The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Sub-zero temps, soft snow and cold hard cash
by Than Acuff
Nearly 150 intrepid skimo athletes lined up Saturday, February 23 braving sub-zero temperatures to embark on a backcountry tour of the surrounding valleys in the 13th annual Gothic Mountain Tour.
While my iPhone said 8 degrees, my face and fingers said more like minus-15 degrees at the start, thanks to consistent winds when the race-class contingent headed into the hills from behind the Crested Butte Community School at 6 a.m. When the sun rose, temperatures dropped even more and winds could be seen whipping snow off of the high peaks, making for a chilly start to the rec-class race as well.
Nevertheless, the skimo racers continued into the high alpine from the East River valley floor up to the shoulder of Baldy Mountain, across the top of the Washington Gulch valley before charging down through powder fields to the Slate River valley floor and skiing out the drainage to the finish line at the Magic Meadows yurt.
The race-class course covered a total of 23.5 miles with more than 5,000 feet of climbing and when all was said and done Cam Smith won the men’s title in a time of four hours and five seconds, with Kate Zander winning the women’s title, eighth place overall, in a time of four hours and 53 minutes.
The rest of the field continued the push, some being asked to turn around, others opting to turn around on their own and several plodding on, with the final racer crossing the finish line nine hours and 12 minutes after starting the race.
“Pretty standard—we had a gorgeous day and that goes a long way,” says Crested Butte Nordic events director Andrew Arell.
Cam Smith dove into the skimo race circuit with both feet this season, following a hectic schedule that included racing to earn a spot on the U.S. national skimo team headed to the world championships in March.
“I broke the season into two halves, starting off with a couple of rust-buster races and the U.S. qualifiers and then take a break in January to ski backcountry and get ready for February and a big March,” says Smith. “It’s been amazing.”
He showed no signs of slowing down, blazing the course despite the fact that, while set by race volunteers just an hour before the race start, the trail was filled back in by the morning winds.
“It was tough breaking knowing that Smithy [Brian Smith, no relation] was two minutes behind,” says Smith. “I’d look back and see that orange coat. That’s not what you want to see.”
Smith says once he was out of the valley floor, he never saw another racer and kept the momentum going until the finish line, earning a nice $500 pay-out thanks to the support of the Tourism and Prosperity Partnership (TAPP).
Zander, who is a Western Colorado University grad now living in Breckenridge, was never really challenged throughout her race by any other competitors from the women’s field as she crossed more than 12 minutes ahead of the next finisher. Nevertheless, she admitted upon crossing the finish line it was no easy task.
“I skate race and that was so much harder,” said Zander.
Zander took home $500 as well as an additional $100 for taking on the “awkward load,” which turned out to be an undersized pair of ski poles that she had to use and then eventually carried to the finish from the top of the course.
While Smith spends a lot of time racing in other areas of the Rockies, the Gothic Mountain Tour has something unique to offer.
“The course is one of a kind,” says Smith. “It gets you way out there. Other courses are on ski areas or in side country areas. It’s just such a sweet tour.”
Smith also sees the Gothic Mountain Tour as offering something for everyone, not just the hard-core racer contingent.
“I do it to race but there’s a place for people who are getting ready for the Grand Traverse or are thinking about doing the Grand Traverse,” explains Smith. “If you spend a couple of hours in your ski boots, you can do it. There’s something for everybody.”
Smith now jumps into a crazy month of racing as he heads to Aspen to compete in the Power of Four this weekend and then leaves immediately from Aspen to join the U.S. Ski Mountaineering team for the world championships March 9-16 in Villars sur Ollons, Switzerland. Jack Linehan, who grew up in Crested Butte; Jon Brown; and Western Colorado University freshman Jacob Dewey will join Smith as part of the U.S. team.
Smith follows that up with a couple of world cup races in Europe and then returns home two days before the start of the Grand Traverse to race in that and defend his title.
“March is huge,” says Smith. “I’ll race the GT and then put my feet up and do some spring skiing.”
