Race #1 Report

Thanks everyone who came out last night for the first race of the season.  Despite the last minute notice, turnout was great, with 11 people showing up!  Also, a big thanks to the participants for being patient with the relocation of the race due to unforeseen circumstances.  Conditions were interesting to say the least, with lots of fog, and darkness, but the snow was surprisingly good.

With the last minute change in race location, the format also changed.  We decided upon a set course with everyone trying to complete as many laps as possible in 60 minutes.

Congrats to Lowell, who edged out Seth for the victory, with 2.5 laps for the both of them.  Lowell's sweet tooth was particularly appreciative of his brownie prize.  On the women's side Francine was the only participant taking the win and giving away her brownie prize to Sam who was the winner of the most off course award (sorry Sam!).

Stay tuned for more info on coming races as the details hopefully get ironed out soon with the ski area!

Pre race briefing (photo Jake/Shannon Douglas)

 Warming up

and they're off...

It's go time

Well, things are not entirely worked out with logistics with the ski area to hold events on open runs, so we're going to wing it here a little.  The first race will be tomorrow night (wednesday the 22nd).  The race will be held on closed runs in the Silver Fir area.  This is extremely last minute, and very unorganized, but, I want to get something going before we lose momentum, interest, and time with snow to ski.
On to the logistics, the race will start at 7pm, get there a little early, we'll meet in the Silver Fir parking lot near the new building.  We'll go over the course and make sure everyone is on the same page.  The goal for race length will be about an hour and a half.  The course will consist of two options depending on gear and fitness level, either two or four laps.  The course will not be marked in any way so be sure to check out the course map below.  Because the course is on closed runs in the dark, headlamps are mandatory, as well as helmets please. Please also be aware that conditions are thin, and hazards will not be marked as they are during open hours.  We will also need to keep an eye out for groomers which could be operating anywhere in the area at any time. We do not want to interrupt their work so please move completely out of the way.  At approximately 8:30, we'll all head over to the Timberwolf at Summit West for awards and libations!

  The course will start at Silver Fir base, follow the lift line until the steep face, turn right and then left onto Hogwild, continue up to the top of the Quad lift, transition here.  Then descend the Outback ski run to the base.  Lap 2 will skin up under lift as first lap, but then instead of going up Hogwild, boot up the lift line on Silver Fir face run.  Continue to top, then descend to base, for "race" category repeat both laps.

New Year's Eve race cancelled

Not enough snow for this race unfortunately, looks like snow levels will be dropping later this week!  Hopefully we will see enough snow to get the season under way shortly.  Happy New Year!

Christmas Eve Race Cancelled

Due to limited snowpack the race on Christmas Eve is cancelled.  Hopefully we get some snow in the next week for the New Years Eve race, check back in.

2013-2014 Skimo Season!

Well it's winter time again, and hopefully the start of another great ski season.  It's also the start of another season of skimo racing.  This season will hopefully be a little more organized and hopefully a little more well attended then last year.  The season kicks off with the Hyak Christmas Eve Race, a week later come on out get a early start on your New Year's resolution with the Silver Peak race.  Then starting in January we will have a weeknight series race (specific night of week TBD) which will continue until Vertfest the second week of February.  Check back in for more details about the races, until then get those skis waxed and maybe get a trail run or two in!

 2011 Hyak Randonee Race

Vertfest Alpental Report

Race day greeted everyone with mild temps and drizzle.  Despite the rain, the skiing and skinning was good.  No Traslin brothers this year, guess they were sick, Heather didn't participate as she was sick as well.  Luckily (?) I just caught her bug the day before so I felt crappy but not bad enough to miss out on some suffering.  With Seth and Holly sick it seemed to be the common theme of the day for a lot of people.  Despite the Traslin brothers no show, Jason Dorais (they miss spelled his name) simply destroyed the competition putting down pretty impressive times at what was probably a comfortable pace for him.  Jason is the current Grand Teton ski speed record holder among many other accomplishments, pretty talented dude, and pretty humbling watching him just amble off into the distance.  The second place dude was a twenty something fast guy from Canada.  Another fast guy was the BD rep Alan, who Seth knew from bike racing, he was with Seth and I the whole race, and looks to be even faster once he gets more efficient.  Alan actually was ahead of me towards the end of the second lap but got off course a bit thinking the Snake Dance gate was a turnaround.  This was an opportunity I monopolized on, although I think that I could have caught him on the downhill anyways.  All in all it was a great day, making the podium was cool.

And we're off (photo courtesy Francine Curd)

Race #4 Report

Well, 7pm rolled around last Friday for race #4 of the series, and just Seth and I were standing in the parking lot, ready to stretch the legs for some friendly competition.  Lowell's Loop was the course of choice for the evening.  We were greeted with clear skies and actually quite nice groomed packed powder which made the suffering more enjoyable.  Seth and I enjoyed talking gear (both of us soon to be piloting new lighter skis soon) and about the upcoming Vertfest this weekend before we settled into fast mode.  When the night was done Seth, the always fast downhill skier, edged me out by seconds for the win, we both finished in 1 hour 17 min besting our previous FKT by a minute.

Seth