Luke Nelson

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Triumph in the Tetons

Posted by sarianderson on January 9, 2012
Posted in: Race Results, Race Updates, Training and racing with kids. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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.

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Announcements

Posted by sarianderson on December 16, 2011
Posted in: Gear, Media Coverage, Miscellaneous, Photos and Videos. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Last May I spent a few days in New York City talking to Outside TV about the role of athletes in product development. The Polartec segment starts at 2’45” in the video below. Also included is Peter Whittaker for Eddie Bauer First Ascent and Jeff Lenosky for Teva.

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.

Sacrifices & Adjustments

Posted by sarianderson on February 17, 2011
Posted in: Training, Training after pregnancy. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

There are times when decisions need to be made with many more people in mind other than myself. Okay, probably all the time… Anyway, having been away the previous weekend for a funeral on the east coast, I made the decision to skip the COSMIC race at Monarch and spend the weekend with my family.

As much as I wanted to race, it was important to me to spend quality time with my husband and kids. Thanks to my parents, Ian and I were able to skin and ski together on Saturday while Juniper enjoyed ski school.

With amazing weather all weekend, I made an early trip to Marble on Sunday morning so I could get home early to hang with kids and for Ian to get out for a road ride. I tested a pair of Black Diamond skis from next year’s quiver and enjoyed a great day of skinning and skiing.

Despite first thinking I was sacrificing my race, I quickly realized it was the best decision to enjoy my backyard and family.

My brother and his family arrived yesterday so now it’s time to play on the skis for a few days. Before riding the chairlift, I made it out this afternoon for some interval training with the kids. I have only towed both kids skate skiing once before, but with my new ski set-up for the Chariot I set out for some skinning up Marion Gulch.

Even though I was breaking trail through about 6 – 8″ of fresh snow, the trail was the perfect pitch for my power intervals. Rushing out the door as usual, I forgot my Garmin GPS watch and was forced to make some adjustments to my plan. Thankfully I had remembered my phone so I timed one minute at an all out pace and marked the beginning and end in the snow. I continued my fifteen intervals by making hash marks in the snow at the end of each one to make sure I didn’t slack at all.

Once I had sufficiently packed down the trail in the small area, I continued up the trail to the top. The La Sportiva Stratos carbon boots and skis continued to impress me. Any other ski mountaineering gear would have felt too heavy for the terrain, but the featherlight weight of the gear made it super comfortable and well suited. Add a pair of Pomoca skins and sleeping kids and everything was perfect.

Also, this is the week I had hoped to go to the ISMF Ski Mountaineering World Championships in Claut, Italy. Check out the new La Sportiva blog to follow fellow Sportiva teammates Luke Nelson and Janelle Smiley.

The Heathen

Posted by sarianderson on January 17, 2011
Posted in: Race Coverage, Race Results, Race Updates, Training after pregnancy. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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 Sportiva Stratos 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

Axel came to watch the finish thanks to my parents. Photo by Daniel Dunn

Happy to be finished

Good Start to the 2011 Race Season

Posted by sarianderson on January 10, 2011
Posted in: Race Coverage, Race Results, Training after pregnancy. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

Photo by Crested Butte Photography

I ventured to Jackson, Wyoming this weekend for some ski mountaineering racing at the US Ski Mountaineering National Championships. The Jackson race was the first of three qualifiers for the ISMF World Championships in Claut, Italy in February. It felt a little early for national championships since many of us only had one race under our belts this season but at least we were all in the same boat.

After a great night’s sleep thanks to some amazing hosts in Jackson, I was feeling nervous but ready to race on Saturday morning. The pack started fast and I did my best to hang on the back of the men’s lead group of about 20 for as long as I could. Janelle Smiley was right on my heels the entire 3,000 foot ascent, short descent down Alta Chute and into the second ascent. My new Merelli race skis are longer than my old skis and therefore my old skins don’t fit on them very well. Listening to my gut would have been a good idea and I should have picked up a new pair of longer skins last week. Oh well, I just had a few extra chances to practice getting my skins on since I had to change skins multiple times to prevent extra slipping and frustration.

By the time we got to the bottom of the second descent, I managed to catch back up and Janelle and I climbed the third ascent within seconds of each other. A boot pack, short descent and into Corbetts we raced. When we crested the top of the ladder up Corbetts the wind was howling and the snow stinging our faces. So much so that I skinned a little extra to hide behind a patrol shack for the quick transition for the 4,000 descent.

Monique Merrill in 3rd, Janelle Smiley in 1st and myself in 2nd. The three of us qualified for the world championships. Photo by Crested Butte Photography.

I wish there was a photo of me on the descent as I was truly suffering. One of these days I will get out to just train on the descents. My climbing felt great but my legs screamed on the descents slowing me to a stop a few times.  Janelle and I came into the final transition to climbing together with me getting out a second ahead of her. About 10 minutes in, my skins began to peel again and I was forced to stop and change skins again. As I watched Janelle skin away, I thought for awhile I may be able to get back to her and then truly race for the finish. I  just couldn’t keep up with her at that point as Janelle was racing strong and clean and finished a well deserved national champion. I finished about a minute behind her slightly disappointed with my finish but also psyched to have raced as well as I could have.

Not only was Saturday my first ski mountaineering race of 2011, it was also the first race on my new gear – La Sportiva Stratos boots and Merelli Raid skis. I still cannot believe how light the equipment is. The boots feel lighter than my trail running shoes and I don’t even know I have skis on my feet – amazing. Since there is still a lot of work to be done on my descending skills, I am still getting used to the skis on the descents. Everything feels fast and comfortable on the climbs and super solid on the descents. I am thoroughly impressed with the gear!

Please visit the Jackson race website for complete results and some photos. Congrats to Brandon French, Luke Nelson and Pete Swenson for also qualifying for worlds.