Skimo National Championships to hit Crested Butte

Stuff into that speed suit and rig up

The top ski mountaineering (skimo) racers from around the country are coming to Crested Butte Mountain Resort Friday through Sunday, March 14-16, to battle against Gunnison Valley’s finest athletes in the Gore-Tex U.S. Ski Mountaineering Championships, presented by La Sportiva.
The national championships open on Friday, March 14 with the vertical climb race. Skiers will battle head-to-head in a hill climb from the base of Crested Butte Mountain Resort to the top of the Silver Queen lift. The specific route has yet to be determined but plan on somewhere between 1,800 and 2,200 feet of climbing to the finish line.
The vertical race starts at the base area on Friday at 6 p.m. and race director Bryan Wickenhauser expects the leaders to finish the race in from 35 to 37 minutes, with the regular folk finishing somewhere around an hour.
“It’s a drag race uphill, big lungs,” says Wickenhauser. “Get to the point of just blacking out and then feather it at that line.”
Saturday will be the individual skimo race with two courses available, a race course and a rec course.
The race course is 11.5 miles long with 5,000 vertical feet of climbing taking athletes all over Crested Butte Mountain Resort, including tours of the North Face, Spellbound/Phoenix, Teo Bowl and finishing with a climb up the Guides Ridge to the peak of Crested Butte Mountain before turning onto the final 3,000+ foot descent to the finish line at the base.
The rec course will be shorter and will not include the Guides Ridge section.
Wickenhauser advises any avid backcountry skiers out there to jump into the race division fray for a chance to climb the prolific Guides Ridge.
“It’s a blast and the race is a unique opportunity to climb the Guides Ridge,” says Wickenhauser. “Get Euro on CBMR’s Guide Ridge.”
Racers will be roped in the entire way up the climb and there will be a clinic on Friday evening in one of two yurts at the base area for people to get used to the rope work necessary for a successful and safe ascent.
“People won’t be going into it totally blind,” says Wickenhauser.
The weekend concludes on Sunday, March 16 with the skimo pairs race when teams of two tackle Crested Butte Mountain. The course will be different from and longer than Saturday’s race, with 14 miles and 8,600 feet of climbing and will include the Guides Ridge again.
Once the dust clears, national champions in a variety of disciplines and age groups will be announced, with men’s and women’s titles up for grabs in the U23 age category, adult race class and the Masters class age 45 and up in the vertical, individual and pairs races.
Aspiring skimo racers can sign up for one, two or all three races. For more information and to register, check out elkmountainevents.com. Online registration ends Thursday, March 13 with an additional in-person registration available Friday, March 14 at one of the two yurts at the base area.