New Line on Timp (for me): Name?

Recognizing that this year's window for big lines the Wasatch is going to close quickly, a few of us have been energized to get some new projects done.  A late night phone call and some last minute plans resulted in again setting my alarm for the middle of the night so I could get in some skiing before work.  The line of choice was a new one (for us) on the northern end of Mount Timpanogos, just looker's left of the "Front Porch" couloir that we skied last year.  This one is a little less obvious but every bit as good and highly visible from I-15 from the Point-of-the-mountain to Pleasant Grove.  

Any one know the actual name?  For now I'm calling it the Easter Couloir given the time of year.

As seen from the Great Western Trail/Road (all photos by Adam Fabrikant and Billy Haas)

Young gun skiers, Adam Fabrikant and Billy Haas were kind enough to join me for a long walk on the dirt to get to our desired objective.  These guys are newish to Utah and are trying to ski any and every line possible.  They remind me of me, except they are better skiers.  Anyway, I promised them a cool new line that doesn't get skied very much and that's all they needed to hear.  

We hiked up Grove Creek Canyon under a near full moon, moving steadily until we reached the Great Western Trail that runs along the high bench.  We took the road north until almost directly under the North Summit.  Here, we finally transitioned to skis and began the long skin up the apron to the mouth of the couloir.  The snow was baked into a frozen smoothness that allowed relatively fast travel.  We pushed the skinning up the lower reaches of the couloir before transitioning to boot packing up nearly perfect conditions...for booting that is.  The snow here, allowed only partial penetration and made setting the track very easy.    

I kept stopping to look back at the other guys, cast as shadows under the full moon.  As we passed through alternating pockets of warm then cool air, we were energized by the light of the moon, which was amplified through its reflection off Utah Lake.  A few zig zags to avoid wind slabs brought us to a steep frozen roll over that we estimated at 50 degrees (the majority of the chute is upper 30s to low 40s).

Soft morning light just before sunrise

Here, Adam took the lead as the sky softened into shades of pink, blue, and gray.  5 minutes later, I let out a cry as I crested the summit to find the sun cresting the horizon, setting fire to my friend's faces with the deepest red.  We shot a few pictures, ripped skins, and then I declared it time to go since I had a schedule to maintain.  Adam descended the North Summit (actually false N. Summit) first and was quickly heading toward the Front Porch.  Billy and I screamed against the grating sound of metal on textured hard pack and eventually got Adam's attention.  We both pointed skier's right and reminded the overzealous lad that the plan was to descend our ascent route.

Topping out the couloir at 7:00 am

Stunning morning light casting a large shadow over Utah Valley

Psyched!

Once established in the 'Back Door' proper, we took turns skiing from island to island and shooting pictures of each other.  Billy displayed his racing roots as he rolled from edge to edge with speed and finesse.  Adam made strong confident turns and looked for every part a bona fide ski mountaineer.  At 31 years old, I was the old man of the group and linked deliberate slow turns down the steep upper sections.  Once we deemed the objective hazard behind us, we gang skied until the boys had to make a decision as to whether or not to go back up for a run down the adjacent 'Front Porch'.  Sadly, my decision was already made and it involved running down a few miles of dirt to make it to work on time.  

Billy dropping in

Skiing firm snow along the upper ramp

Billy entering the meat of the couloir

As I slid up to my stashed running shoes, I noticed that my camera with those priceless pictures was missing (not my awesome new S100, but an old beater Cannon).  That makes the third camera sacrificed to the mountains.  One is somewhere on Box Elder, another fell off the NE Buttress of Angel's Landing, and now this one.  I have no intention of ever littering and regularly pick up trash/bottles to improve the wilderness.  Perhaps my accidental offerings are the price for safe passage?  

With my lightweight skis and boots on my back (Dynafit Nanga Parbats and TLTs), I jogged down the trail to the car, arriving 5 hours after starting.  40 euphoric minutes later and I was showered and destroying a massive omelet and pancakes before strolling casually into work. Remember what I said last time?  It's always worth it.  These are the days!

Mount Timpanogos: East Ridge

Yesterday was one of those rare days this year when safe travel conditions lined up with a brief weather window and a short amount of time off work.  Jason and I both worked until well after midnight but we still wanted to get out and enjoy some corn.  We are from Indiana after all.  

Skinning towards Emerald Lake, above Primrose Cirque

We awoke after way too little sleep, picked up a candidate for "most consistently happy man alive", Jon Swain, and drove down to Utah County.  En route, we settled on heading up Timp from Aspen Grove with a few different options in mind.  Knowing we were getting a late start (7:45 departure from the car), I thought that descents off the west side might be corning up by the time we got to one of Timp's many summits.  As we skinned up Primrose Cirque, it became apparent that the high clouds and wind would keep the shallow, settled snow pack locked up.  

As we arrived at the saddle at the head of the permanent snow field, we looked down into the Provo/Orem area and got blasted by a warm but biting wind.  If anything, we were too early.  On the drive, I had written off the East Ridge, thinking it would be too sloppy to dance around and through the many cliff bands.  Realizing that nothing was warming up, I suggested the East Ridge to Jason and Jon, both of whom readily agreed.  I had skied it some years ago; when I probably had no business being there.  Today, I assumed it would feel casual.  

Southern Wasatch above the Provo/Orem area with Utah Lake in background (photo by JD)

In the above photo, I'm dressed entirely in Outdoor Research spring/summer climbing gear.  I feel that particularly in Utah, where the weather is largely dry, "off label" use of seasonal clothing makes sense.  Jared has written about backcountry clothing systems, and I agree that lightweight, breathable materials make the most sense for this predominately aerobic activity.  Check out the Ferrosi hoody and pants by OR, both of which are affordable and make great spring skiing sense. 

Jon and Andy booting firm snow to the South Summit of Timp (photo by JD)

Standing on the South Summit felt cathartic.  Winter is over by calender date and by what mother nature gave us this year.  But, spring is here and that brings its own set of emotions and expectations.  After a winter of dinking around in low angle trees and racing to stay fit, we were finally going to ski something, "important".  

JD on the South Summit.  Note the white tights!

We traversed on skis along the west side of the ridge, faces stinging from the wind.  Using gravity, we reached the corner where the broad East Ridge could be seen.  We then booted up a hundred vertical feet or so, just so we could ski it from the top.  The East Ridge is really more of a triangular face that is punctuated by multiple large cliff bands running the entire width.  Each sneak passage is along the skier's left side and forces one to more or less ski the left hand ridge.  This ends up being extremely aesthetic when seen from Sundance as it looks like the descent is along the edge of the world.  

My first time down this line, I was following the Inouye brothers, Jared and Sam.  While totally blown and tired after a restless bivy at the trailhead and an alpine head start (Sam and Jared arrived a couple hours after us and caught up en route), I felt safe because of soft corn and their combined experience.  Yesterday, I was acutely aware of the consequence of a bad fall.  The snow was rock hard and this time, I was familiar with the magnitude of the terrain below.  A fall would result in death or worse.  Also feeling some sort of responsibility for Jason and Jon, both of whom are very capable skiers, I voiced my anxiety and counseled caution.  Perhaps my heightened sense of consequence is secondary to a lack of steep skiing this year.  Jason suggested it could be due to the addition a young son, strengthening the need to come home safely.  Regardless, we made cautious, controlled turns down the moderately steep face until we had made it through the biggest of the cliff bands. 

Jon Swain, skiing steep firm snow down the upper East Ridge of Timp (photo by JD)

Jon Swain navigating a large cliff band on the East Ridge

Jason Dorais looking for a break in the cliffs

This was the best we could find at one point

Andy finding the secret passage

From my first experience, I knew there was one final set of cliffs that didn't have an obvious passage way.  This was discovered at the time when Sam, skiing on big tele skis, came maching into our stance above the cliffs, oblivious to the danger below.  As we screamed for him to stop, he looked confused and then scared as he lost control and tried to grab at any shrub he could before launching off the cliffs.  Stunned, we were all silent until we heard a faint, "I'm OK" from below.  That day, the snow was soft and Sam was lucky to escape without injury.  Yesterday, we chose to skirt the cliff band by heading hard skier's right before cutting back beneath it.  Then, it was a series of low angle chutes, chokes, and fun terrain features until we neared Stewart Falls.  Again, from prior experience, I knew to avoid the skier's left side of the falls and we found a reasonable exit through steep pines along the skier's right side. 

The cliff band in the center of the photo is the one Sam fell over a few years ago.  

Jon finding another sneaky exit couloir

Andy finding one more

Spring time!  East Ridge visible in the background

Now fully relaxed, we were in spring skiing mode - short sleeves and big smiles from a mega classic Wasatch descent.  Spring is here so for those that have given up on the year, reinvest yourselves.  As a new friend says, "These are the days!"  They are fleeting, particularly given the low snowpack, but incredibly rewarding because of the magnitude of the objectives.   So, for me, I know the next morning that my alarm goes off and I find myself wondering if it's worth it, I'll know.  It's always worth it.  Sleep is for the the old.

East Ridge, Mount Timpanogos

The Elk Mountain Grand Traverse

Whoa, Jason and I are back in SLC after a rough first go at the EMGT.  This 40 mile backcountry ski race from the town of Crested Butte to Aspen, CO has a reputation as being gear intensive, strategy intensive, and not for the weak souled.  Although only gaining around 8000 vertical, the race is often plagued by winter storms and the darkness of night can turn simple mishaps into demoralizing catastrophes.  Sounds like just the thing we would like to do with our few days off for the month.

Outdoor Research has stepped up this year as a major sponsor for many great ski mountaineering events and this race was no different.  Not only were they providing the event T-shirts, they also threw in a great pair of gloves for every participant.  They also decided to sponsor a team at this year's traverse and Jason and I were lucky enough to be able to represent this skier friendly brand.

Just getting to Crested Butte to start the race and then finding a way to shuttle our car around to Aspen proved to be a logistical nightmare.  Enter the Viking.  Lars is the namesake of my boy Lars and has always been willing to jump in a car for some adventure (we've driven together from Utah down the Baja Peninsula and north to the Arctic).  This weekend, he flew from Denver to SLC, jumped in a car with us, drove to CB, and then shuttled our car to Aspen where his wife picked him up.  This was crazy and much appreciated.

Once in CB, we were amazed by the number of racers and the energy that permeated the staging area during the gear check.  We said hi to friends we've met from other races, ate a quick lunch, endured a pre pre race meeting, and then were off to the hotel to try and get some rest before we had to check back in at 9PM.  At the hotel, Jared (Samurai and Wasatch Skimo leader who partnered with CB local Jon Brown), busted out a rice maker and worked on some tasty treats that he was taking along for the race.  I tossed restlessly as my heart raced, nervous for the suffering ahead.  Jason, who can sleep anywhere and anytime, caught a couple hours before we started to think about dinner.  Our pre race meal turned out to be cold cereal and bagels at the hotel before we stuffed heaps of mandatory "survival equipment" into our small CAMP packs and returned to the resort for final check in.

Hundreds of racers were milling about making last minute preparations.  Outside, the air was still and warm with temps in the upper 20s/low 30s.  A spotlight illuminated the summit of Mount Crested Butte, and music by Soul Train filled the darkness.  An annual concert was going on at the resort base and added to the festive atmosphere with hundreds of folks dressed as disco loving hippies intermingled with spandex clad racers.  We warmed up for about ten minutes before a priest (not sure if real or not) blessed the race.  Then the whole crowd counted down from ten and we were off.

Starting at a pace more suitable for a 2 hour rando race, the field was strung out after just minutes of climbing.  Two highlights from the whole trip were watching Scott Simmons' two boys (<10 years old?), run shirtless up the groomed start along side their dad as they yelled him on in the night.  Hopefully baby Lars will get that excited.  The second was looking back as we neared the top of the first climb and seeing 300 headlamps rolling forward like a flock of fireflies.

After a screaming descent along a groomed run and out a cat track, we reached the resort boundary we were crossed a rudimentary bridge and then skated through manky partially refrozen snow that was dotted with sage brush and dirt.  Eventually the dirt and brush overwhelmed the snow and we transitioned to running shoes.  At this point, Jason and I were in 4th or 5th having taken a bit longer than the others to get into our shoes.  But, we found the running to our liking and began to pick people off one team at a time until we found ourselves out front.  Occasionally, we had to slow and wait for the next team to ask directions but we were pretty psyched to be leading the race and feeling good.  After 8 miles of this and a couple more stream crossings, the patches of snow overwhelmed the stretches of dirt and putting skis on seemed prudent.

Skinning along the poorly covered Brush Creek Road, we alternated between gliding smoothly and duck walking on dirt with our skins on.  At this point we had been passed by two other teams while we were transitioning and were back in 3rd.  Jon and Jared joined us for a bit but soon faded into the darkness.  Just as quickly, we saw two headlamps up ahead and minutes later were passing Marshall and Pat (eventual 2nd place finishers).  Then Wick and Smith appeared and we commented that we were in perfect position.  Our plan was to follow the leaders as long as possible and then try to go hard to the finish once in the daylight.  The pace was easy and stupidly, I started to allow myself to dream of a nice podium finish, which was our goal at the outset.

At 2AM, 3 hours into the race, we passed the Friend's Hut, where again, a transition snafu (I tried to switch out for betting climbing skins) put us back into third with Simmons and Kroger on our heels.  Moving quickly but in total control, we closed the gap back to the leaders as we climbed to Star Pass.  Making the descent off the steep pass, we were 20 seconds behind Wick and Smith and maybe 20 ahead of Marshall and Pat. The descent was icy, steep, and surely a nightmare for those on nordic gear.  For us, it was going smoothly until I suddenly fell on the run out to the next transition.  Surprised, I looked down and realized my boot had broken in a such a way that it would be impossible to be locked into ski mode. Worried but with the leaders/tour guides starting to skin away, we rallied to the transition zone to begin the climb up to Taylor Pass.

Here, the way seemed obvious.  We would just ski out the gully until we caught sight of Wick/Smith or until Marshall/Pat caught us.  Then we'd stick to the game plan of follow the leader.  A few minutes in, things didn't feel right and we decided to wait for confirmation.  Impatient, I began yelling, "MARSHALL!!!!"  Up the hill, in the trees came a faint, "up here".  Hmmm, realizing we missed the track, we switch backed up the treed hillside until back on the skin track.  A steady pace saw us closing the gap and after half an hour or so, we had rejoined Marshall/Pat, who were currently in second.

We talked for a minute before they put the gas down and absolutely dropped us.  I'm not sure if it was my broken boot, the onset of fatigue, or the irregular frozen skin track, but I was feeling uncoordinated and didn't want to work that hard to stay with them that early in the race.  As we traversed to Taylor, two sets of headlamps bobbed in the not-so-distant darkness and we were still in the race.  Looking back frequently, another set of lights was closing the gap and for the first time I felt like we were the ones being hunted.

Ripping skins and cautiously descending from Taylor with my broken boot over frozen snowmobile tracks, Kroger and Simmons went ripping by and were soon gone while I fought to stay up right.  Joining Jason some minutes later as he waited patiently, we now realized 4th would be our best possible finish.  A pattern of short climbs and frustrating descents ensued until we stood at the cusp of another descent where we could look into three different drainages.  The sliver of a moon was just enough to reveal dark forests below without any sign of the correct path.  Not wanting to really ruin the race, we basically sat down and waited for the next racers to come through and show the way.

The Hagan/Laird team appeared some minutes later and shouted encouragement and yelling that the Barnard Hut was just below.  Kicking ourselves, we thanked them and skated off and then descended to the hut.  They caught me on the descent and we arrived together for the mandatory 10 min medical check/break.  As I was thoroughly enjoying some hot Raman broth, Jared and Jon suddenly pulled in.  Jon was giggling and Jared was cursing about how long this race was turning out to be.  I too was cursing at the unexpected appearance of two other teams.  I cursed some more when the Sully/Haney team pulled in as we were getting up to leave.

Toeing the line, Jason and I realized that Hagan and Laird were going to skate away from the hut.  Ha.  Stupid move.  As we skinned down hill for what felt like miles we realized we were the stupid ones as their lights disappeared.  More cursing ensued when Jared/Jon skated by and then even more when Sully/Haney passed as well.  Finally learning our lesson, we transitioned to skiing/skating the down/flat and hiking the ups.

These last 7 miles of mostly up hill travel along Richmond Ridge were tortuous.  We felt like we'd blown the race but still wanted to salvage a respectable finish.  Trying to stave off cramps, I watched the sun rise over the Rockies and contemplated the last 8 hours.  We had experienced our own highs and lows, watched our friends put on impressive performances, and were lucky enough to enjoy nearly 40 miles made efficient and relatively fast by skis through breathtaking terrain (of which we saw almost none in the dark).  

As we skied down the entirety of Aspen Mountain to the finish I started thinking toward the future, how to go faster, and how to limit mistakes.  At the finish, Wick came up and shook our hands and said, "that's the Grand Traverse for you."  He could say that factually and with understanding having both won and lost badly in the past after taking what the the Traverse offered and then done his best.  With the misfortune that befell us and our strategic mistakes, I feel that on that day, I did my best.  On another long night in the coming years, my best may result in a different outcome which is one of the countless reasons to return.

South Lone and Bighorn...Again

This winter has sucked.  I haven't cared to look at the numbers but the snowpack has been shallow and dangerous.  Too many people have been hurt or worse.  I'm still feeling upset and disheartened that one of my skiing inspirations, Steve Romeo, was killed last week in a large avalanche in the Tetons.  I hope his friends and family are finding solace in the knowledge that Steve was an inspiration to the entire community as has been evidenced by the outpouring of emotion and kind words in virtually every backcountry internet outlet.  

That said, like Steve, I find myself "living to ski" amongst a couple other pursuits.  So today, I donned my TetonAT visor, picked up the ever sanguine Jon Swain, and went looking for snow.  We wanted to stand on a summit and ski something "big".  Mr. Swain had never been up Lone Peak so the car found it's way to Alpine after an alpine start, leaving my warm bed at 5:15 AM.  

We hiked up the dirt road by headlamp until the clouds were splashed pink above Box Elder Peak.  Finding snow after an hour of hiking, we moved steadily and efficiently in skis over the firm textured surface.  Jon stopped once to choke down a hard Powerbar, but pretty quickly we found ourselves chilled to the bone by 50 mph winds as we stood on the ridge looking into Bell's Canyon.  We sought shelter on the leeward side and debated our next move.

Jon skinning along a firm side hill, high above Utah Valley

Bighorn in the immediate background, Timp beyond

It was readily apparent that with the high clouds and nuking winds, we wouldn't be enjoying any corn any time soon.  Too bad.  But, we both agreed that boilerplate is better than breakable and we still had a summit to stand on.  Reluctantly leaving our hiding spot, we descended with skins until we could circumnavigate a bump on the ridge line and gain the South Summit of Lone Peak.  We snapped a few photos and chewed some food with frozen jaws before descending our ascent path down the popular "Heaven's Halfpipe".  

Nearing the ridge between Alpine and Bell's Canyon

Jon Swain stylin' while escaping the wind.  Note the goggles, snorkel, and headlamp.

Lone Peak Cirque from the South Summit

JS on the South Summit

JS, Question Mark Wall, Utah Valley, and the Oquirrhs

Near the bottom, Jon decided to rally for one more summit and we turned it around and headed up Bighorn's South Ridge.  Again, the wind limited our summit stay and after some more bone jarring boilerplate skiing, we found ourselves trying to avoid scrub oak as the snow turned isothermic below the Second Hammongog.  A few minutes later and we were back at our shoes sharing a Snickers bar while Jon was commenting on how great it is to ski something new (this was a repeat day for me but traded out the other guys for Swain).  A few more minutes of hiking brought us to the only car at the trailhead.  And, since it was lunch time, we then made a stop at Fong's Chinese Restaurant in American Fork.  It's housed in an old American style diner but the food was top notch American style Chinese!  You can never go wrong with rice.  Check it out!

From the summit of Bighorn Peak

Wasatch PowderKeg Recap

Saturday was the 10th annual PowderKeg and I think it's the finest race in the country.  The race started with a sprint across the parking lot to a transition zone where we put on our skis for the first climb up to Clayton Peak.  Jason and Jared had recon'ed the course the day before and were right on when they recommended full coverage skins.  The first climb ascended a mogul field that was locked up from the recent melt/freeze.  The stupid climb was an accident as Chad got the idea to route the PKeg up that slope when we went off course and ascended it during one of the Citizen races.  Anyway, my Pomoca skins were inadequate for the steep ice and I quickly was dropped.  A couple others in the lead pack also had similar issues and fell back.  Jared however, donned ski crampons and blew through the field passing everyone but Jason.  Sneaky guy.  

The first descent held the worst snow of the day but there were no major mishaps.  In the transition with Jon Brown and Tom Diegle, I could see the leaders moving out of sight.  It was to remain that way all morning with the gaps growing slightly at every checkpoint.  At times I felt like people were coming back to me and at others I contemplated switching into the rec race so I could be done sooner.  With 6 climbs and around 6500 vertical gained, the course was challenging, beautiful, and interesting as it meandered through the Brighton side country.  

Near the end of the race, I tried to open it up as I could see 4th-7th right in front, but had nothing.  The power was lacking.  Once when asked about how they are able to free climb El Capitan in Yosemite, the Huber brothers said, "we have power to spare."  I could have used some Saturday.  Ultimately, I finished 8th, which was disappointing but a testament to how this race is becoming more and more competitive.  I have gotten faster each year and keep slipping in the standings. 

Jason, Luke Nelson, and Brian Wickenhauser on top of the Men's Race Division Podium

Team Wasatch Skimo

Jason on the other hand has shed weight off his feet, become a better skier, and trained more diligently this year.  The result?  A dominant performance which saw him take the lead from start to finish.  Many others from the Wasatch (adopted member Luke Nelson was 2nd!) also had strong days including Tom Goth and Tom Diegle.  Tom Goth is a relative new comer who finished a very strong 5th.  Tom Diegle is immortal, finished 7th, and continues to shame men half his age.   Teague Holmes and Jared Inouye finished in 9th and 10th respectively.  Teague was also close enough to never let me relax, and Jared was battling up ahead in the race to determine 4th, 5th, and 6th before he broke his boot and had to make a moderately challenging descent in full walk mode.  I know he was disappointed with the result but we all know how it would have turned out.  Many others experienced their own victories or moral defeats but not being able to see the drama, I'll let them tell their own tales.  

The Sprint Race

This year there was also an encore race that was held right at the base of the resort.  The format was a team sprint relay, with 6 people to a team all having to complete one short climb/descent.  It was spectator friendly with family and friends finally able to see what goes on.  The mood was lighthearted as the teams were all randomly assigned and at least half the competitors had already downed burgers and their beverage of choice.  My team wasn't the fastest but we also didn't lose as I was able to pass Aaron Inouye in the transition to sneak ahead.  That felt good beating an Inouye even if it wasn't their ring leader, Jared. 

Final Thoughts

Again, I think this race is the finest in the country. And by finest, I mean the most fun.  With 162 racers this year it is likely the biggest as well.  One unique aspect is the insane amount of local support.  Local companies donated prizes and local ski celebrities were involved by racing, emceeing, or volunteering.  But mainly, it's the people of all abilities and backgrounds that come out with enthusiasm and make the race special.  I saw truly fruity spandex suits, skirts, costumes, and a horribly awkward tandem tele set up. This year was also remarkable for the increasing number of high end racers that showed up, with Luke Nelson returning and a strong contingent from Colorado making the drive (Wick, JB, and Gaston).  Brighton deserves special mention as they play host to the event and really stepped up this year by allowing us to grow the sport through our Thursday night series.  An award was given to the three people that have competed in all 10 PowderKegs thus far.  I've now done three and hope to make it another 30.  So huge thanks to Andrew, Collen and Co for starting up the race 10 years ago.  And lastly, I can't forget about Chad and Emily who deserve a big hug, slap on the butt, and a high five for the immense amount of work they put into this great annual Wasatch tradition.  

Women's Rec Podium

Men's Heavy Metal Podium

Women's Race Podium

Mount Nebo 50K

Twins

Last Saturday Sam and I went out for a long walk as a training session for the Elk Mountain Grand Traverse. With the danger level still hovering in the red, we tried to come up with something in the 30 mile range that wouldn't ever leave the green zone.  Keep the slope angles low enough and not only are the physics of an avalanche impossible, but it's also impossible to make a turn.

So Sam suggested the Mount Nebo loop road which is around 38 miles and connects Payson and Nephi.  In the winter, the initial few miles are plowed on both ends shortening the total distance to an estimated 31 miles or 50 kilometers.  We thought we would use the day as a training session and to spark our imaginations while gazing at some of the more impressive lines in the area.  The hope was to skin at a moderate pace to the top of the loop, play around, and then ski down the road cutting the switchbacks to make some fun turns.  The reality was the skin to the summit went as planned but the descent was too low angle to ski and required skating/poling through manky snowmobile tracks.  Who cares though?  It was a fun mellow tour with a jolly partner through beautiful country side. 

Around 30 minutes into the day Sam developed a hot spot

Leaving Juab County

Hello Utah County

Nebo refused to show us her big beautiful bowls...better saved for another day anyway

Summit of the Nebo Scenic Loop

Utah County 

We didn't encounter any red necks until over the top and heading down to Payson.  Note the rolled sled. 

Old habits die hard

Citizen Series Finale and Season Summary

Last night we held the final race of our inaugural season of racing.  Some 50ish hearty souls came out with enthusiasm to win the Sportiva skis and to once again get some exercise and ski by headlamp while the rest of America sat at home and watched something stupid like the Bachelor.

Pre race instructions

The format was a two person team relay, with each person being required to complete two circuits on a figure of eight course (two climbs with shared descent).  Each circuit seemed to take from 10 to 20 minutes depending on the person, gear, and motivation.

Teams were decided by once again having the "fast folks" step forward and then having everyone on regular gear claim their partner.  Once that was settled, we stepped forward to the straightest starting line of the year and then the drag race was off.  The course began with a couple hundred meters of low angle cat track before tucking into the trees for steep technical skinning.  With the pack strung out along the double track, Jason tried to drop the field but Jared hung on.  My skins were starting to fail as were many others given the cold temps and the unsettled skinner.

Jake and Blake on the final booter

After the first descent, sneaky little Jared managed to jump into a second set of skis and was off before Jason and I had even skinned up one.  Everyone was fighting their own battles though.  I was chasing Jason and trying to avoid being caught by Teague.  Teague was chasing me and trying not to get caught by Chad and Courtney.  They in turn had their own pursuers.

But the evening was determined by those on the heavy gear.  My partner Jake was locked up in a contest with Teague's partner, Blake.  Those two guys went back and forth and both put in gutsy performances.  In the end, Blake lost a skin and Jake took advantage, pulling away for the win.

Psyched to beat Jared's team.  

The victor's pie

Raffling PW gear

After the racing, we made our way to Molly Green's for food, beverage, and prizes.  This time there was a bit more energy as everyone was anxious to win the Sportiva GTR skis, which were being raffled off as our Series grand prize.  The customary pumpkin pies were given to Blake and Jake and then a couple more large pies were passed out to share amongst everyone for all being "winners".  Then, for each of the nine races attended, people placed their names in the lucky boot and Jared drew the winners.  Noah Howell of the Powder Whore Nation also kindly contributed some PW gear and movies, which we raffled off first (Surprisingly, Jared's name didn't come up every time).  Then, a very befitting winner took home the new skis.  Tim White has come to almost all of the races and has been an ardent supporter of the new series.

Tim WINS!

Series in Review:

So what started as a casual get together of friends on Thanksgiving morning has turned into a wonderful tradition of more friends, skiing, suffering, pies, and prizes.  In all, we had 9 races this year, all of which where held in the Brighton Ski area and the surrounding backcountry.  I estimate that over 80 people came out and participated in at least one race and many many folks raced multiple times.  The format varied and we tried out a few different styles of races ranging from vert style (as many laps as one can do in an hour or two), team relay, hill climb, standard Skimo course, and a four lap short course.  We had current and former US Skimo National Champions (both mens and womens), local hardmen such as Tom Diegle, weekend warriors, newcomers to the sport, people on carbon boots, tele boots, race skis, mega watts, and everything in between.  Many companies rose up to show support including Kirkham's, Minus 33, the Powderwhores, and main sponsor, La Sportiva.  Brighton was a gracious host all series long and allowed us to use their terrain free of charge to pursue our shenanigans.  Jared Winkler, Brandon Dodge, and Greg the cat driver all deserve special mention for giving the OK from an administration, patrol, and driver perspective.  

My goals at the beginning were many fold:

1. Get faster

2. Get others involved in this great sport 

3. Preach the "light is right" philosophy

    a. Help point others in the right direction gear wise as others have done for me

4. Have fun

I think all four were accomplished and hope to grow the series next year and continue our relationship with the above mentioned great companies.  Special thanks to La Sportiva for contributing the grand prize. And, special thanks to all of you who competed and made the series a success.  

Comments and suggestions on how to make things better are welcome.