the the hill climb prime. After waiting for the chase pack, the group stayed close together before the fresh snow started to take its toll on racers and their skins. Several athletes blew skins before arriving at the final cat track climb to the finish. Knight attacked Mike Foote, an accomplished distance runner, for the win with a local legend Ben Parsons coming from behind to take 3rd place.
Women’s race recap from Ben Parsons: “Adrian from Bozeman took it. Najeeby, an ultra-runner from Alaska, was hot to the top for the climb prime but missed a critical turn on the third descent and lost positions. Michelle Roberts (CAN) was a solid second and Katie French brought home third for locals glory!
» See full results HERE

Canada

Racing resumes next week in both the East and Western series. The next race in Western Canada is the new Lizard Skinner event in Fernie, BC on Jan 23rd. The next Skimo East event will be at Berkshire East on Jan 23.

Europe

Men's Font Blanca Individual World Cup Podium. ISMF Photo
Men’s Font Blanca Individual World Cup Podium. ISMF Photo
The World Cup circuit met for the first time this season at Font Blanca in Andorra for an individual and a vertical race. Last year, the race was plagued by severe weather causing chaos for the organizers to decide on a course in touchy avalanche conditions. This time around, despite a lack of snow in the alps, the Pyrenees were again hit with a major winter storm. The organizers were under immense pressure to put on a well run event and by all accounts seem to have succeeded. The individual was shortened to about 1300m and its start was delayed several hours due to severe weather and ran on a smaller circuit on-piste.
In the individual, to no-ones surprise, Kilian Jornet (SPA) took the win, however, a young Michelle Boscacci (ITA) finished close behind, pushing Jornet throughout the whole race. Werner Marti (SWI) also surprised with a podium position as he is known more for his vertical race abilities. The rest of the Italian team seems to have had a difficult race, finishing lower on the results sheet. The lack of off-piste descents may have played in favour of the less technically skilled descenders in the field while the usual downhill rockets were kept at bay – William Bon Mardion (FRA) and Robert Antonioli (ITA).
While there were only 25 senior women competing in the individual race the sharp end of the field was very strong. Emelie Forsberg (SWE) won only by 20 seconds in front of Spaniards Claudia Galicia and Laura Orgue (previously only considered a threat in vertical events) who rounded out the podium. The previously super-dominant Laetitia Roux finished fifth, one of her lowest results in recent memory, while she is still recovering from a surgery couple of months ago.
In the vertical race, Jornet repeated his win, with a Swiss Espoir Remi Bonnet upsetting the rest of the field to place second, and Michele Boscacci taking third. The women’s race (39 took to the start line) was handily won by Laura Orgue as was mostly expected since she has a strong nordic skiing history. Second went to Emelie Forsberg and third to Victoria Kreuzer of Switzelrand.
The lone North American competitor, John Gaston (USA) finished 30th in the individual and 32nd in the vertical. John had this to say about the races:

Andorra went pretty well.
Like everyone, I was bummed to see Saturday’s individual course changed. The 4 lap alternate was about as far out of my warehouse as it could have been. Loads of long flat skinning sections that put a premium on glide and technique, and zero technical or hard skiing to make back some time. Still, I felt pretty good and finished strong, so that’s all I could have asked for.
Sunday’s vertical was exact same as last year – I tried to go out harder and stick with their pace for longer – a strategy I knew in advance wasn’t totally smart. Still, these Euros have such amazing speed compared to anything we see in NA, so you’ve got to give it a go. I actually made up a few spots in the last half of the race which was a good confidence boost, but got crushed trying to sprint past that Spanish dude Marc Pinsach at the finish, and as a result got beaten on the line by some sneaky German kid lurking behind me, ready to pounce after I tried my move on Mr. Spanish. Haha, good times. Definitely the highest avg HR I’ve ever maintained in any race/sport, ever.
Kilian was incredible to watch and he’s obviously incredibly fit right now. He was just so patient at the starts and so calculated when and how he’d make his attacks. His vertical was ridiculous – like 30s faster than last year or something. He literally started jogging on that long straight upper part (not usually something Euros do, since they glide so well). He looked so casual about it.

» See full results HERE
ISMF Individual Race Video:

ISMF Vertical Race Video:

Thanks to Peter Knight and Ben Parsons for words, and Myke Hermsmeyer and ISMF Skimo for photos.
 

Filed Under: Reports & Results Tagged With: Emelie Forsberg, Font Blanca, Jessie Young, John Gaston, Kilian Jornet, Laura Orgue, Max Taam, Peter Knight, skimo racing, skimo World Cup, Sunlight Mountain Heathen Challenge, Whitefish Whiteout

Jan 25-26 Weekend Skimo Racing Roundup: World and North America

January 29, 2014 By Stano Faban 4 Comments

WORLD CUP

Courchevel Individual race boot pack. ISMF Photo.
Courchevel Individual race boot pack. ISMF Photo.
World Cup racing action moved to Courchevel France last Saturday. The weekend began with a 1,700m vertical ascent individual race including 6 climbs with two boot packs and a technical via-ferrata section. The Italian men began a strong weekend with three athletes in the top group. Robert Antonioli (ITA) took the win with a strong final descent while the 2nd – 4th finished all within a minute of each other. Killian Jornet (SPA), normally a dominant racer did not finish due to stomach troubles.

In my side I try to start the race, but after 50m I was without energy…need to try to eat and recover.
-Killian Jornet Facebook

Laetitia Roux (FRA) dominated the women’s race, taking control early on and skiing into the finish with a comfortable cushion over Sophie Dusautoir Bertrand (AND). Will Roux be threatened at all this season? Melanie Bernier (CAN) finished in an impressive 6th place overall (4th among senior women) and had this to say about her race:

I had a good race, trying to stay as consistent as possible throughout and focusing on energy management. Only did I start to loose momentum at the end of the last long climb but it was to be expected. I crossed the finish line in 6th place which I was pretty happy about, closing the gap on some of fast ladies.
-Melanie Bernier

» Individual Race Results
Here’s a great video from the Courchevel skimo World Cup weekend. Vertical-only video is further below.

Start of Courchevel Vertical Race. ISMF Photo.
Start of Courchevel Vertical Race. ISMF Photo.
The low-angled vertical course (540m ascent) allowed for some exceptionally fast skiing. The start is crazy fast – see the guy double poling at 0:41sec in the video below and at 1:16 it is hard to tell the difference from a Nordic ski race! Amazing. In the senior men’s race, Matheo Jacquemoud  (FRA) set the pace from the outset but Damiano Lenzi (ITA) pulled out all the stops and passed Jacquemoud near the finish to win in a time just shy of the course record.
In the senior women’s race, Mathys Maude (SWI) pushed the pace hard but could not hold on when Laetitia Roux accelerated, eventually taking the lead with a twenty second gap at the finish. The lone North American, Canada’s Melanie Bernier finished 10th overall, just under four minutes behind Roux. Meredith Edwards (USA) did not start.

Knowing the course was a must since it was full out from start to finish. I had a great race, keeping my eyes on the lady ahead of me the whole race and passing right at the end. I’m happy with a 9th place considering I am not much of a vert racer! Next stop, Italia!

-Melanie Bernier

» Vertical Race Results
Vertical race video:

NORTH AMERICA

Ben Parsons leading Eric Carter in the Whitefish Whiteout. Myke Hermsmeyer Photo.
Ben Parsons leading Eric Carter in the Whitefish Whiteout. Myke Hermsmeyer Photo.
Two races on the North American calendar happened this past weekend. The Whitefish Whiteout in Whitefish Montana lived up to its name with thick fog blanketing the course throughout race day. An impressive number of racers turned out for both the race and recreational divisions despite the dreary weather. The race division took off at a civilized pace with a line of racers stretching out under the ski lifts. With cash on the line for the fastest ascent up the first climb, local Ben Parsons (USA) surged at the halfway point. Eric Carter (USA) and Peter Knight (CAN) tried to match the pace and Carter skied in to the  lead by the top. Carter and Parsons traded positions throughout the race and sprinted to the finish with Carter taking the win.
» Whitefish Results

The New England Rando series visited Berkshire East for a three lap race including a ~1,050 vertical foot backcountry ascent and ~400 foot boot pack. Team Hagan, led by race winner Jerimy Arnold (USA) dominated the race but was threatened by US National Team athlete Nina Silitch who finished fourth overall to win the women’s division. See Jonathan Shefftz’s full race report on SkinTrack (including results).

The Berkshire East course was more challenging this year with a longer bootpack (repeated each circuit) located in the woods just of of the descent trail giving one the opportunity to see how close other competitors were. Natural snow was thin, adding to the challenge, stepping on lots of downed trees, rocks, and leaves in the booter.
-Jerimy Arnold
Jerimy Arnold en route to win Berkshire East. Photo: Steve Sauve
Jerimy Arnold en route to win Berkshire East. Photo: Steve Sauve

UPCOMING RACES – February 1-2 weekend

The World Cup is headed to Italy with the much anticipated Pitturina Ski Race. There will be a sprint on Friday afternoon and Sunday morning an individual race along the Pitturina route.
No racing in North America this weekend with the postponement of the Mad River Valley ski race in New England but there are local race series taking place during the week in Colorado and Salt Lake City. With the weekend off, the racers will be getting ready for a slew of races available throughout NA on February 8th and 9th!
dogtooth-dash-280x210You can also put on your calendar this year’s Dogtooth Dash at Kicking Horse Mountain near Golden BC. With SkinTrack crew involved in organizing, expect a full weekend of skimo action March 21st – 23rd.
Registration is about to open so follow the event on Facebook and keep an eye on the info page to stay up to date with the latest information!

Filed Under: Reports & Results Tagged With: Ben Parsons, Berkshire East, Eric Carter, Jerimy Arnold, Kilian Jornet, Laetitia Roux, Melanie Bernier, Robert Antonioli, Roundup, skimo World Cup, Whitefish Whiteout

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