The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Hey dude, those are my poles
The first year of the Irwin ski mountaineering race, conditions were fat. Three years ago conditions were thin. Last year conditions were non-existent. This year, 65 racers were treated to exceptional conditions once again at the Irwin/La Sportiva Ski Mountaineering race on Saturday, December 7.
Predicted sub-arctic temperatures held off to make for some light snowfall and perfect temps for skimo racing and the participants were blessed with quality skin tracks for the uphills and soft conditions on their descents.
“Conditions were amazing,” says race co-director Bryan Wickenhauser, “everything you expect and anticipate out of Irwin.”
The usual suspects charged off the start line, with Brian Smith and Marshall Thomson defending the Gunnison Valley from a host of skimo heavy-hitters from outside of the valley in the lead pack. Among the throngs of skimo enthusiasts were six members of the mens’ U.S. National Ski Mountaineering Team and two members of the women’s national team.
“Unfortunately we didn’t have any Canadians but we did have the heavy hitters from the Wasatch and all over Colorado,” says Wickenhauser.
In addition, a couple of local young guns tested the waters of skimo racing with Cooper Wiens and Caleb Mueller jumping into the skimo fray at the ripe young age of 15. In addition, the fledgling Western State Colorado University endurance team had athletes Matt Clark and Nick Schley give skimo racing a try, to place first and second in the recreational class.
With such a stacked race field, the front of the pack was setting a blistering pace throughout all three loops of the race division course. In addition, the leaders had the dubious task of breaking trail at the top of most of the climbs.
Smith paced himself through the first climb and after a sapling tweaked his boot loose, he was left to make up some time on the leaders, catching them by the first transition area.
Carnage ensued for John Gaston on the first descent as he stacked. Max Taam out of Aspen blazed the downhill but when the lead pack got to the transition into the second uphill, Smith was back in the lead with Tom Goth on his heels.
“I could hear Tom breathing hard so I knew he was feeling it,” says Smith. “Then he took his skis off early to start booting and I knew I could build my lead.”
Unfortunately, the top of the second climb was blown back in and Smith was forced to break trail, allowing the rest of the lead pack to reel him in by the top of the second climb.
Some confusion up top led to an equipment switch unbeknownst to both Smith and Goth and the lead pack started bombing downhill on their skinny skis.
More carnage ensued for more of the racers and by the time Smith turned up on the third and final climb, it was a two-man race—and something was not right with his gear.
“I started to notice as I was climbing that my poles were too long and the straps were too tight,” says Smith.
Nevertheless, he kept plugging along and both he and Goth traded off breaking trail near the top when John Gaston returned to retake the lead.
Gaston took his lead into the downhill and dropped in with Smith looking to make up time on him. But, while Smith had avoided carnage, for the most part, it was his turn on the final descent.
“I’m pinned and flying down and next thing I know I’m inverted and in a tree well,” says Smith. “I just rung my bell.”
Smith had dropped back to third place but with a flat section and skate ski uphill to the finish, he managed to pass Goth to finish in second place, beating him by five seconds.
Shortly thereafter, the two racers realized they had switched poles and the longer poles of Goth helped propel Smith past him on the race to the finish line.
“I used his poles to pass him,” says Smith.
Meanwhile, Stevie Kremer was in the process of actually keeping one of the Irwin race titles in the valley as she won the women’s race with Sari Anderson in second place three minutes back and U.S. skimo team member McKenna Douglas in third place.
