Great video recap of the Ultimate Mountain Challenge at the Teva Mountain Games.
Brian Smith
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Finishing the first of many ascents. Photo credit: Jeremy Swanson
Lyndsay and I celebrate at the finish of the Power of Four
Lyndsay Meyer and I have been looking forward to racing the Power of Four Ski Mountaineering Race together for months now. Both of our partners last year ended up on IVs, one in the hospital and one at ski patrol. Although we both finished unranked without our teammates, this year we planned to complete the course together and hoped to finish strong in the women’s division.
We decided to use a bungee cord tow system from the start, ensuring that we would stay close together. Racing in pairs can be difficult when teammates have different strengths, so a bungee gives a big advantage.
I’ll spare you all the gory details of the race, but suffice it to say, climbing over 11,700 vertical feet over 26 miles is no easy task. Lyndsay and I worked well together – I paced on the uphills and she led the way on the downs. We both got pretty darn cold climbing up Highlands Bowl, where it was blowing over 60mph but we kept all our skin covered and thankfully avoided the nasty frostbite that a lot of teams suffered.
In the end, we finished in second place in the women’s division, with a time of 6 hours 28 minutes, behind the super strong women’s team of Stevie Kremer and Gemma Arro Ribot.
Full results here.
Here are some photos Ian took at the finish line.
Overall winners John and Pete Gaston. They beat Bryan Wickenhauser and Brian Smith by just two seconds. Read more here.
A look of disbelief from Pete Gaston after hitting 60mph to pass the “Brians” just before the finish line.
John and Pete. I raced the Elk Mountains Grand Traverse with Pete last year.
Wick and Smithy
Gemma and Stevie celebrate their hard-earned win.
Jack and Jari at the finish – winners in the coed division
Brian Edimiston and Lindsay Plant – second in the coed division
Ty Newton and John VanNordstrand
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!
With just over a month of rest, I jumped back in with the first skimo race of the season at CS Irwin Lodge on Kebler Pass. Ty Newton, Lyndsay Meyer and I left the Roaring Fork Valley this morning with great views of the lunar eclipse. We hopped on our snowmobiles for a fun 45 minute sled ride to the Irwin Lodge for the 2nd annual COSMIC race.
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!
“Sometimes you’re the hammer, and sometimes you’re the nail.”
When organizers in Aspen announced the first ever Power of Four, a ski mountaineering race covering 27 miles from Snowmass to Ajax with over 12,000 feet of climbing, I was intrigued. An epic race in my backyard? Yes, please. When my La Sportiva teammate Jason McGowin asked if I wanted to join him on a coed duo team, I didn’t hesitate. Jason is a former member of the US Ski Mountaineering Team who raced the Pierra Menta the same year I did. He’s a strong climber and an amazing descender. Racing with a new partner for the first time is always risky, but I knew Jason was a good guy and we’d have fun together.
The race started at the base of Snowmass at 7:15 am, and as usual, the pace was fast even though we had at least five hours of racing ahead of us. Our main rivals for the mixed division, Monique Merrill and Mike Kloser, started right next to us with Mike towing Mona from the line. Jason and I maintained our own comfortable pace and reached the top of the first climb alongside Mike and Mona. We all enjoyed some great turns through soft snow in the Sugar Bowls and skied strong into the next transition. As we were putting our skins on for the third climb, Jason asked if my water was flowing because his had been frozen from the start. I offered him some of mine, but at that point we’d already been racing for almost two hours. That was our first red flag, but neither of us thought much of it.
We enjoyed a fun skin along the ridgeline to Buttermilk, then a high speed descent of Tiehack, followed by skate past the rec center and then a short run (!) on the paved bike path to the base of Highlands. Katherine, Jason’s wife, passed off some much needed food and drinks and we started up again. I felt refreshed from a sandwich and some Coke, but Jason was really starting to feel the effects his early dehydration.
In my adventure racing career, I’ve been towed across the deserts of Abu Dhabi, through the forests of Quebec and up mountains in Mexico. It can seem demeaning at first, but a tow can help you over a slump and often just ensures you keep your teammate in sight. Jason and I were prepared with a tow system and I offered to help him up Highlands for a while. Unfortunately, Jason wasn’t recovering and he stayed on tow all the way up the boot pack to the top of the Bowl. Despite our mutual suffering, we saw lots of friends who cheered us along (thanks Mike Schneiter, Andi, Kir and Penn!).
The descent down the gut of the bowl was great as usual and we seemed to be moving well after a short skin up the Grand Reverse and then the fast, narrow descent of the Congo Trail down to Castle Creek Road. As we dropped into the Congo Trail, Pete Swenson (race director) mentioned he thought it would be two more hours to the finish line.
Starting up Midnight Mine Road, I knew Jason felt horrible and was barely persevering. We took a few breaks and tried to get more electrolytes and food into Jason. Thankfully I had some extra Honey Stinger chews because they were about the only thing he could stomach. After about an hour and a half on the road with lots of breaks, Jason threw in the towel. He agonized about the decision, but it was clear he was done and I finally convinced him to turn around and get a ride back to town.
Jason told me to continue up the road and finish alone. Only two teams had passed us, so I pushed the pace a little and caught back up to Brian Edmiston and Mark Beardsley. Together, we crested a rise and saw the Sundeck indicating it was all downhill from there. Our legs were tired but we all pushed through the pain and finally crossed the finish line at 7 hours and 23 minutes.
I found out at the finish line from Jason’s wife that the volunteers on Midnight Mine took one look at Jason and drove him straight to the hospital. By the time I got there to see him, he was already on his third bag of fluids, but he was in good spirits and feeling much better.
It was a tough race for Jason, but I’m proud of our combined effort and I actually felt pretty good throughout. It was an awesome, humbling race and I’m psyched to have finished. Congrats to Wick and Smith on their win and to all the teams that even attempted this race! Read a recap from the Aspen Times here and full race results here. Garmin GPS stats here.
