Chris Miller put together this terrific video from the North American Ski Mountaineering Championships in Crested Butte a few weekends ago. The video includes some awesome footage from Guide’s Ridge, reminding me just how scary it was. I’m easy to pick out in the video with my hot pink POC goggles and look of terror on my face…

Team Crested Butte, with Brian Smith, Jon Brown and Jari Kirkland will be competing again at the Teva Mountain Games in Vail this weekend. Smithy and Jon are doing the Ultimate Mountain Challenge, battling out with Luke Nelson and Marshall Thomson among others. Rumor has it that even Mike Kloser is coming out of “retirement” to race. It’s going to be epic!

I also stress out more over the Teva Mountain Games than just about any other event I race in all year. The Ultimate Mountain Challenge in the summer, which includes four races over two days, is exhausting. I also feel like there is more pressure on me competing in Vail, and the expectations are high racing in front of so many of my friends. Furthermore, Ian works on the PR for TMG, so he’s talking about the event constantly. It gets to the point where I dread it.

So, now the new, WINTER Teva Mountain Games is just a few days away and I’m getting more and more anxious. The winter version of the Ultimate Mountain Challenge includes a 10k Nordic race, a skimo race with 6,500 feet of vert and the two-mile, Vail Uphill race with 2,200 feet of vert.

I feel fit for the race, but not totally prepared. I skate skied for the first time all winter on Saturday. It hurt. I haven’t been running much, and definitely not uphill. There are some strong women signed up for the UMC, including my friends Stevie Kremer and Lyndsay Meyer as well as US Mountain Running team member Megan Kimmel and National Nordic Champion Morgan Smyth. It’s going to be a really competitive race.

This weekend I’m going to try adopt Axel’s mantra…just have fun in the snow! Hope to see many of you in Vail. Thanks, as always, for reading.

In order to step up to the European standards of skimo racing, a sprint race was added on Saturday morning. We woke early in order to get a sufficient warm-up in before the short six minute race. The temperature was frigid, -18 degrees Fahrenheit at the start, which does not match well with spandex race suits and thin gloves. I had never participated or even watched a sprint before, but understood that it included uphill kick turns, a descent, another ascent, a bootpack and a final descent. It was an individual time trial format with racers going off at 30 second intervals.

Of course, I was chosen to go first for both men and women so I had no one to pace or watch for pointers. Six minutes is not enough time to really get hot, so my fingers were completely numb when I tried to put skins back on my skis for the second ascent. I dropped my skins a few times purely because I could not feel what I was doing. The second girl to start, Melanie Bernier of Canada, caught me in transition, meaning she had already made 30 seconds on me. I finished just behind her, went inside and worked on thawing my fingers. I manged to finish in third behind Melanie and Janelle Smiley, about 35 seconds back from 1st place.

The championship race on Sunday was truly epic. Leaving the base of Crested Butte ski area, I pushed hard to stay close to the front of the pack in order to have as few people in front of me on the ridge as possible. Racing alongside men I usually am behind, I felt strong from the start. When I arrived at the rope for the Guide’s Ridge section, I quickly transitioned and managed to pass about five people. Despite my fear of heights and ropes, I managed to move pretty well on the ridge and even pass a few people. Only a few people passed me, all of whom are experienced climbers and mountaineers. One of the people to pass me was Janelle Smiley, my Sportiva teammate and a great climber.

I was relieved to hear at the top of the ridge that Janelle had only put about five minutes on me throughout the rope section. I put my head down and worked hard to make up any ground I could over the next two ascents and descents. As I got within about two minutes of Janelle, I got panicky and lost all form, causing my skins to come off. Quickly replacing skins, I lost vaulable time and momentum.  Caught behind a bunch of racers on their first lap at that point, I realized I didn’t have enough mountain to catch Janelle so I sat up and enjoyed the final climb and descent.

I finished Sunday in 2nd place, 4 minutes 21 seconds behind Janelle. With our combined times from Saturday, Janelle won the weekend and Stevie Kremer placed third. The American women swept the North American Championship podium! It was an amazing course that tested my skills and my comfort level. Thanks to Bryan Wickenhauser for organizing! Links below.

Ascending the Guides Ridge. From bottom: Chris Kroger, Sari Anderson, Janelle Smiley and Jan Koles

Sprint Results

Championship Results with Overall

Photos from Kevin Krill of Crested Butte Photography.

Photos and video from Chris Miller.

Last year at the US National Ski Mountaineering Championships in Jackson Hole, I had a disappointing race because of equipment issues – I didn’t manage my skins properly.  I’ve been looking forward to coming back to Jackson ever since. I’ve been training hard despite the lack of snow in Colorado and felt ready going into the weekend. My parents graciously volunteered to watch the kids so Ian, Jari Kirkland and I could drive up to Wyoming on Friday.

Despite my preparation, I felt nervous on Saturday morning and began to doubt my fitness. As the gun went off, we all started fast as usual. I took the lead for about three minutes until Gemma Arro Ribot passed me with Stevie Kremer and Janelle Smiley on her tail. I tried to fall in behind them, but I couldn’t hold the pace and I fell off the group by a few minutes. Feeling a bit frustrated, I decided to race my own race, knowing I was going as hard as I could and there were three more hours to go.

Towards the top of the first climb, about an hour into the race, I was beginning to gain on the lead girls. I passed last year’s national champ, Janelle Smiley, in the first transition as she struggled with a broken boot (impressively she was able to get a strap and finish the race) and gained more time on both Gemma and Stevie.

At the bottom of the second descent, I passed Stevie Kremer in transition and started to feel like my training was paying off.  I was feeling strong – eating and drinking well.

I passed Gemma on the second-to-last descent and never looked back. With one more fast transition, I was in and out before Gemma arrived. I concentrated on form and managed to pass about three or four more men on the final climb. I skied the final descent fast, but with a bit of caution to ensure I didn’t get sloppy and crash. As I tucked into the finish I was finally able to breath a sigh of relief. I finished in 3:04, about four minutes faster than last year. My training paid off, and my decision to stick to my own race plan proved to be the right call.

Stevie Kremer finished in second with Gemma Arro Ribot in third. My La Sportiva teammate Luke Nelson took the win for the men with Scott Simmons and Jason Dorias finshing second and third respectively. Full results can be found on the race site here. Photos from Kevin Krill here. A bunch of photos that Ian took are below.  Thanks for reading!

Start of the 2012 Ski Mountaineering National Champs at Jackson Hole

Men’s national champ and La Sportiva athlete – Luke Nelson

Cary Smith with the Grand Teton in the background

Stevie Kremer and I finishing the first bootpack

Sari & Stevie again. We go faster when we drop our heads.

Brian Edmiston rips skins for the short descent down Coombs Couloir.

Jen Gersbach rocked her first skimo race.

A good day for for Sportiva! Sari & Luke happy to be national champs.

Sari & Stevie at the finish. Women’s #1 and #2.

(L to R): Stevie Kremer 2nd, Sari Anderson 1st, Gemma Arro Ribot 3rd

Super cool trophy. A piece of the old tram cable.

For my birthday, Ian organized a proper adventure. We planned to ride from Marion Gulch in Carbondale to Sunlight Mountain on a series of maintained snowmobile trails. I borrowed a new Surly Moolander from our friend Darin Binion who owns the Gear Exchange in Glenwood. The Moonlander has five inch tires and it proved to be have impressive traction and floatation on the snow packed trails. Ian and Michael on their Pugsleys, were both envious.

Riding up Marion Gulch with Michael Hayes (and his fancy diamond-plate custom fenders).

Riding in 4-Mile Park above Sunlight.

Michael and I up Babbish Gulch.

Riding back on Dry Park Road.

In all the 30-mile ride took us four hours. It was the perfect way to spend my birthday.

Otherwise, I’ve been training on my rando gear whenever possible, usually early morning up at Ajax. Ian and I are heading to Jackson Hole on Friday for the US National Ski Mountaineering Championships.  It’s going to be to tough race with an especially competitive women’s field.

Over the years at TMG I’ve participated in 12-hour adventure races with Team Nike, raced in a mountain bike crit around Vail Village, trail run in the snow, kayaked Gore Creek, and done the four-event Ultimate Mountain Challenge more times than I care to remember.  A couple of things I’ve never done at TMG are nordic skiing and ski mountaineering. That’s about to change. I’m more than a little excited about the inaugural Winter Teva Mountain Games. I’m planning to race in the winter version of the Ultimate Mountain Challenge, which includes a Pete Swenson-designed SkiMo race. Check out the video below, where Pete explains the SkiMo race. It’s going to be sweet for both amateurs and pros. If you’ve ever thought about trying randonee racing, this is the event to put on your calendar. Hope to see you there!

Also, psyched to be a part of the 2012 Sportiva ski mountaineering team:

(Boulder, Colo.) –La Sportiva North America introduces its ski mountaineering team for 2011-2012.

On the women’s side, the team includes last year’s Colorado Ski Mountaineering Cup (COSMIC) series winner Sari Anderson, 2011 national ski mountaineering champion Janelle Smiley and IFMGA guide Olivia Race. The men’s team features some of the top skimo racers in the country including Adrian Ballanger, Keith Garvey, Jared Inouye, Chris Kroger, Luke Nelson, John Race, and Jason McGowin.

“I’m excited and honored to be a part of the La Sportiva ski mountaineering team,” states Sari Anderson .“My set up of Stratos boots, RSR skis and bindings is incredibly light and performed without fail last season.” Read more here.

And for next season:

(Boulder, Colo.) –La Sportiva North America, makers of the world’s finest mountain products, announces today that it will debut a full line of technical ski mountaineering apparel at the 2012 OR Winter Market, SIA Snowshow, and ISPO Munich tradeshows.

“The culture of ski mountaineering is thriving in Europe and shows signs of significant growth in North America,” states Jonathan Lantz, president of La Sportiva North America. “Our team of designers in the Dolomites used feedback from some of the world’s best ski mountaineers to design apparel that is fast, light and highly efficient. For randonee racing, backcountry touring, and alpine climbing, the La Sportiva apparel line sets a new bar for performance and innovation.” Read more here.

As usual, the start felt fast and I pushed to keep pace. It felt great to be back racing on my skis however I knew early on I would suffer straight through the finish. Stevie Kremer, Janelle Smiley and myself raced alongside one another through the first climb and descent and partway up the second climb. At which point Janelle started to trail a little.

Stevie and I raced tip to tail up three quarters of the final climb when I finally cracked. I could tell Stevie had more in the tank when I pulled over to fix my boot for a second. As Stevie went by, I tried to hold on as long as I could but she quickly opened a gap.

I finished a few minutes behind Stevie leaving everything I had on the course. Janelle finished in third with Lyndsay and Jari Kirkland in 4th and 5th. It was so much fun to race so closely with Stevie and Janelle and to fight right until the end. There is lots of work to be done before the next race but I’m ready for it after a nice relaxing off season.

Unofficial results from memory:

Men:
Marshall Thomson
Brian Smith
Bryan Wickenhauser

Women:
Stevie Kremer
Sari Anderson
Janelle Smiley
Lyndsay Meyer
Jari Kirland

Thank you very much to Jake Jones, Bryan Wickenhauser and the CS Irwin staff for another great race!

Lyndsay Meyer, Todd Kennedy and I skinned a lap and a half on Ajax early Sunday morning. It took me awhile to sort my gear on Saturday evening but once my boots and skis were on the snow, I thankfully didn’t feel like I haven’t skied in almost six months. I actually felt really good – bring on winter!

After social hour at the Sun Deck complete with hot chocolate and a warm fire (it’s Aspen after all), I met the family for a ski day at Snowmass. Juniper also jumped right back into skiing and Axel thoroughly enjoyed his first day on skis.

…here’s hoping the skimo racing comes back as easily on Saturday in CB.