Eye Candy

These are the skis you can win (the not yet available Sportiva GTR)! Fill out the form in the previous post below, at slc-samurai.blogspot.com, or at citizenseries.wasatchpowderkeg.com by 4PM on Thursday and then come race in the last of our Thursday night races to be eligible.

Citizens Series Finale and Pics of the Day

The 9th and final Wasatch Citizens Skimo Race will be held on Thursday, March 1, 2012 at 7:00 pm at Brighton, Utah. 

We will conclude the inaugural series by giving away a pair of Sportiva GTS skis.

Here are the rules:

1. To be eligible for the drawing, you must have participated in at least one WCS Race.

2. To enter the drawing, you must fill out the form at citizenseries.wasatchpowederkeg.com

3. Procedure for drawing: (a) based on form  submissions (paragraph 2), a list of all entries will be compiled; (b) each entrant will get 1 entry for each race in which he or she has been a participant; (C) a randomly numbered list of all entries will be compiled; (D) each entry will be assigned a number between 1 and the total number of entries; (E) a randomly selected person at Molly Greens will select a number between 1 and the total number of entries; (F) the selected number wins the GTS skis!

4. You must be present to win.

Thanks and Good Luck!

Also, JD and I had a fun tour today, bumping into Adam, JS, and JB. We had all the terrain between the Alpine Ridgeline and Box Elder to ourselves and managed to find a few patches of powder that haven't been blown into oblivion. We kept the slope angles low but still managed to have a good time billy goating a rocky ridge and enjoying stunning views of Box Elder. Here are a couple pics:

Wasatch Citizen's Skimo Race #8: Vert 60

Pre race briefing

Tonight we held our penultimate race for the year and I think it was another great success.  Around 35 people showed up to suffer and have fun with friends for 60 minutes.  We warmed up together to the base of the Snake Creek lift where the usual crooked start line was drawn in the snow.  After a couple announcements, I gave the starting commands and 3 dozen athletes of varying backgrounds were off.  They were all chasing their own goals.  For some, it was a desire to beat a friend.  For others, a certain number of laps equated to success.  Some were just happy to be hiking in the sharp night air amongst friends.  

Group Warmup

After putting away the camera, I gave chase and caught the leaders who seemed to have arranged some sort of "gentleman's agreement" to take it semi easy on the first lap, allowing everyone to warm up properly.  I hung around for a few more laps and then reverted to "race director" and took pics/video of the whole crew.  

The usual fast start

It looked initially like it might be a competitive race between Jason, Jared, Tom, Tom, Teague, Courtney, Layne, Chad, Chad, and others (sorry if I didn't see you up front).   But, one by one skin failures, binding malfunctions, or natural attrition resulted in a two man race.  Jason claims he was toying with Jared but then he lost his skin and he looked like a fool, unable to catch up over the final minutes.

  

A few random pictures of people getting after it above.

As for the women, Gemma Arro Ribot, fresh off a 2nd place finish in the European Skimo Championships, hung with most of the men and turned in the most laps.  It was great to see at least five other women out racing the men as well.  

The little pie for our littl winner

After the hour of pain, most people skied down for the traditional after race party at Molly Green's for drinks, food, and prizes.  Minus 33 was the sponsor for the evening and donated hats and a couple proform cards.  Pumpkin pies were handed out to Jared and Gemma and then to newcomers, the Diegle brothers, and to Layne and Toph for making every race thus far.  

Gemma with the pumpkin pie and a new hat courtesy of Minus 33

Join us next week for our last race of the series.  We will be having another team sprint relay where someone on race gear and spandex is paired with someone on traditional gear.  The first team to complete 4 laps (two each) will be declared the winners.  They will get a pumpkin pie and someone will win a pair of brand new skis from our main sponsor, La Sportiva, in the season finale raffle.  

Series sponsor La Sportiva will be giving away a new pair of skis next week!  The skis above a just a few in their new line.

 See citizenseries.wasatchpowderkeg.com for more.

Photo of the Day/Citizens Race Tonight

Inverted dense snow with a mix of graupel and rain crust made for some rather enjoyable skiing on the 64 mm race skis.  Photo by Jason and more on jasondorais.blogspot.com.

64 mm skis, 145 cm poles, steezy hat, and inverted pow

Also, tonight there will be another Citizens Skimo race at Brighton.  Be there ready to go at 7PM by the Great Western lift.  We'll have one more next week with one lucky person winning a pair of brand new pair of skis from series sponsor La Sportiva.  These races are a lead up to the main event, the Wasatch PowderKeg.  Sign up!

Quad Canyon Traverse: Millck, BCC, LCC, and AF Canyons

This year has left my soul withered up in lost dreams of skiing steep lines with stable powder.  Racing has filled part of the void by spending time with friends and developing fitness that we plan to apply to the mountains in the spring.  But, with the snowpack now sufficient to allow passage through most areas, Jason and I decided to go out and find the joy of moving efficiently through the backcountry.  

The plan was to start at the beginning of the Millcreek road, skin the 4-5 miles to the Big Water TH, make our way up to Dog Lake, ski out into BCC, head up Cardiff, find a way into LCC, skin up the Bird, and then somehow make it out into American Fork Canyon where we conned our little sister into waiting for us at the Tibble Fork Reservoir.  

We were handicapped by the fact that I worked late the night before and was unwilling to start before 8AM.  I also had to work that evening so I set a strict finishing time of 2:30PM.  If it looked like that wasn't going to be feasible, we would bail on the full tour and hitch hike/beg for a ride from friends back to our car.  

5 miles of Millcreek road

Since we were on a timeline, both of us were using race skis (skinny and short) and had on various amounts of spandex.  The quizzical looks from others in the backcountry are funny to me.  Different agendas warrant different equipment. 

Jason kept track our or progress on his cheap Timex watch (both of us forgot any sort of altimeter, GPS, HR monitor, or other technology).  We ticked off the first 5ish miles in around an hour.  Following a skin track through the conifers and aspens, we found ourselves above Dog Lake in an 1:30...ahead of schedule. We skied a mix of luge track and breakable crust to the BCC road and walked over to the snow park where skis went back on.  Again, the cadence was fast and we felt powerful as we ticked off the miles, moving fast while admiring the terrain above us along the Benson and Hedges ridge. 

Passing under the exit of the Hallway Couloir, we found a perfect skin track that took us up the sub ridge  and to the Superior ridge line.  Peering into LCC, we realized we would now be skiing a couple thousand feet of breakable crust on 64 mm underfoot skis.  A few ugly minutes later, we strode down the Bypass Road and started up Chip's.  The legs grew heavy, but we were still able to maintain a respectable pace to Hidden Peak.  

LAME!  Nice speedsuit.

En route, some baggy pants monkey making noodley turns on a groomer noodled his way past and shouted, "LAAAAAMME!"  That was probably the best comment I've heard all year.  Jason and I laughed out loud as I was in full spandex and we were hiking up hill with kid skis through all the radness.  Most folks, however, were actually encouraging.  

We knocked on the Patrol door at Hidden Peak and the guys were super cool when we asked about how to get to AF Canyon.  It was still before 1 PM and the guys made it sound easy.  Committing, we dropped into Mineral and called our sister, telling her to meet us in an hour.  We rallied out a packed snow mobile track before the path mellowed leading to a long skate through a beautiful serene drainage. And then we were there.  The Tibble Fork Reservoir appeared around a turn and we were done.  5:52 after leaving the car in Millcreek.  After constant motion, it felt odd to sit down feel stillness.  Not more than 5 minutes later, Aimee pulled into the parking lot and we were off in search of burgers and fries.  

Really serene terrain heading into AF

Having done a few long traverses in the past, I can say that it is fully addicting.  Light gear + fitness + an inspiring line/traverse/enchainment = more skiing and more fun.  While this quad canyon tour purposefully followed mostly mellow terrain and for convenience passed through the resort, so many variations exist.  Add Raymond, Kessler, Superior, the Pheiff, Box Elder....  Think about it.  

Oh, and BTW, it was awesome to skin up dry powder and ski breakable crust!  South to North would be recommended.  

STATS:

Distance: Estimated at 30 miles on Google Earth

Vertical: Estimated at 8000 feet ascended by the altimeter in my head

Time: 5 hrs 52 min 37 seconds

Gear: Sportiva Stratos boots and RSR skis, Plum 145 bindings, Dynafit Speedsuit and Manaslu pack, 140 cm $20 Swix poles

Food: EFS gel x 1, Power Gel x 1, Einstein's Bagel, Diet Coke, 2L Gatorade

Partner: One mini me named Jason

Wasatch Citizen Series: Great Western Time Trial

Stolen without permission from little brother's site, jasondorais.blogspot.com.... because I can.  "The Citizen Series roles on. Thursday night there was a time trial to the top of the Great Western lift. Everyone started 30 seconds apart and raced the clock to the top. I was driving back from Jackson and made it just in time to take a few pictures. Come next time! Visit http://citizenseries.wasatchpowderkeg.com/ for more details."

Robby Babbit about to work hard, trying not to get chased down

Train of lights

Andy and ???

Tom Goth, men's overall winner.

Sarah won the women's division and hopefully everyone had a good time.  There were a few more new faces but a bunch of you regulars were missing.  We take a week off now and will pick back up with our last two races on February 23rd and March 1st. I've tried out different formats and for the last two, we will open it up to popular vote.  Sprint? Relay? Vert Style? Full skimo course?

And HUGE thanks to Kirkham's for stepping up and donating some gift certificates.  It's rad that local businesses are intersted in supporting grassroots races like these. 

Prizes:

Tom - The big pumpkin pie

Sarah - $40 Kirkham's gift card

Liz - Cookies for coming out for the first time

Emily - Valentine's cupcakes for placing 2nd in the woman's division

Courtney - Valentine's cookies for being a sweetie (picture forthcoming)

???? (sorry blanking) - $25 Kirkham's gift card for correctly winning the "guess the closest number" raffle

Wasatch Citizen Series Sprint Relay

Announcement:  Before recapping the race, I want to reiterate that being able to skin uphill at Brighton is a privilege and not a right.  We are guests and need to act with courtesy to ALL Brighton employees.  The correct course of action is to defer without argument to any request while traveling uphill.  Please don't let any unpleasant interactions ruin it for the rest.  End rant. 

????

Last night we had a record turnout with 50 or so people in attendance.  Tom and Jared came up early and helped me set a figure eight course with two climbs and joint descents that each person would complete twice.  Teams of two were chosen by having all those on race gear step forward and then those without, stepping forward to select their horse.  In the end, there was an odd number so I went partnerless and after racing the first lap, turned my attention to cheering, jeering, and cleaning up the course flags.

The first climb ascended a mellow cat track before cutting up switchbacks for around 350-400ish vertical feet.  We descended the corduroy back to the base before skinning up for another mild section of groomed trail.  From there the course cut up for a couple kick turns and then turned straight up a 150 foot boot pack.  Topping out that section, we skinned a low angle trail to the joint transition zone with the first climb.

It was decided the faster of the partners would go first to keep things competitive throughout the whole race.  So 25 of us lined up at the crooked start line until someone from the back yelled, "go!"  That was sufficient and the whole group surged forward with one Tom Goth at the head pushing the pace. Jason and I were just a little unhappy about being forced to suffer early.  The remainder of the lap went as planned with Jason wrecking fantastically and me winning.  I can only write that every so often...

As we returned to the base, each of our partners would take off, one by one, hoping to reel in the guy/gal in front and avoid getting caught.  There were numerous lead and position changes as well as glorious wrecks in the soft light that was reflecting from the low clouds.

Jared and Morgan

The coup of the event occurred when Jared came absolutely tearing into the uphill transition, stepped out of his skis, and stepped into another pair already with skins, and took off seconds after arriving.  Couple that with his coupling of himself and Morgan (out for the first time but is a former US ski team member and also on race gear) and the win was sealed.  Since Morgan had nothing to do with masterminding the shadiness, she still won the big pie as the overall winner.

Tom Goth and Sarah (on tele gear and also out for the first time) came in second a couple minutes back.  Layne Caldwell and his partner (someone comment with the name...I'm blanking) pulled off third but I don't think anyone really cared too much about how they placed.  The whole night there was someone to chase and someone to cheer.

Tom

Sarah

Afterward, we moved the party over to Molly Green's for some food and prizes (pumpkin pies) and laughed about the night's events.  We have three more races planned, all leading up to the Powderkeg.   Our next race will be this coming Thursday so come out and race your friends, get faster, and ski more!

Subscribe at citizenseries.wasatchpowderkeg.com to get updates on all the events.

North American Ski Mountaineering Championships

Announcement: Don't forget about the Wasatch Citizens Skimo Race this Thurs night at Brighton.  See citizenseris.wasatchpowderkeg.com and subscribe to get the updates.

Last weekend another high profile ski mountaineering event was held.  The venue this time was Crested Butte, CO.  And, by inviting the Canadian National Team, it was billed as the North American Championships.  Just to make the competition stiffer, Scarpa, one of the events sponsors, brought over the biggest Italian names, who also happen to be some of the best in the world.  

The weekend was split into two days with a sprint race on Saturday and the traditional individual race on Sunday.  A sprint race consists of a very short (200-250ft) climb followed by a short descent and another climb before ripping skins to descend to the finish.  The total time is around 5 minutes and technical proficiency is rewarded.  A mistake is death and a finish well outside the top rankings.  

For the the individual race, the planned course was an attempt to add some European flair with a low 5th class climb up the Guide's Ridge on Mt. Crested Butte.  Never having had such a technical section in a race in North America before, a via ferrata and an ascender (3 pts of contact) were required gear and more than one racer was quite anxious about the climb.  Alternatively, for those with climbing experience or accustomed to exposure, this was a welcome variable.  

Similar to a stage race in cycling, the times for the two day event were added together to declare a NA champion.  Awards were also given to the winners of each event.  

Day I: The Sprint Event

Team Wasatch Skimo again had a strong contingent at the race with 6 present (plus adopted member Luke Nelson...hell, might as well adopt Micah Thatcher too, son of Bryce Thatcher and Rexburg resident).  We made the drive from Gunnison that morning in the dark as the thermometer in the car kept dropping until it read -18 when we pulled into the resort.  Minus 18???

Layering up, we tried to stay warm as we skinned up to Uly's Cabin, where the short sprint course had been pinned the day before.  A mix of puffies and spandex was dashing about, stretching, and looking jittery.  The format called for racers to start every 30 seconds and once the order was posted, everyone was curious who they would be chasing and who would be doing the chasing.  

Initially, I was skeptical of sprint races since I felt they lacked the aesthetic appeal and suffering of the long race.  But, once the women started, it was fantastic to watch them bury themselves for two minutes, try and ski, climb again, and then hang on to the finish.  30 seconds of separation was short enough to watch some women get swallowed up as others tore through the field.  

My start location?  9th position, behind brother Jason and in front of Team Crested Butte speedster, Brian Wickenhauser.  Better not screw up.   

I had a mostly clean race and was able to pass Jason as he stepped out of his bindings.  Wick had some issues too so I was happy not to get passed as well.  Many people had skin failures with the extremely cold weather.  My strategy to bring a second set for the second climb paid off handsomely with a 4th place finish amongst the North Americans (the two Italian professionals and a Slovakian will be factored out of everything in an attempt to make my placing sound more impressive).  

Here are the results (top 10):

1. Manfred Reichegger IT
2. Reiner Thoni CAN
3. Lorenzo Holzknecht IT
4. Andrew McNabb CAN
5. Jan Koles SLOVAKIA
6. Travis Scheefer USA
7. Andrew Dorais USA
8. Marshall Thompson USA
9. Jared Inouye USA

10. Jon Brown USA

Day II: The Individual Race

Sunday, we made the drive and only saw minus 8. Balmy.  We warmed up slowly as a group and eventually found our way out of our big jackets and into the starting corral.  Bracing for the standard drag race up the first climb, I felt this course actually warranted a fast start.  With everyone converging on the Guide's Ridge, position would be key.  

Guide's Ridge, part of the course at the NA Skimo Championships (photo from the awesome site, gooneyriders.typepad.com)

The first few hundred feet passed smoothly, and I settled in around 10th.  The Italians were blasting off the front and impressively dropping Reiner, Luke, and co.  After following low angle cat tracks, we dodged into the woods and followed an unsettled low angle skin track and dozens and made dozens of kick turns as we approached the ridge.  Some were unaccustomed to more technical skinning and I managed to move up a place or two.  

Guide's Ridge (photo from gooneyriders.typepad.com)

At the base of the ridge, out came the via ferrata and ascender, skis went on the pack, and we all donned the required jacket.  I wore a CAMP Anorak and was able to put it on without taking off my pack.  That combined with being more comfortable with rope work than those around me allowed me to get the jump and pass a couple more.  The rule stated that 2 points of contact must be made at all times so passing was difficult but not impossible.  I soon caught Jon Brown and fell into a methodical rhythm, trying to decide if I should pass or not  Once it became clear that the course marshals would allow only one at a time through the crux sections, I asked for the pass and Jon graciously stepped aside.  By that time, Andrew McNabb of Canada and Jared Inouye, my arch nemesis and mentor had caught back up (miraculously and questionably passing multiple racers in the process) and were in hot pursuit.  We scrambled through a couple semi technical sections and then suddenly found ourselves on the summit.  Not looking once at the view, I began a jogging descent through the rotten snow toward the transition zone on the peak's shoulder.  Jared came flying by, sprinting out of control, but was slower getting into his skis as I had taken mine off my pack and readied myself while descending.  

Jason summiting Mount Crested Butte via the Guide's Ridge (photo from gooneyriders.typepad.com)

With the technical climb behind us, the field was splintered into the front group, our chase group, and then a larger main field.  I dropped into the first descent just behind Marshall Thompson and tried to rally to the start of our final two ~1000 ft laps.  Marshall pulled out of the transition as I arrived.  I  left, followed by Jared and Andrew, and it soon became of game of not blowing up in the rarified Colorado air.  My inevitable explosion came 500 vertical later.  Making my first of 4 huge mistakes, I stepped off the track to take in some calories and allowed Jared by.  Asking what I was doing as he passed, my response was, "bonking".  Lame.  

He laughed and then set an easy pace to the transition zone.  I was lucky to arrive as unscathed as I did since my skin was failing and a more aggressive pace would have likely caused it to blow.  I was surprised to find most of the field converging at this point as they were just coming down from the climb of the Guide's Ridge. Apparently there had been a huge cluster with large delays on the fixed lines. 

Making the same descent as before, I arrived as Jared pulled out of the transition.  However, with the infusion of new racers on their first lap, four or five people snuck in between us.  This typically wouldn't be a big deal when there is ample room to pass but with steep switch backs through relatively unconsolidated snow, the skin track was only viable option.  Mistake number two came when I lost my competitve spirit and sat behind a slower skier allowing Jared to escape and McNabb to stay close.  Another friend who was just behind me was livid. 

I finally, managed to pass just before the final transition.  All that was left was a relatively easy descent before a short skate to the finish.  All I needed was a clean conservative run to secure my place (currently 9th overall, 7th North American, 5th American).  Then what ensued was a total junk show. 

I wrecked when at the last minute the course marshal directed me into a hard left hand turn onto a single track through tight trees.  Partway through said single track, my pole (borrowed from Jared) became entangled on some invisible shrubery and it popped off the handle.  I was able to come to a stop 10-15 meters later and contemplated going back to retrieve it. Flashing through my mind was the very real possiblity of a large Canadian by the name of McNabb barrelling through the woods and pulverizing both of us.  In that instant, I left the pole and tried to extricate myself from the woods and get back on course. Mistake number three.  Just as I dropped on to a steep open face of mild bumps, McNabb came tearing by.  I gave chase with one pole and was able to squeeze by on an open groomer.  Giving pause while trying to determine the route, he passed me again and my fate was sealed as I couldn't keep up on 200 meter uphill skate to the finish line.  

Tired of duck walking, I stopped and skinned up which allowed me to stride into the finish some minutes after both McNabb and Jared.  This ultimately turned out to be mistake number four (I could have taken my skis off and run but thought that was against the rules) since I was penalized 1:00 for leaving equipment on the course.  That penalty caused me to drop one more place as Travis Scheefer fnished 51 seconds behind, but in the final standings is 9 seconds ahead.   I was unaware of the ISMF rule and penalty and an unyielding Canadian with slavish adherence to rules decided to make an example of me, even though various other rules were broken by dozens of other racers. 

Regardless, I thought the 2 day event was fantastic and actually played into our (Team Wasatch Skimo) strengths with the long technical climb.  The Wasatch had a wonderful representation with Jason taking home 5th overall in the individual and 3rd in the combined overall (North Americans), Jared was 7th in the individual and 5th in the combined (NAs), I was 9th (really 10th with the penalty) in the individual and 7th (8th) in the combined (NAs).  We also had a strong showing from Tom Goth who was 15th and 12th.  Chad Brackelsberg also raced hard but was handicapped by heavy non-race skis.  (Actually, we also took 2nd out of the NAs with adopted member Luke, and Gemma was 4th out of the women)  The competition was world class up front and Crested Butte is the land of my dreams.  I especially enjoyed hanging out with folks from SLC, CB, Breck, Jackson, Canada, and all around the West.  But, that perfect race eludes me.  Luckily, there are a few more chances this year to get it right. 

Results from the individual race:

Wasatch vs the World Citizens Race

Friday morning 33 folks of varying racing backgrounds once again toed the crooked start line for another race in our Wasatch Citizens Series.  The unusual start time was to accommodate some out of town racers who were attending the Outdoor Retailer Show.

The format for this race was simple.  The first to complete four laps up a skin track set that morning through the trees, powder groomers, and over a small sub ridge would be the winner.  To add some friendly competition, we decided to score the race like a cross country meet - each place counts (through the top five on each team) as its number of points and the lowest number of total points wins.  The confusing question was on whose team would Luke Nelson count?  He is this years USSMA National Champion and lives in Pocatello, ID.  Since that's basically an extension of the Wasatch and he's going to be seen at times in a Wasatch Skimo speed suit, we claim him.  The problem is so did the "out of towners".

Anyway, the competition was fantastic with 5 out of the top ten at this years national race in attendance and  the former woman's National Champion, Janelle Smiley giving us all a run for our money.  Just a bit back, everyone on more standard gear (extra girth and lacking carbon fiber) waged their own battles.  It was pretty awesome to look down the skin track and see 30 headlamps bobbing as people were making kick turns through the trees on the first lap.  After the first descent, Jared dropped out citing illness and a bloody cough.  I transitioned well and chased Luke through the trees with Wick and Pete following.  Once the course opened up, I could feel Wick on my heels and let him go by as he in turn encouraged me to stick with it.  After the second descent, Luke got out first with Wick chasing and Pete turning in a fast transition and getting out before me.  That's the way things stayed with the gaps widening slightly.

Pete Swenson giving chase (photo by JI)

The final standings (according to Jared who became the default course marshall):
1. Luke Nelson. 56 min
2. Bryan Wickenhauser
3. Pete Swenson
4. Andy Dorais
5.. Tom Goth
6. Janelle Smiley
7. Courtney Phillips
8. Mark Smiley
9. Chad Brackelsberg
10. Layne Caldwell
11. Tim Holmberg
12. Luther Birdzell
13. Matt Hart
14. John Swain
15. Adam OKeefe
16. Nate Kartchner
17. David Morris
And about 15-20 others, before he had to leave.  Sorry to all those that didn't get counted.  


So for the scoring, Team Wasatch Skimo placed 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 10th and Team "Rest of the World" placed 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 8th. That would make the final score 35 to 20 with the out of towners taking the win.  


Except we count Luke.  Ha!  So the real score was 1, 4, 5, 7  vs 2, 3, 6, 8 (only 4 present) or 17 vs 19 giving the Wasatch the W!


Regardless of how we score it, everyone had a great time getting faster and skiing some powder.   Our next race is Feb 2nd with more on the 9th, 23rd, and March 1st.  It all leads up to the Powderkeg and then hopefully to ticking off some of our more adventurous objectives for the year.  So come on out and join the races.  It's free, a good way to meet others and learn how to be efficient, and great training for your own projects.  


Check out citizenseries.wasatchpowderkeg.com and subscribe to get the updates.  

And lastly, a Cannon S100 was left at the lodge and it's owner would desperately like it back.  Please comment below if you have it or know where it went.  

The top three (photo by JI)

Wasatch Citizen Skimo Video

Jared's freshman effort at filming and editing came together nicely.  Check it out.