Sari and I have struggled to describe the sheer beauty, competition, excitement and celebration at the Pierra Menta race ever since we got back from France over a month ago. I just found this video, which is in French, but is a great recap nonetheless. Team America makes some cameos as well. Pete (sounding like a local) and Cary (not so much) at 5:37, Sari (picking her nose?) and Mona at 7:49, Brandon (big smile) at 16:47, Mona’s backside at 19:30 and Jason at 19:36.
We don’t know yet if Sari and Mona will go back to race PM next year, but for anyone who wants to experience the zenith of rando ski racing, this is the place and the race. We highly recommend it!
After a few days of being home with Juniper and the crazy dogs, I have had some time to reflect on the Pierra Menta. It was a bit of a rough week going in with some sort of stomach thing rendering me unable to eat or train. After a difficult drop of Juniper with her grandparents in Washington, Ian and I were off to France for our first night alone since Juniper was born. We met up with Mona, Pete, Cary, Brad and Jason in Frankfurt and then joined Brandon, Katie and Jared in Geneva. As Americans living in mountain towns most of us don’t get to take public transportation very often, so we loaded up all our gear and hopped a few trains to Albertville, home of the 1992 Winter Olympics. We managed to squeeze ourselves and our luggage into two cabs the next morning for the short trip into Areches-Beaufort.
As Ian reported earlier, we enjoyed the ski into town for registration and coffee and then skinned back up to our hotel for the final preparations for day 1. The groomed ski trails throughout and linking the towns were awesome and proved to be a great alternative to hitching rides to and from town. It was a relief that I actually had some energy to skin back to the hotel since I had been completely sedentary for a week and a half at this point.
Day 1 was rough for me and therefore Monique as well. My stomach was in knots by the second big ascent preventing me from moving very quickly so Mona pulled some extra weight and hooked up the tow line to help minimize our losses. Even though we didn’t pass any teams for the rest of the stage, we managed to prevent losing tons of time to most of the women. The top four womens’ teams are so far out of our league that pretty much no matter what we did, we would be at least a half hour back from them every stage. Monique and I finished the day in 11th which was definitely not where we wanted to be but relieved to be done with the first day and hoping I would start to get better as the race moved forward.
After a very rough afternoon of stomach issues (that’s all the detail I’ll go into as you get the idea), Mona and I started Day 2 hoping to finish the stage. The first two ascents (of seven total) were very slow with Monique carrying all my gear including my water but as time wore on we started to move a little faster and we were able to pass quite a few teams. We enjoyed having our friend Sebastian Sxay of France out on the course cheering us on and motivating us to pass a few more womens teams. Despite a rough start, we finished the day in 7th place and moved into 8th overall.
Another beautiful morning greeted us for Day 3 which was the ‘big’ day. I had actually been able to eat a little dinner the night before and therefore had a little more energy for the start. It was the first day that the first climb actaully gained some elevation (versus just trying to spread out the pack) and Mona and I fared well from from the steep climb up the ski trail. After a short descent, we started the the longest ascent of the race which included almost 100 kickturns and two bootpack sections with ropes. Although we got slowed by the bunch on the switchbacks, we maintained a good pace and made it to the first rope section in good position. If you’ve ever stood in line for a chairlift in Europe you’ll have a good idea of what the lineup was like at the first rope section. After about 10 minutes of getting pushed around, Mona and I finally got moving up the rocks and eventually made it to the Le Grand Mont where there were hundreds of people cheering us on. It was an amazing feeling to have that many people out there cheering us on especially knowing they had all skinned or hiked up first thing in the morning. Monique and I rallied back from some slow descents on the first few days and finished the day in 6th place.
I was very relieved and anxious to start Day 4 as I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get this far after the first day. Mona and I had a strong start to get a good position in the pack when the course quickly dropped into two skin tracks. It was a relief to see where we may have been in the pack if I had been feeling well the rest of the race. With just a little more to go in the last descent, Mona caught site of the fifth place women’s team and we pushed hard to pass them and finish the day in 5th place.
With two stronger finishes the last two days, we were able to move into 7th place overall. Although we would have liked to finish higher up in the field, it was a relief to have moved up from our first day’s placing. Monique was a true teammate throughout the race – towing me, carrying my pack and helping get me to the finish line every day all the while being understanding that I had no power. I hope some day I can return the support for her or another teammate.
I also want to thank Ian for all his support as well as Katie French for making the super early morning skins every day to cheer on all of Team America.
The top two Italian teams atop Le Grand Mont, just like a Tour de France stage on snow.
Jared finishing the climb up Le Grand Mont
Whoever accused the French of being lazy has never been to the Pierra Menta. Today was like a Tour stage on snow. Katie and I started skinning up the Areches ski area at 6 a.m. so we could cheer on the US team at the very top of the mountain, Le Grand Mont, which sits at 2,687 meters. We started out with a few other spectators but before long, we were literally joined by thousands of people making their way up the mountain by every means imaginable: skis with skins, snowshoes, crampons, you name it. I think there were more people on ski mountaineering gear here than has been sold in the US all year. When we got to Le Grand Mont it was an awesome spectacle – thousands of people lining the course and setting up ‘tailgates’ that would make any American football fan proud, especially since everyone hiked it up over 5,000 feet. Of course, people were eating cheese and drinking hot wine instead of Cheetos and wine coolers, but the idea is the same. As each team cruised by the crowd went wild, cheering, chanting, singing and ringing insanely large cowbells. It was a thrill to be there and everyone on the US team said they got goosebumps as they skied past.
The scene atop Le Grand Mont
Sari with Mont Blac towering behind her
Brandon is all smiles.
Pete and Cary
Jason and Brad
It was another good day for the American team, all of whom loved the technical, dynamic nature of today’s course. The stage included at least one super steep pitch with about 100 switchbacks and a bootpack section over an exposed ridge with a fixed line that required all the teams to clip into with their via ferrata gear. Pete and Carey had another strong day, finishing in 35th place for the day. Brandon and Jared recovered nicely and finished in 79th. Brad and Jason, ever the gentlemen, let Sari and Mona pass them at the bottlenecked bootpack section and the two teams finished one after another. Sari (who is thankfully feeling much better) and Mona finished the day in 6th place, moving them up to 7th overall. Nina and Linsay are just two minutes behind them in 8th place.
Tomorrow is a short(er) day with just 5,700 feet of climbing. Then, we’re all loading up and heading to Geneva where everyone will catch flights back home. I don’t think I’ll have time to post, but I don’t think there’ll be much change in the overall standings. The Pierra Menta has been an unbelievable experience for all of us and everyone is already plotting their return next year. Thanks for reading and your support!
After 28 kilometers, 9,000 feet of climbing and five+ hours of racing, all of Team America completed Day Two of the Pierra Menta. It was a brutally long stage that included some spectacular scenery, a couple of wicked downhills and one never-ending ridgeline traverse. Today, a couple of teams showed their experience, while a few others suffered from a second long day of racing.
The Pierra Menta is the large exposed rock on the right. The race traversed the entire ridgeline beneath it.
Team America veterans Pete Swenson and Cary Smith hit their stride today and finished the stage in just over 4 hours, moving them up a few places in the overall standings to 44th. These guys are looking strong and I expect we’ll see more gains from them in the next two days. Brandon French and Jared Inouye, on the other hand, struggled a bit today and fell back to 93rd place, but still solidly in the middle of the pack. Jason McGowin and Brad LaRochelle are in 128th, both a bit humbled by the day’s stage, but still loving every minute of this crazy race.
The Beaufort locals out showing their support again.
Pete and Cary looking strong.
Brandon showing some skin, enjoying the views.
Jared looking a little dazed and confused but still truckin.
Jason was cramping pretty bad but was still smiling.
On the women’s side, the two American teams seem to be pushing one another in a bit of friendly competition. Sari and Mona finished a few minutes ahead of Nina and Lnysay today and there’s now less than a minute separating the two teams in 8th and 9th place.
Sari gutting it out.
It was an especially good day for Sari. She spent all yesterday afternoon either in bed or in the bathroom fighting some kind of nasty stomach bug. She couldn’t seeem to keep any food down. At the start today she was ready to quit, but Mona gave her some encouragement and offered to carry her pack. That seemed to help and they soldiered on for the next couple of hours. Sometime midway through the stage, the two shared a Coke and that seemed to give them enough of a boost to finish the stage strong. Sari is still far from 100 percent, or even 50 percent, but she’s got some color now and is actually eating a bit. We’re all keeping our fingers crossed that she’s on the mend and tomorrow she’ll feel even better.
We’ve truly entered a different world. And it’s filled with lots of lyrca, cowbells and accordions.
For most Americans, a hardcore sports fan is someone who gets to the parking lot at 9 a.m. with his RV to set up a huge tailgate spread before the big game. This is a hardcore Pierra Menta fan in France:
That dude lugged an accordion up over 3,000 feet on his skis…at 5:30 a.m. Impressive. Most impressive. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see him try to ski it back down.
The first day of the Pierra Menta started at 7 a.m. sharp. Katie from Kalispell (whose husband Brandon French is racing) and I started skinning at 6 a.m. to catch the top teams at one of the early transitions. We skinned for about an hour and this is the scene that finally greeted us at the top. Pretty cool.
The French take their randonee racing seriously. We saw more spectators in skin-tight ski suits than I’ve seen racers wear at any single race in the US. That, and pretty much all the spectators skinning up were wearing super lightweight race gear and carrying huge, oversized cowbells. When the first French and Italian teams cruised up to the transition, the crowd went nuts. Everyone was shouting “Allez, Allez!” with a few “Venga, Venga!” thrown in, all against a steady din of accordion music, singing, clapping and the ever-present helicopter flyover. Here’s one of the members of today’s winning French team at the first transition:
For us Americans, it was certainly a bit humbling to watch just how fast the European teams are, especially the French and the Italians. Hell, the top Italian women’s team beat our fastest men’s team by almost 10 minutes. Regardless, Team America had a solid day, especially if you keep in mind that rando racing is just in its infancy back home.
Pete Swenson and Cary Smith finished the day in 47th place, about 40 minutes behind the overall race leaders. Brandon and Jared were just a few minutes behind them and Brad and Jason behind them. Sari has not yet recovered from whatever stomach bug/parasite/nastiness she brought back from China so she and Mona struggled, finishing in eleventh place for the women…a bit disappointing. Nina and Linsay finished in eighth place for the women.
Pete and Cary at the first major transition
Jason is all smiles in his Team USA kit
Sari, head down, grinding it out on the last climb of the day.
We’ve spent the evening looking for some Cipro for Sari, a drug that will apparently solve her stomach woes. So far no luck. We’re hoping she feels better by tomorrow for a long stage that includes 2,700m of climbing over 20+ km of racing. Stay tuned.
