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Last weekend we went to Crested Butte so Mom could compete in another COSMIC ski race. As the crow flies, Aspen is only about 30 miles from Crested Butte, but in the winter, when Kebler Pass is closed, it takes at least four hours to get there in the car. So, on Friday afternoon we met our friends Brian and Amy in Carbondale and loaded up the big truck with Hank, Zulu, my Chariot, six pairs of boots and at least 9 pairs of skis. We rented a really nice house in the Pitchfork neighborhood across from Mt. Crested Butte.

It’s seems like it’s been over a month since we had bluebird skies in Colorado, but the weather was perfect in CB.

They’ve had over 300 inches of snow so far in CB and the snow banks reach all the way up to the second floor on many of the houses. There are tunnels of snow everywhere.

We got up early on Saturday morning for the race. Here’s a photo of Mom and me just before the start.

This rando race had a Le Mans start that required the racers to sprint about 100 yards on foot to their waiting skis…

Lots of fruit suits in this race.

And they’re off. Mom is in the left corner wearing all black. Ethan Passant, the reigning US rando champ and eventual winner of this race, is in front, wearing orange.

It takes only a few seconds for the racers to step in their skis, which already have skins attached, and start uphill.

This race had over 5,000 feet of elevation gain and plenty of off-piste terrain on CB’s famous steeps.

The organizers added one last, brutal hill for the racers to climb just before the finish. Here’s Mom, doing the ‘herringbone’ technique.

Mom is smiling as she crosses the finish line. She finished in second place, once again just a few minutes behind her Nike teammate, Monique Merrill. Mona, as everyone calls her, is leaving for Italy next week where she’ll be representing the US at the Randonee World Championships.

And here’s our friend Brian, looking a little disheveled, finishing right behind mom.

Just for fun, here’s a quick video of our friend Sully, launching a huge backflip at the finish line…very impressive, especially considering he’s got on a fruit suit, really skinny skis and two buckle boots.