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!
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
Four years ago I raced the Lead King Loop 25K a few months after Juniper was born. I barely survived the race in 2 hours 45 minutes.
This year, Elinor, Joy, Wendy and I made a girls day of it and ran the race for fun. None of us felt amazing going into the race. Joy is seven weeks post-partum, El has a nasty cold, Wendy is off the couch and I had a full training week leading up to Sunday.
For the first time that I can remember, I had zero race day nerves. Standing on the startline with my best friends as well as Jari Kirkland, Carrie Vickers and Beth Broome, I was relaxed and ready for a fun training run.
Starting at a comfortable pace, I climbed the first 3,000+ vertical feet in about 5 miles feeling sluggish and heavy. I finally crested the top of the climb to amazing views of snow covered peaks and started to feel much better as my pace went from a 15 minute mile to a sub-6 minute mile for a few fast miles.
As I passed the 110 year old Crystal Mill, I realized I would be able to finish much faster than 2007 and possibly close to the course record of 2 hours 19 minutes. I had no idea what place I was in but for once I didn’t care. I was racing myself and enjoying every step.
Great scenery in Lead King Basin outside Marble
Crossing the line in 2 hours 20 minutes 19 seconds and in 5th place, I was very happy with my morning training run. Elinor finished in 2 hours 40 minutes, Joy just over 3 hours and Wendy finished just under 4 hours after battling major stomach issues.
Finishing up the training day with a quick mountain bike ride and I’ve started my training for the adventure race world champs in Tasmania.
Finally, a clean race. The third race in the COSMIC series was the Camp Ski Mountaineering Race at Crested Butte yesterday. Under perfect blue skies, we started the race at 8am with a Le Mans start. Jan Koles got the hole shot and set the fast pace for the lower part of the first climb. Janelle Smiley came past me early on and pushed me at a pace I wasn’t sure I could hold much longer. Once into the technical ascent, I was able to move in front of Janelle and open up a small lead.
Brian Edmiston, Michael Schilling, Mark Smiley and I continued down the Head Wall, up a short climb, down the North Face and up through Teocalli Bowl where we picked up Brian Riepe. The final climb finished with a boot pack up the Peel and then a long descent down to the finish. I finished without having any skin issues and descending very well thanks to my La SportivaStratos boots.
Thanks to Lindsay Hyman at Carmichael Training Systems, I felt fresh afterward and enjoyed some great skiing on the resort. Lindsay has coached me since May and I’ve learned a lot about training and refueling. Making sure I intake enough water and Honey Stinger gels has not only allowed me to finish strong but more importantly to feel great after the races.
Check out photos from Kevin Krill of Crested Butte Photography.
Lyndsay Meyer & I at the finish of the Heathen Challenge
The third and final qualifier for the ski mountaineering worlds was this weekend at Sunlight. I have raced this COSMIC race three or four times and it keeps getting better. This year the course was changed up a bit to add some more kick turns and a final short ascent before the finish.
As has been the case for the last few years, the Heathen Challenge brought gorgeous weather. During the race, I once again had issues with my skins and got to ‘practice’ a few extra skin changes. Thankfully, I felt pretty strong and still managed to pull off a victory.
Unfortunately the photographer taking photos on the second ascent just missed me fumbling through a kick turn. Despite not always having perfect form, I got the job done. Most importantly, I’m really getting comfortable in my La SportivaStratos boots and Sportiva skis and my descending skills and speed have improved dramatically.
Monique Merrill, Jari Kirkland and Jessica Philips raced very well for the women. Unfortunately both Lyndsay Meyer and Molly Zurn were sick and couldn’t complete the course. I’m looking forward to the next race in Crested Butte as all of us learn more each race.
Pete Swenson, COSMIC founder, won the men’s race with Scott Simmons, Jan Koles, Max Taam and Travis Scheefer rounding out the top five.
With the three qualifiers complete, the US ski mountaineering worlds team is: Men: Brandon French, Travis Scheefer, Pete Swenson, Scott Simmons, Luke Nelson, Bryan Wickenhauser, Max Taam and Greg Ruckman; Women: Sari Anderson, Monique Merrill, Janelle Smiley, Nina Silitch, Jari Kirkland, Amy Fulwyler, Jessica Philips and Jaime Falcon.
Check out Crested Butte Photography for Kevin Krill’s photos of the race. Also, Daniel Dunn will be posting some on the USSMA site in the near future.
Finally, if you are going to be at the OR show this week in Salt Lake City, please stop by the La Sportiva booth on Thursday to have a beer and fund-raise for USSMA. Enter to win a pair of Sportiva skis!
Axel came to watch the finish thanks to my parents. Photo by Daniel Dunn
