Ski Mountaineering championships this weekend

The Italians are coming, the Italians are coming. Oh yeah, and some Canadians

Good thing we got some snow, because Crested Butte Mountain Resort and local race organizers convinced some of the top international ski mountaineer racers from Italy and Canada to come to Crested Butte to compete in the 2012 International Ski Mountaineering Federation’s (ISMF) Gore-Tex® North American Ski Mountaineering Championships presented by Arc’teryx. The races are this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, January 28-29.
In addition, local big-lung, iron-leg ski mountaineer (or rando, or skimo) racers such as Stevie Kremer, Janelle Smiley, Bryan Wickenhauser and Brian Smith, to name a few, will line up to defend their home hill.
For those of you who don’t know, Kremer just took second place at the United States Ski Mountaineering Association (USSMA) national championships in Jackson Hole earlier this month, Smiley was the 2011 USSMA national champion, Wickenhauser is a member of the U.S. Ski Mountaineering Team and Smith—well, Smith is an animal with too many titles to name.
Members of the U.S. Ski Mountaineering Team and other rando racers from across the nation will be lining up also for a shot at the title.
“We’re anticipating as many as 80 athletes,” says Wickenhauser.
It’s going to be a thoracic throw-down for sure.
Wickenhauser is also wearing the hat of race organizer this weekend. He’s been across the pond to compete on the global ski mountaineering stage and has a bit of perspective on how the competition may shake out.
“We can hold our own against the Canadians, but not the Italians,” says Wickenhauser. “Unless the altitude gets them.”
Wickenhauser points out that it was an athlete who trains at altitude, Levi Leipheimer, who won the U.S. Pro Cycling Challenge.
“You never know how the altitude plays out. That’s why we race the race,” says Wickenhauser.
The weekend of racing kicks off on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. with a sprint race on a course set just above Uley’s Cabin on the infamous Flauschink Hill. Competitors will do one lap on the course with four transitions thrown into the mix, from uphill mode to downhill mode.
“The sprint race is action-packed and spectator-friendly—bring your cowbell,” says Wickenhauser. “It’s a quick little test of your skills and cardio system to the nth degree. It’s wham, bam, thank you ma’am.”
Fans are encouraged to skin up the mountain that morning to catch the action.
Sunday is the big race and kicks off at 8 a.m. Due to current snow conditions the course has been tweaked but will still include a technical class-five ascent up The Guides Ridge to the peak of Crested Butte Mountain—a rarely attempted route during the winter months.
The race will open with a 3,000-vertical-foot climb from the base area to the summit via the Peel and the aforementioned Guide’s Ridge.
“It’ll be a race to get in the queue up the Guide’s Ridge,” says Wickenhauser.
As of press time, the remainder of the course is still in a state of flux but should be set by Friday once the Crested Butte Professional Ski Patrol gets a good look at conditions on the peak as well as in other areas.
“We’re still not sure if we’ll be skiing off the Peak,” says Wickenhauser.
If conditions are favorable, racers will descend off the Peak and then make two more loops, including a walk/ski along the Headwall Ridge, and back to the Peak, before dropping down the front side to the finish back at the base area.
All told, the race class will get in 5,000 vertical feet of climbing while the rec class will get 3,250 feet in. Rec class racers will not get the pleasure of the Guide’s Ridge route.
In an effort to reach out to the fans, the weekend will also include two nights of films kicking off Friday night, with a presentation of A Life Ascending at the Majestic Theatre at 8 p.m. A Life Ascending chronicles the life of ski guide Ruedi Beglinger. Proceeds from the film go to the locally run, non-profit Crested Butte Avalanche Center.
On Saturday night, the race organizers will host a backcountry ski film festival downstairs in the Elevation Hotel from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Members of the Italian National Ski Mountaineering Team will be on hand following the movies for an informal Q&A on ski mountaineering racing.
Athletes can do just the Sunday race but if you want a shot at the North American title, you’ve got to do both days, as times are added from both days to determine the winner.
“The overall concept is a two-day stage race,” says Wickenhauser.
For more information or to register go to zapevent.com or skicb.com/skimo.