Skimo race season kicked off in Wolf Creek

Team gO starts off strong

Despite fall weather hanging on for all of October and most of November throughout Colorado, the 2014-2015 Colorado Ski Mountaineering Cup (COSMIC) race series opened on Saturday, November 22 at Wolf Creek ski area and the Gunnison Valley continues to light it up, just like last year.
Team Griggs Orthopedics (Team gO) athletes Jon Brown and Sarah Stubbe both stepped up onto the podium taking second place in the men’s and women’s race categories. Billy Laird was in a battle for the podium as well, finishing the day in fourth place.
Conditions were a mixed bag early season, with some spots thin and some spots bottomless.
“It was deep in spots but bottomless and I kept thinking I wish I had my powder skis,” says Stubbe.

Due to racer demand, the Wolf Creek event organizers added in a boot pack section for this year’s race and while the advertised 5,000 vertical feet of climbing was never met due to conditions, the boot pack section made up for it.
“The boot pack was tough,” says Stubbe. “I felt like I was on it for about an hour.”
“Every time you took a step it just crumbled under you,” adds Brown. “You were pretty much pulling yourself up on the rope.”
Stubbe made her way through the course convinced she was in last place, with the downhills causing her the most trouble.
“Early season the downhills are what kill me,” says Stubbe. “I knew I wasn’t skiing very well and I thought I was in dead last, no lie.”
So much so that Stubbe didn’t sick around for the awards ceremony to actually step onto the podium and receive her just rewards.
The men’s race winner was determined almost immediately from the start as Scott Simmons took off and never looked back, leaving Brown, Laird and Pete Swenson to battle it out.
“It was basically a fight for second place,” says Brown.
Brown had a couple of hiccups in his race, including taking a tree branch to the chest when scrubbing speed and transitioning into downhill mode with more climbing to go.
“It seems like at every skimo race there’s always something you don’t do perfectly,” says Brown.
Nevertheless, Brown managed to hold off the competition to secure second place in his first skimo race of the season.
Skimo racers from near and far will head into the hills west of Crested Butte for the next stop of the COSMIC series, the Irwin Guides/Griggs Orthopedics Ski Mountaineering race presented by Millet on Saturday, December 6.
Storms dropped another 16 inches of snow on the race venue this past weekend for a total of 60 inches this winter, and things are looking good.
“In general we’re in good shape,” says Irwin snow safety director Billy Rankin. “Coverage is looking good and at this point the race is on. Now it’s just a matter of getting out on the course and fine-tuning things.”
“Everyone’s eager to see what this latest storm has added to the conditions,” adds race co-director Bryan Wickenhauser. “We’re looking great.”
As always, the snow brings in the phone calls and Wickenhauser has seen an uptick in registrations.
“The new snow definitely gets the people calling,” says Wickenhauser.
The event is capped at 85 racers and Wickenhauser expects it to fill up. While athletes are responsible for getting themselves to the venue, there are seats available on the Irwin snowcat for a ride to the venue if needed. You can register online at elkmountainevents.com.