Huge showing for the 7 Hours of the Banana

31 laps, 64,480 vertical feet

An unbelievable cross-section of the Crested Butte community showed up Saturday, February 27 for the 7 Hours of the Banana.
There were überathletes, former U.S. ski team members, telemark skiers, snowboarders, six-year-olds Gus Bullock and Charles Zeiter Jr. and 68-year-old Bruce Clark.
And the costumes—team Chiquita Banana kept the fruit on their head all seven hours.
All told, 75 individuals showed up to partake in the inaugural event and what transpired was incredible.
Competitors were met with soft conditions and flat light in the Banana and kept the meter pegged for nearly all seven hours.
Milo Wynne went for the hole shot taking the first chair up, and Mike Preston exploded his ski on the first lap down but recovered to find another pair and keep the hammer down.
But the story of the day was Wendy Fisher and Johnny Biggers. Biggers came up with the idea for the event and was the pre-race favorite to take the title. But Fisher was unrelenting.
The two skiers, and a handful of others in their wake, were turning 13- to 14-minute laps in the morning hours, which included the eight-minute lift ride up on the Silver Queen.
By noon, Fisher, Biggers, John Taggart, Preston and a host of others had 15 laps under their belt and it was apparent that skiers would reach Biggers’ prediction of 20-plus laps rather easily.
Ultimately, Fisher took the lead just after the two o’clock hour with Biggers a close second.
The two skiers were ripping the Banana a new one, even in their final laps. And they weren’t the only ones. Bob BC Vandervoort, Joyce Lamb, Gus and Geo Bullock were skiing the Banana at 3 p.m. like it was only 10 a.m. Incidentally, Gus finished the day with 11 laps; though the results say 14, he says 11, which is a total of 22,880 vertical feet
Mickey Cook, Mark Alling, Alison Gannett, Daniela Runge and Caleb Weinberg carried an impressive pace all day.
Chris Goodnough took the men’s telemark title and along with Erik Nauman was still dropping the knee through the bumped out choke.
The father-son team of Jeff and his son Ozzie Scott turned in 20 laps on the Banana.
High schoolers Hillary Spencer and Hailey Loeffler teamed up in full costume and still completed 23 laps.
Taylor Davis, Denis Hall and Walter Keith opted to take it one step higher choosing to ride the High Lift and ski their laps from the top of the Banana.
That just scratches the surface of what was happening in the Banana on Saturday.
By 3:15 p.m. Fisher took the lead for good and as the two skiers exited the Banana heading back to the Silver Queen Biggers turned to me and admitted, “She got me on that one.”
In the end, Fisher and Biggers finished with 31 laps each, that’s 64,480 vertical feet of skiing in seven hours, with Fisher taking the overall title and several skiers not too far behind.