“I discovered
the middle path of stillness within speed, calmness within fear, and I held it
longer and quieter than ever before.” Steve McKinney
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| Photo by Mark Trahan |
What is Skimo? It’s actually the frozen, slippery way to say Randonee Racing which is actually French for “can’t telemark!” When ski touring in the backcountry crosses over into competitive racing formats for skinning up, skiing down and booting all around mountains high; that is Skimo. For others, Skimo, short for ski mountaineering, is scrambling high mountain peaks with ultralight technical equipment, packing the bare minimum, moving with efficiency and speed on snow and ice covered mountains delivering a surgical strike on some sacred, seldom skied, coveted line.... That is also Skimo. I prefer the Skimo where I wear a form fitting lycra skin-suit just to look fancy going fast up and down groomers in New England.
Skimo found me through
my multisport friend Josh Flanagan who suggested to give it a try after a successful
comeback to the Tuckerman Inferno in
2015 . A comfortably advanced alpine
skier, I considered backcountry skiing but never the motivation to pursue another
activity that required plentiful amounts new gear.
With blessings
and support of my awesome wife, I began earning turns skiing uphill at local
resorts with convenient uphill policies.
Gained some experience both skinning uphill and most importantly, learning to ‘quickly’
transition between skin-to-ski and ski-to-skin. Started competing in the NE Rando Race Series directed by
Jonathan Shefftz and joined his crew for summer turns off the summit of Mt
Adams, WA and obligatory dawn patrols on the Mt Hood Palmer Snowfield. Skimo was starting to take me places I previously
could have only dreamed of visiting.
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| Overlooking magnificent Sink Hollow in the Cache National Forest Photo by Tyler King |
Another one of those least expected places to visit was located in the Northern Wasatch Mountains of Utah. A 45
minute drive to the Northeast of Logan passing through scenic Logan Canyon was a place just far enough away from Salt Lake City that consistently remains an untouched, wintery paradise. Flying into SLT at midnight on Jan
28th and driving 2 hours North to Logan, 3 hours of sleep then off
to race registration for the 2017 Crowbar Backcountry Skimo Race. So much for acclimating and resting up. The price to pay for a 4-day whirlwind ski
tour of the wondrous Wasatch.
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| Race registration in the hollow. Single digits chilling an assembling crowd Photo by Wayne Wurtsbaugh |
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| An army of volunteers out several days before the event setting skin-tracks, bootpacks and flagging the downhill runs. Photo by Erik Syrstad |
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| Photographer Wayne Wurtsbaugh and friend at a proper backcountry checkpoint during 2016 Crowbar |
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| Typical Backcountry Checkpoint at Crowbar Photo by Tyler King |
Temperatures were a stiff -3F and just trying to stay with no luxury, sheltered within the typical front side confines of a ski lodge; thus affected my time management. Not to mention the distraction that comes from being surrounded in the hustle and bustle of an excited group of backcountry enthusiasts and competitors. This leads me to my worst start in my personal short history of Skimo.
Participants choose between a 10 mile long full course with over 6000' elevation or a short course roughly half that distance and elevation. The full course was broken into race and heavy metal division depending on the weight of the ski/binding combination. Either way, any choice was going to be a big challenge and excellent time had by all.
Overheard
rumblings that the race would start later than intended; I got too comfortable.
An announcement was called out that all
backcountry checkpoints would soon be in position and the race would promptly begin
in 15 minutes. I was not dressed or remotely ready and scrambled to the
starting line with less than 30 seconds to spare. I had not completely clipped into the binding
pins on the right toe piece and lost my ski off the start. Passed by at least
40 people.... Embarrassing!
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| The always, heart pounding lead-off where everything fell apart underneath me. Photo by Matthew Halton, Cache Valley Daily |
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| Racers leading the charge, slipping into dual skin track lanes. Photo by Wayne Wurtsbaugh |
Following each
climb were bomber glade runs, weaving in-and-out of trees, floating through pristine
powder meadows and occasionally breaking through the hard crust of the previous
days ski tracks. The first descent, flanking ridge-lines to the foot of the mountain
was outstanding. The runs progressively
got steeper and more challenging with already burning quads negotiating power
stashes and dodging a continuous barrage of trees. Throw out any inclination
for resembling anything remotely close to a performance turn when your skiing
65mm under foot on ultra light rando race skis weighing much less than 1000g
each. I was lacking anything in the form
of control on the skinniest skis imaginable!
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| My personal hero, Ryan Choi showing us how to lay fresh lines in Skimo. Photo by Amalgamated Photography |
The rest of the race was as one would expect in Skimo. I exchanged places with a few people, back and forth little battles engaging each other in good camaraderie. I was pacing myself strong and with confidence but that hard push off the start caught up with me and the altitude finished the job. Cameron Peterson, one of the original organizers of the event, made a move on me in a later section of steep skintrack where hundreds of kick turns were getting in my way. In fact, what’s a kick turn again? We don’t have those back East! Next, I lost my right Pomoca race skin due to the frigid cold and second place finishing Emily Brackelsberg whom was hot on my tail pulled out in front of me. A fairly quick exchange to backup skins tucked down, deep into the kangaroo pouch of my race suit and I was off. The gap further widened as I finally submitted to the altitude to ensure I would cross that finish line. I was warned that it would happen, but did not know what to expect. I was going strong, then a sudden shortness of breath and I could not turnover the pace, working harder, going slower.
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| Cameron ripping skins fast in transition. Photo by Wayne Wurtsbaugh |
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| Emily "Utah Speed Girl" steadfast and efficient in transition Photo by Wayne Wurtsbaugh |
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| Learning to ‘quickly’ transition between skin-to-ski and ski-to-skin is very important in Rando Racing. Photo by Wayne Wurtsbaugh |
I noticeably slowed down to a crawl on the final climb which proved difficult to maintain respiratory efficiency. Short, rapid breaths ensued which required backing off the pace to comfortably manage a deep, diaphragmatic breathing rate. Pace slowed, while average heart rate still stuck at threshold but fortunate to be in complete control with no major spiking. Opportunity for short recoveries in transition were still in command as normally expected. The loss in performance came on the final 1.4 mile, 1900ft (24%) climb I was only able to maintain a moving pace of 1.6mph at 171HR. I just kept in control of my now slowly, progressing pace and was having the time of my life out there.
There is much
to be said about living high, training low unless you were born low like me..... Acclimation is important and based on my Hear Rate Variability results; it
suggests that 48 hours minimum would be required for both resting heart rate
and overall heart, respiratory functions to normalize.
Powder Skiing: The views on the descents were delightful, I had few opportunities to briefly consume my surroundings; an awe inspiring landscape surrounding the hollow below, with nearby ridge lines and far away mountain summits covered in a white, wintery wonderland.
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| Skimo certainly requires plentiful amounts of new gear! Photo by Wayne Wurtsbaugh |
Skimo requires, without question, some of the lightest, most technical combination of skis, bindings and boots in the market today. When performance and efficiency in the uphill approach is utmost important, durability comes into question and being a weight weenie is an understatement. It was quite
the challenge skiing through all that powder on these skinny rando race skis. My current kit features Atomic Ultimate 65 WC with Plum 135 tech bindings and Dynafit DY.N.A. EVO race mountaineering boots.
I toppled and tumbled countless times. More
fluffy, puffy wipe-outs in this event than I have in the last 50 days skiing
combined! Dropping lines between trees with burning quads with little control
made each run feel like that final run of a long day front side, lift serviced
when you decide to drop the gladed bumps one last time. Despite a sense of helplessness, lacking control, I
picked up the pieces and pushed on, through the respiratory wall and the
beginnings of creeping tremors, cramping up in the inner thighs on the final
200ft skin ascent before the ski to skate into the finish line.
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Viewed from an open meadow mid-slope capturing the racers dropping the upper section of the final big descent
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| Dropping out of the upper slopes, trying not to crash into this well positioned photographer! Photo by Amalgamated Photography |
Competitor Eric
Bunce was working the race course hard at the top of the pack but broke a ski
on the remnants of a snowmobile track hardened in a hard pack ice crust from
snowmobile traffic down low. The durability of rando race skis is always going to be a variable.It is not uncommon to hear about a racer forced to drop out at the end of the days competition.
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| Nina Silitch doing what she does best... All smiles and Skimo! Photo by Tyler King |
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| Jason Boro in transition. Pro styles! Photo by Wayne Wurtsbaugh |
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| Here is my Strava link to the course profile and segments. Photo by Wayne Wurtsbaugh |
“Earning Your
Turns” transcends skiing to new levels; it captures moments of peaceful
solitude as you negotiate terrain and landscapes in your winter surroundings. All heart and lungs on the way up, tapping
into physical performance and then reap the rewarding experience of ripping the
freshest lines, less traveled on the return trip. Euphoric state of mind, unlike any other sport
I have been involved.
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| Junior competitor reaping rewards. Well earned, hard days effort. Photo by Mark Trahan |
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| Daphnee, Nick and I at finish Trade "Mark" Photo Selfie |
Crowbar was nothing
less than spectacular, showcasing the strength of Skimo racing in Utah from the
top of the competition right down to the future generation of junior competitors.
Big shout-out to friends Nick Gottlieb and Daphnee Tuzlak in
Logan for their invite and hospitality, making this trip a reality for me. To the University of Utah graduate students welcoming
me into their inner circle for an overnight celebration at the Beaver Mountain Yurt very reminiscent of my college days.
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| 2017 Cache Regional Overland Winter Backcountry Adventure Race! Photo by Wayne Wurtsbaugh |
The Skimo community in Utah is an outstanding group of individuals coming together with unending desire to share their love for the outdoors in ways I never thought possible. I will be back (someday) with sights set to
compete in the popular Wasatch Powder Keg, however, the Crowbar is going to be
really hard to pass up.... Everyone should race the Crowbar at least one time
for a guaranteed one-of-a-kind experience.....
Three cheers to Nordic United; the race directors, volunteers and sponsors that consistently pull off a race of this magnitude. You are all responsible for keeping the dream alive!
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| This photo is for Jonathan! |
Burning the midnight oil in the Beaver Mountain Yurt with some much needed flag repairs. Green flags typically get stomped and stepped on at kick turns in the skin tracks. The red flags tend to get wrecked in the downhills as racers hang the tightest lines against them. I won't be there.... but those flags will be used at the Wasatch Powder Keg.
Work Hard,
Train Hard, Play Harder
Mark
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| Surviving on Stoke Factor 100! Photo by Tyler King |
