Stano Faban

Guide to Qualifying for the US and Canadian Teams for the 2019 Ski Mountaineering World Championships

July 9, 2018 By Stano Faban 2 Comments

It might be the middle of the summer but for top athletes it’s time to start thinking seriously about 2019 Ski Mountaineering National Teams selection. Here, we have analyzed how the U.S. and Canada choose their men’s and women’s senior teams, and what are you best chances to qualify.
World Championships will be held on March 9-16th, 2019 in Villars sur Ollons,Switzerland. Both the U.S. and Canada have mandates to bring strong teams to the World Championships and based on successful results in 2017, and have the opportunity to be competitive among the traditional alpine nations.

Janelle Smiley and Jessie Young racing to 4th place in women's team race at 2017 Worlds. Photo by Mark Smiley. — Janelle Smiley and Jessie Young racing to 4th place in women’s team race at 2017 Worlds. Photo by Mark Smiley.

US Team Qualifiers

The U.S. World Championship (WCH) team is objectively the more difficult one to qualify for with a large pool of athletes capable of contending for spots. It has also more stringent criteria for qualification thanks to the competitive depth.
The U.S. system is nearly 100% based on two qualifying race weekends held at Arapaho Basin, Colorado on the 15-16th of December 2018, and at Sunlight Mountain, Colorado on the 5-6th of January 2019.
The two qualifying weekends will host the following races:

Two Individual events (one each venue)
One Vertical event (A-Basin only)
One Sprint event (Sunlight only)

Specifics of qualifying are linked below but for the four spots available in the Individual event, the first and second place finishers at A-Basin automatically qualify. The third spot goes to the first finisher in the Individual race at Sunlight (presumably this actually means the first finish who hasn’t already qualified). The final place is reserved for “coach’s choice”.
This leaves some room for interpretation by the USSMA but they do qualify it by saying that the spot will likely go to the “fourth finisher at Qualifier #2”. We assume this is actually a bit of an error in that it won’t actually go to the fourth place person overall but the first finisher who didn’t already qualify (for example, if the two A-basin qualified athletes didn’t race Sunshine, presumably the top two finishers at Sunshine would then get both spots rather than jumping to the fourth overall finisher).

Jon Brown with Rory Kelly. Both qualified for 2017 Worlds in different disciplines.

For both the Vertical and Sprint events, the top three finishers in the the respective qualifying races auto-qualify with the fourth space reserved for Coach’s Choice. It’s almost certain that the fourth place finisher will be given that spot as with no other vert or sprint races on the calendar in that time frame, so unless an athlete is away at a World Cup (and dominating), it would be difficult for the “USSMA to determine that there is an unequivocally faster athlete who could fill the spot”.
The Team event criteria is one of the most interesting. The top two athletes from the A-Basin Individual Qualifying Race automatically gain Team Race spots. The remaining six places go to the top six finishers at Sunshine (excluding the two who already qualified). Where this gets complicated is if a strong athlete finishes third at A-Basin but is unable to attend Sunshine. According to the rules, it’s conceivable that an athlete could beat the remaining 6 athletes at A-Basin but because they didn’t attend Sunshine, they would not be named to the Team. There’s no Coach Choice for this one so better be sure you place correctly!
If all this sounds particularly complicated, the take-home message here is unless you’re pretty sure you can be in the top two at A-Basin, you better make pretty sure you are able to attend Sunshine and are feeling strong!
A few things to consider while trying to qualify for the US Team is that both qualifying races are in Colorado at altitudes of ~10,000 feet. This requires a significant acclimatization period prior to both events for athletes traveling from lower elevations. The criteria also allow for an athlete to attempt to qualify in as many events as they wish (at the 2017 WCH, only one male raced all four events). It may however be wise to choose events strategically that give you the maximum chance of qualifying.

Canadian Qualifiers

The Canadian WCH qualifying criteria are considerably more subjective. As detailed in the document linked below the team selection committee takes into account the following variables and weights them differently:
50% – Previous season’s National Ranking (final ’17-’18 rankings have not yet been released)
30% – Current results at specified ranking races
20% – Special Considerations

Lori Anne Donald running away with first place in the sprint and qualifying for Canadian world's team. — Lori Anne Donald running away with first place in the sprint and qualifying for Canadian world’s team.

While we haven’t seen the final ’17-’18 Cnd National Ranking List, presumably we will soon and this is something you won’t be able to work around. If you didn’t compete and get ranked in 2018, you’re at a distinct disadvantage but you’re not out of luck. Athletes wanting to show their worthiness will need to compete at either the Vert 180 or Castle Mountain Skimo races in Canada in January and probably need to reliably beat athletes who are currently well ranked. This is a bit of a long shot but not impossible. The final criteria for “special considerations” is probably only of use to a well ranked, well known athlete who performs inordinately poorly at, or is unable to attend one of the early season races.
The Canadian system does not outline how actual race starts will be allotted to selected athletes but in the past it has been a combination of coach’s determination and athlete desire. It’s likely that those athletes ranked higher on the list will have greater priority in the events they wish to participate in.

Best Chances to Qualify

An athlete trying to compete for a spot on either team would be wise to:

Strategically target specific qualifying race(s) with a (very) strong performance.
Design a training plan to focus specifically on the demands of the qualifying race.
Ensure a training peak at the time of the qualifying race.
Develop strategies to cope with specific challenges of qualifying race locations (altitude, travel, etc…)

If you want to give yourself a serious chance to qualify then designing a training plan to help you prepare will be crucial. Contact us for custom training plan design or click on over to our coaching partners at Ridgeline Athletics to get you on your way!

Differences between the US and Canadian systems

While the American system is quite objectively based, it is heavily focused on current fitness level and is somewhat unfavorably weighted towards a small number of events. A poorly timed illness or mistake during a race could cost a deserving athlete a spot on the team.
The Canadian system is considerably more subjective with no clear explanation of how starts are assigned but also favors more consistent athletes who are ranked well the previous season over many races.

Official Documents with Selection Criteria

USA: https://ussma.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/2019-World-Championships-Selection-Criteria-and-Guide-v07.1.pdf
CANADA: http://www.skimocanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/SkimoNationalTeamSelectionCriteria2019-2.pdf

Skimo News – April 11, 2018: Final World Cup in Italy, Racing in the US, and in Lofoten Skimo in Norway

April 12, 2018 By Stano Faban 1 Comment

Skimo racing season is wrapping up around the World. The Canadian Cup is complete and the final World Cup was contested over the weekend. Just a few races remain to be held in the US including a postponed Irwin Guides event, and several events in the Sierras.
Most skiers in the Pacific North West and Rockies are turning their eye towards big spring objectives and steep skiing while athletes in Colorado and the East Coast are already thinking about the start of their cycling and running seasons.

USA and Canada Race News

Cody’s Challenge – Steamboat Colorado – April 8, 2018:

Max Taam was challenged by Charlie Macarthur but ultimately stayed ahead by slim two seconds while it took another five minutes for the third place finisher to complete the 2 hour course. Sarah Cookler was unchallenged for the female win and Grace Staberg finished in second. Alex Pond rounded out the men’s podium.
> Full Results

International Race News

ISMF World Cup – Italy – April 6-8, 2018:

Italy continues to dominate in the final World Cup of the season on their home turf. The racing in the Italian Dolomites, at Madonna di Campiglio, was incredibly beautiful and a perfect example of why skimo is such an amazing sport.
Individual Race
Robert Antonioli sniped Michele Boscacci for the final individual win with Matteo Eydallin rounding out the Italian podium. William Bon Mardion was the lone Frenchman in the top five. There were many notable absences including Kilian Jornet after breaking his leg at Pierra Menta, and Anton Palzer citing “health reasons”. Americans Cam Smith and Rory Kelly made the trip to Europe racing to 41st and 42nd respectively.

Robert Antonioli building his lead ahead of Michele Boscacci, the most consistent and the most winning athlete this season. ISMF photo.

...and downhill boot-pack right the other side. Simply spectacular setting in the Dolomites. — …and downhill boot-pack right the other side. Simply spectacular setting in the Dolomites. ISMF photo.

The French had better luck in the women’s race with Laetitia Roux winning both the individual and sprint, reminding the field that she’s not ready yet to step down from the podium. Her French teammate but Pierra Menta rival, Axelle Mollaret finished almost four minutes behind with Alba DeSilvestro taking the final step on the podium.

Laetitia Roux returned to the top of the podium in both races. In this photo, second (left) went to Axelle Mollaret and third (right) to Alba DeSilvestro. ISMF photo.

Sprint Race
Michele Boscacci and Laetitia Roux won their categories in the sprint event. Cam Smith had a respectable finish in 31st, just out of qualifying, while Rory Kelly placed 37th.
> Full Results

Lofoten Skimo – Lofoten Islands, Norway – March 10, 2018:

This race recap was sent to us by the local organizing committee.While this event took place a month ago, it is worth including it in our report as the route and scenery are truly spectacular.
The second edition of The Arctic Triple – Lofoten Skimo was on Saturday March 10^th. The race is organized in “the world’s most beautiful archipelago” – the Lofoten Islands in northern Norway, and the participants are overwhelmed by the experience. The weather was perfect and happy athletes finished what turned out to be an amazing arctic adventure.
Lofoten Skimo consists of two distances and there were both national and international participants at the first edition of the race. On the longest distance the racers cross 8 mountains tops and ridges and 4000 height meters in spectacular terrain. The shortest distance takes the athletes across 2 mountains and 1200 height meters.

The French athletes Mathèo Jacquemoud and Lèo Viret won both distances on the men’s side, while Norwegian Kristin Brandtsegg Lome was the best female on the long distance. The shorter distance on the women side was won by Chloè Guellerin. The winner time by Matheo for the Lofoten Skimo 4000 was 5 hours and 29 minutes. Leo won the shorter distance in 1 hours and 29 minutes, which is a new course record. The winner times on the women side was 7 hours and 19 minutes and Chloe spent 2 hours and 31 minutes finishing Lofoten Skimo 1000+.
“It was a really beautiful race. The race course, the friendly crew and the amazing nature in Lofoten really blew me away.” – Mathèo Jacquemoud, France (winner of Lofoten Skimo 4000+)
Three races – three seasons
The Arctic Triple consists of three annual races set in week 11, 22 and 33. 2018 is the second year with all three races set up and Lofoten Skimo was first out. Next comes Lofoten Ultra-Trail in week 22 and the triple year is finalized with Lofoten Triathlon in week 33.
“We think Lofoten represents a unique arena for adventure races and with our concept we offer three amazing adventures in three different seasons in the arctic. Lofoten Skimo is in the middle of the northern lights season, Lofoten Ultra-Trail in the midnight sun season and Lofoten Skimo in the beautiful late summer.” – says Director Frank Hagen.

Upcoming Skimo Events

All that remains of newsworthy events is the bi-annual Patrouille de Glaciers! We’ll be watching closely the weather to see if the Patrol will be held as several North American teams plan to contest the route. Download the PDG app to follow along with your team of choice!

Skimo News – Mar 28, 2018: Tour du Rutor, Pan-American Ski Mountaineering Championships, and more…

March 28, 2018 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

It was a relatively big weekend in the skimo world with athletes competing overseas at the Tour du Rotur in Italy, and on this side of the Atlantic at both the Pan-American Ski Mountaineering Championships at Lake Louise and the gnarliest cross-country ski race out there, the Grand Traverse in Colorado.

Kylee Ohler on her way to winning Pan-Am Championships sprint race.

USA and Canada Race News

Pan-American Ski Mountaineering Championships – Lake Louise, AB – Mar 23-25:

With top US athletes currently spread out all over the world Lake Louise still attracted a strong group mainly coming from Colorado and Montana. The Canadians were out in full force for both men and women.
Make sure to check out our link to full results as there were also Junior and Cadet categories.
Vertical race – Friday:
The men’s race was a tight affair most of the way as Rory Kelly (USA) was only slowly building his lead over Eric Carter (USA but living in Canada) and current Canada’s fastest skimo athlete Nick Elson. Peter Knight (CAN) came in fourth after putting in a strong showing.
In the women’s race, coming off a fresh win at Shedhorn the previous weekend, Sierra Anderson took a dominant win over Michela Adrian and Jaime Brede (all from USA). Fourth went to the first Canadian Michelle Roberts.
> Full results – vertical
Sprint race – Saturday:
Saturday’s sprint race attracted less athletes than anticipated yet still provided for a great event for the resort skiers. All top favorites cruised to the finals without much problems.
The men’s finals featured a strong pack of six and delivered an exciting race. While Nick Elson took off right from the start and build about 10sec lead by top of the boot-pack, the rest was swapping back and forth. Eric Carter was able to away by the top transition and then hold on to second place while Rory Kelly just held off Chris Carr (USA) for third. Travis Brown (CAN) and Jon Brown (USA) took 5th and 6th respectively.

Nick Elson building his lead while a battle was raging behind him

The women’s final featured a similar script when Kylee Ohler, Canada’s top skimo athlete the last few years, went on a mission and convincingly won. The battle for second was a bit tighter with Michela Adrian coming ahead of Sierra Anderson at the end. 4th went to Lori Ann Donald (CAN), 5th to Jaime Brede (USA) and 6th to Martha Burley (CAN).

Women's podium, from left: Adrian, Ohler, Anderson. — Women’s podium, from left: Adrian, Ohler, Anderson.

The junior and cadet categories delivered great spectating as well and provided an insight into the talent pool in both countries.
> Full results – sprint

Individual race – Sunday:
With great weather and good racing temperatures it was time to take on a big and technical course the organizing committee laid out throughout the best terrain of the Lake Louise Ski Resort – over 1700m vertical spread over 5 climbs and a distance of over 20km to cover.
The first 30min of the men’s race was quite close as the weekend’s familiar trio of Rory Kelly, Eric Carter and Nick Elson was keeping things together. However, after the first descent, long time training partners, Carter and Elson started to pull away and kept building their lead even when breaking trail – they know how to do this very efficiently. They tried to break each other on the last ascent yet both failed so everything was to be decided in the last descent. Skiing together, Elson took a pretty big fall so Carter stopped to check on him. While Elson was fine the two decided to it was safer and more fair to finish hand-in-hand to tie for first. Kelly was able to secure his third place despite the closely following Peter Knight who put in another great performance.
In the women’s race, all eyes were on Sierra Anderson, Kylee Ohler and Michela Adrian – the first two being favourites on paper. After 2h 20min of racing the difference between the winning Andreson and second Ohler was only 1min 47sec, although, Andreson was in the lead the whole way. Third place went to Adrian who stood on the podium on each of the three days.
> Full results – individual

Grand Traverse – Crested Butte, CO – Mar 24:

The following recap was sent in by Nikki LaRochelle, who represented USA at the 2017 World Championships. Thank you very much Nikki!
After weeks of Crested Butte having clear, sunny skies, a storm rolled in on Friday – the day before the midnight start – forcing race organizers to switch the course to the “Reverse” format to mitigate potential avalanche danger. This course profile is similar to the proper course, with climbing 6,000 ft on a 34 miles long route.
Conditions on the course were variable – once racers exited Crested Butte Ski Area, they traversed through East River which had very thin coverage and plenty of grabby sagebrush. Luckily, the snow bridge creek crossings were intact and the snow quality improved as racers ascended up Brush Creek to the Friends Hut aid station. Just past this checkpoint, athletes ascended up towards Star Pass and then turned around to descend back down Brush Creek. This made for tricky downhill skiing as there was two way traffic in a dense forest with fast conditions. Once racers navigated this low angle descent, they had to skate and eventually run down Brush Creek Road to the Upper Upper trail which circumnavigates the south side of Mount Crested butte. Here the conditions were exceptionally thin and athletes had to decide between skinning and running. There were extensive dry patches along the way making this decision a tough one.
The race was led from start to finish by the men’s team, Cam Smith and Sean Vanhorn. These guys were on fire and seemingly untouchable by the rest of the field. Teams in second through fifth place were back and forth for the first half of the race but ultimately spread out after the descent from Star Pass. Laird-Sullivan team were able to make up major time in the second half and were able to overtake Greydanus-Jordan for second at the very end of the race. The co-ed team Brad and Nikki LaRochelle was in the front pack mix the first half of the race and settled into fourth for the second half. The women’s team Smith-Susla won uncontested with the second place women’s team 32 minutes back.
The following recap was sent in by Cam Smith, who also represented USA at the 2017 World Championships. Thank you very much Cam!
Crested Butte has had a tough winter. We are close to record low snowfall. Most of the lower elevation sections of the course were totally dry. But as luck would have it, the biggest storm of the season came in the day before the race. 2.4in of SWE fell at backcountry weather stations, forcing the course to be “reversed” back to Crested Butte. The course was in surprisingly good shape given the weather. Organizers and volunteers did a great job. We were on skis for about 32 of the 35 miles, and despite the challenging weather they were able to mark things very well. We did do a fair bit of trailbreaking at the front for most of the race. Since the course was flatter than normal we felt comfortable taking it out a little harder than we otherwise would.
We were at the front right away and nobody came with us. So we just kept moving at a pace we thought was sustainable, which ended us giving us a sizable lead for most of the race. We made a point not to look over our shoulders so didn’t know the next team was 1 minute or 30 minutes behind us. We knew that no matter the lead if we let up or made a mistake the teams behind us would be happy to take advantage. The highlight of the race was skiing back down the two way traffic. We were cheering for the uphillers while they were jumping out of the way and cheering right back. It was a pretty neat race experience. I even saw my sister on her way up, as well as other friends out completing their own races.
The GT is an amazing community event, it’s so cool to see your friends and neighbors out on course. Even though you’re deep in the backcountry there are folks out cheering your names in the middle of the night. There are hundreds of people preparing the course, organizing the event, and giving up a night of sleep to support the racers. It really brings the community together which is a big part of why we love the race so much. The volunteers and race staff are the real heroes of the weekend.
> Full Results

NE Rando Race Series Finale – Bromley, VT and Sunday River, ME – Mar 17 and Mar 24:

Contributed by East Coast SkinTrack.com Correspondent Jonathan Shefftz. Thank you Jonathan!
On March 17th the NE Rando Race Series returned to Southern Vermont for its fourth of five USSMA-sanctioned races. Bromley provided conditions that were the perfect antidote to the rapidly diminishing snowpack at the NE Rando February 24 race at Berkshire East, MA following a week of temps in the 60sF and even 70F, followed by the groomer-fest at the SkimoEast March 3 race at Jay Peak VT. Instead, after over six feet of snow during the first half of March, Bromley served up descents of cut-up powder interspersed with some tight moguls.
The approximately 5,000 feet layout started with a loop around the edges of the resort boundary and then three cycles of an inner circuit comprising a full skin, short ski, short boot, and full ski. Milan Kubala took his second NE Rando win of the season, followed by Abe Meyehofer and Alex Nichols. For the women, Katie Vadasdi also took her second NE Rando win.
In the age classes, for Masters, Race Director Jonathan Shefftz took the win, ahead of Cameron Chalmers and Thomas McHenry in third, while Barbara Tardiff took her second win of the season for women. Stratton Mountain School nordic racer Asa Chalmers took his second win of the season for U17. Alaskan nordic racer Canyon Tobin took the U20 win while also just barely missing the Open podium an shocking the entire field by leading the first ascent … on regular touring gear, all borrowed!
The season wrapped up on March 24 at Sunday River, Maine: by far the most expansive course layout in the East, starting at one end of the resort, zig-zagging up and down the lower mountain to the other end, then finally working its way back by zig-zagging up and down the upper mountain. Almost all of the 5,600 feet of vertical comprised steep tight bump runs.
Ed Warren took his second NE Rando win of the season, followed by Jan Wellford and Brian MacIlvain (“fresh” from the Pierra Menta). Whitney Withington smoked all of the bump runs to take the win over Jen Downing. Race Director Jonathan Shefftz won for the Master’s.
> Full Results

International Race News

Tour du Rutor – Italy – Mar 23-25:

After coming off a very strong showing at Pierra Menta where they placed 10th, we were all awaiting how will the team of John Gaston and Tom Goth (both USA) fair in another famous European stage race. Tour du Rutor takes place every second year and is always attended by many very fast teams.
Here’s a very nice video from the second day:
Racing between the top 3 men’s teams was very close every day and ultimately the overall differences were small. Italian’s Michele Boscacci and a yound Davide Magnini won by only 3min over their countrymen Matteo Eydallin and Nadir Maguet who had another 3.5min over over a French team William Bon Mardion and Xavier Gachet (3rd at recent Pierra Menta as well). Tom Goth and John Gaston had very even placing every day (11th, 10th and 10th) to score another top 10 result at a prestigious European skimo stage race. Congrats!
In the women’s race, it was the recently crowned European Champion Axelle Mollaret (FRA) partnering with Jennifer Fiechter (SWI) to take all three stages and ultimately the overall with about 6min over second placed Italian team Alba de Silvestro and Katia Tomatis (Axelle Mollaret partner at Pierra Menta). They had a significant gap over third placed Lorna Bonnel (FRA) and Severine Pont Combe (SWI).
> Full Results

Upcoming Events

With the skimo racing season coming to a close soon there are still a couple of events worthwhile considering. Check out our calendar and hop on the start line for one more challenge!

Mike Foote Interview: 24 Questions For The New 24-Hour World Record Holder

March 23, 2018 By Stano Faban 4 Comments

We are super excited to bring you this detailed interview with Mike Foote today!
We will talk about his training, preparation, nutrition and the 24-hour attempt itself.
For those that don’t know… Mike became the new world record holder to climb 61,200 vertical feet or 18,654 metres in 24 hours on skis. He chose to do it on a fairly short climb – 1020 feet or 310 metres – which he lapped 60 times. And all of this at his “home” ski resort Whitefish Mountain Resort in Montana, USA.

About half way through his attempt. — About half way through his attempt using The North Face custom race suit.

For many, Mike might be unknown but in the endurance trail running world he has achieved some incredible results over the years such as a podium at the famed Ultra-Trail Du Mont Blanc and 3x second place at Hardrock 100. Mike is also The North Face Athlete, member of the US National Ski Mountaineering Team, raced Pierra Menta in 2017 and placed 26th in a vertical race at the 2017 World Skimo Championships.

The Interview

Q1: First of all, huge congrats to you Mike!
On Sunday morning of March 18, 2018 you had finished a massive effort to set a new world record in the most vertical climbed and skied in 24 hours.
How, when and why did you come up with an idea to try this?
I first came up with the idea after running the Hardrock 100 last year. I love longer and lower endurance events like that which take around 24 hours, and there was nothing in the skimo world, which compared. So I began wondering if I could run 100 Miles in a day, what could I do on skis in 24 hours.
Q2: What was the previous record? How did you realize that you might have a shot?
An Austrian named Eckhardt Dolshlag did 60,000 feet on the dot in 2009 in Austria at a 24-hour event at Bad Gastein Ski Area. Then the famous ski mountaineering racer Florent Perrier did 59,893 feet in 2011 in his home town of Areches, France in the Alps.
These were the two efforts that felt like the benchmark for me. I didn’t know if I had a shot, but I did know that if they could do it, I may be able to as well!

Split times for each of Mike's 60 climbs. — Split times for each of Mike’s 60 climbs.

Q3: What was the weather like during your attempt? Seems like it cooperated well.
The weather was really nice. Sunny and warm during the day and mid 20’s (F) at night. This however made the surface conditions of the snow really bad due to melt-freeze which plagued me most of the night with really slippery skinning.
Q4: This is going to be a longer question but perhaps the most interesting one… Let’s talk about selecting the right conditions and venue for something like this:
Can you elaborate on how crucial the right angle and length of the slope is, I know that you switched to a less steep climb from the one you originally wanted to use?
Why did you choose only a 310m climb (1020 feet)? How steep was it?
Altitude was not a factor, right?
And while all the above is important, I have a feeling you didn’t choose Whitefish Resort only based on calculations.
I’ll say it right at the beginning that I chose Whitefish because I have a community there. And I knew I would need support to pull this off. I used to ski patrol there. It’s also the place where I began uphill skinning. Lastly, one of my biggest inspirations in the skimo world was a friend Ben Parsons, who passed away in an avalanche in Glacier Park last year. The uphill route on the mountain was named after him, and there was nowhere else I wanted to try for this record.
As for slope length and angle, I’ve thought a LOT about this. I think something in the 32-34% grade range that was very consistent and was about 1500-2000ft in length would be perfect for something like this. Also, to have a lit on-piste run to ski down is really helpful.
Q5: Did you use any special gear, or your usual skimo racing equipment and clothing?
I used my normal skimo gear – Dynafit DNA skis and Pierre Gignoux boots. It’s what I know and train on and I didn’t want to mess with it. The North Face and I worked together to design a ski suit with some textiles often used in the bike racing world. The first time I used it was on the day of the attempt so I was quite nervous, but it ended up working great.
Q6: What did you eat and drink during the 24 hours? Did you have a specific fueling schedule? Did your tastes change at any point?
I just planned to eat a little bit each lap, and I totally stuck to that plan.
I had a wide variety of food such as Gu gels, sweet potato and bacon rice ball, corn cakes, drink mix, maple syrup diluted into a water bottle (I drank almost an entire quart!).
Towards the end I was also drinking warm soup broth and coke. I was eating around 400 calories per hour, which is insane! In training I often don’t eat at all or only about 200 calories an hour. It was working though to eat a lot so I kept eating!
Q7: Do you know how many calories you burned overall and how much did you drink?
I don’t know. Maybe 15-20,000 calories burned? I drank a lot of liquid. Every lap. And I may have been over-hydrated because I had to go to the bathroom a lot towards the end!
Q8: How many people did you have helping out during your attempt, and what were their roles? How many pacers did you have?
I had a HUGE support crew!
I had friends feeding me and giving me drink, and drying gear, and switching skins at the bottom. I also had friend at the top taking a picture and documenting my times for each lap.
In the second half of the day I had friends swapping out and pacing me for multiple laps trying to keep me on target for the record. It was a total team effort and I’m so lucky to have had the all time crew that I did. I would not have been able to come close to my goal alone.

Mike's amazing support crew. We are proud to call many of these people friends as well. — Mike’s amazing support crew. We are proud to have many of these people as friends as well.

Q9: What was your pacing strategy for the 24 hours? Most of the time, were you ahead of the world record schedule, or where you behind at any point?
You knew you would be fading slowly but it seems like you were able to have some surges.
I made a decision early on in the day to go by feel and not get too lost in numbers. I looked at my watch only a handful of times over the course of the 24 hours.
With that said, I was hopeful to build up some padding in the first half of the day without blowing up too much. I was able to ski about 33,500 ft in the first 12 hours and then skied about 27,700 in the second 12 hours. It was much slower but still enough to get the record.
The surges came with pacing. I just kept trying to hang onto the back of Luke Nelson’s skis the last 6 hours. Some laps I could do it and we would post a really good time. Other times I could barely stay focused and I really slowed down.

Luke pacing Mike in the early morning hours.

Q10: When did you have your toughest moments? How did you push through?
The hardest part for me was the first 5 laps. I didn’t feel great, and I was feeling negative and not confident. I was worried that so many friends put their lives on hold to help me out and that I was going to fail. However, I just kept reminding myself I had a long day and that giving up wasn’t an option. After 7-8 laps I began feeling better and was able to fall into a really good rhythm.
Q11: How did you take care of your feet? Or your training prepared them for it?
Umm….I didn’t take care of my feet. I planned to switch boots and socks to dry them out but never did. And I paid the price. They hurt!

Mike's feet after 24 hours of skiing! — Mike’s feet after 24 hours of skiing!

Q12: Do you feel like that you reached your life-time best fitness? Or do you think such a long endurance effort is highly dependent on one’s mental state and overall mindset?
Definitely the latter. I know I could do better.
I also know that conditions are really important as well as mindset. I would like to think I will keep getting stronger every year at least into my 60’s 🙂
Q13: Something tells me that the 24h record attempt was only a very small portion of the whole project, so let’s talk about your training and preparations now…
Obviously, you are a very fit athlete year-round so you didn’t start from zero, but when did you specifically started to train for this?
I started training specifically for this late last fall around November.
Q14: Did you design a whole training plan towards your 24h attempt, or did you come up with a couple of specific key workouts and just plugged them into your usual schedule?
My training plan was specific to the attempt for sure I still wanted to race a bit, but my priority was to be the best prepared I could be for the 24 hour attempt.
I worked with Scott Johnston of Uphill Athlete and we devised a plan together that naturally focused a lot on volume and vert. The biggest thing to work on was to be really good at doing long slow days that weren’t too tiring so I could go out and do them again the next day.
It took work, but I had to get really good at operating at really low output in training so that I could boost my aerobic capacity which paid dividends once it was time for the 24 hour effort. My body was very used to “Race Pace”, which is slow and steady, by the time of the attempt.
Q15: Since you live a little ways from bigger mountains, and being a runner, how much were you running still? What other activities did you use for training?
I pretty much just skied. I have a couple areas I can drive to within 20 min from my home and we had a great winter, so I was lucky there.
I ran about a day a week for an hour. I also did some easy afternoon 1 hour spins on the bike trainer, and went to the gym 1-2 times a week for some light-to-moderate core work. I did harder gym workouts in the fall, but once the season started I backed off of all hard leg workouts in the gym.
Q16: While the focus was on volume during your training, I am wondering whether you incorporated also some higher intensity intervals, apart from jumping into few races?
Pretty much I just did 4-5 races, and then a handful of Zone 3 longer workouts – I would do 3x 20 min or 4 by 10 min at about 80 percent effort.
Q17: In the weeks prior, you did a couple of 8 hour ski sessions to climb a lot of vert. How many did you do and how much did you climb?
My two longest days were back-to-back 8 hour days and I did 20,000 the first day and 22,000 the second. Before that I did a handful of 15,000 days and probably 10-12 times 10,000 days.

A "regular" training day. — A “regular” training day.

Q18: I know you were training a lot on the original climb – named Benny Up after our good friend Ben Parsons – in the Whitefish Resort. It has some really steep sections so you wanted to feel it out. Do you remember how many times have you climbed it this winter?
Oh man, good questions. I don’t know. Maybe 50-60 times?
Q19: Since there was lots of vertical to be climbed on the D day, every gram would matter. Did you try to loose some body weight, or you were not too concerned about it?
It’s something that’s always on my mind and causes me concern at times. There is no debating the physics of hauling mass uphill.
I’ve tried losing weight in the past and have failed to do so. What I’ve realized is that it’s healthier for me to focus on being strong, healthy, consistent and injury and illness free. I’m better at those things than a lot of people, so if I’m a few pounds over my goal weight it’s worth it to me.
Q20: Was this the most challenging athletic thing that you have ever done? How would it compare to the battles at Hardrock 100 trail race, or some of your other adventures?
In many ways this reminded me of running 100 miles, but it was much harder because all the pressure was on me. I had no competitors. It was a clock, a mountain and me. I’ve never experienced that.
Also, it was up to me to set up the logistics of the event with the venue and to get all my friends to volunteer their time. There were many added stressors, which made the experience as a whole both more challenging but ultimately more rewarding.

Q21: Having this amazing experience under your belt, what would you change that you think could have made a reasonable impact on your performance?
I will start by saying I wouldn’t change my experience for anything. With that said, a longer slope that was extremely consistent at 32-33% grade would be perfect. Also, the melt-freeze conditions were hard for going up AND going down. I would have loved to have had some nice new snow for this attempt!
Q22: What would you recommend universally to an athlete that might be thinking of doing this? Or is it too person-specific?
I would say to anyone to let go of your preconceived notions. You would be surprised what you can accomplish just by walking uphill all day!
Q23: Coming from the trail running background, what first steps would you recommend other trail runners to do if they are thinking to pick up skimo?
Do a race. They aren’t as scary as you think. Also, buy the SkinTrack Manual For Ski Mountaineering Racing. I did and loved it. It’s a great resource!
Q24: You now have collected some great achievements in trail running and skimo. What are your future personal and athletic goals?
I am always working to just enjoy the process. I like mixing up my goals and sports. This has been fun but I am excited to get back to big mountains and racing next winter.
I will be running the Hardrock 100 this summer and will likely have some big running adventures planned before and after that to.
I am just going to do what inspires me, even if it’s a bit out of the ordinary. That strategy worked really well for me this winter as I really enjoyed preparing for the 24 hour attempt.
Thank you very much Mike for your time with these questions!
Stano

Skimo News – Mar 20, 2018: New 24h World Record, Pierra Menta News, Upcoming Pan American Skimo Champs, and more…

March 20, 2018 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

Last couple of days have been the busiest and the most exciting for the skimo world in all of this season. Let’s not waist screen space and dive right into it…

Upcoming Pan American Ski Mountaineering Championships – Mar 23-25

We want to bring your attention again to the upcoming Championships that will take place over three days in the beautiful Lake Louise Ski Resort in Alberta, Canada.
The event will features three different races – vertical on Friday, sprint on Saturday, individual on Sunday – and is expected to attract the fastest athletes from US, Canada and maybe even Mexico and South America.
The prizes are plenty, there is quite a bit of new snow at the venue, and athletes of all levels are welcome to line up along National team members either on the same courses or shortened versions.
For all event’s details and for registration please go here.

Mike Foote Sets a New 24h Record!

On the morning of March 17, after months of training and preparation, Mike Foote started to climb his first of the 60 laps in an attempt to set a new 24 hour world record in the most vertical climbed and skied. The next morning, he would become the new world record holder with a total of 61,200 vertical feet or 18,654 metres climbed!
As our friend, we cannot be more proud and happy for him! Yeaaah! 🙂

Mike set his record on a fairly short 310m climb at his "home" resort in Whitefish, Montana which happens to be one of our favourite places as well. — Mike set his record on a fairly short 310m climb at his “home” resort in Whitefish, Montana which happens to be one of our favourite places as well.

2018 Pierra Menta: Joy and Sorrows of Champions

Mid-March is traditionally reserved for the iconic 4-day stage race in the beautiful mountains surrounding Beaufort and Areches villages in France.
United States fielded arguably their strongest team ever – John Gaston (previously 15th at this race) and Tom Goth – who ultimately placed in the top 10 overall to set a new men’s North American historical benchmark at PM.
> Overall results are here our day-by-day recap below will provide the full story.

Men’s race recap:

While last year’s supreme winners, Italy’s Damiano Lenzi and Matteo Eydalin, were the biggest favourites on paper there were other three teams that could seriously thinking about winning.

While the unfortunate accident took out Kilian Jornet nothing should be taken away from Michele Boscacci winning his first Pierra Menta with his father Graziano, a winner of the 2002 Pierra Menta, watching from the sidelines. A truly grand family achievement! (Pierra Menta photo)

The first day went super well for a local French team, William Bon Mardion and Xavier Gachet, who were the underdogs coming into the race, as they took the win by a couple of seconds ahead of Italians Robert Antonioli and Michele Boscacci. Only a minute behind, third place went to the famous Spaniard Kilian Jornert and his new teams race partner Jakob Herrmann from Austria. Time gaps were very small between the top three teams. Lenzi and Eydalin struggled to fourth place with almost five minutes down on the victors.
> John Gaston and Tom Goth eased into the race to place 16th.
On day 2, traditionally hosting the longest stage, things started to get really interesting when Jornet and Herrmann forced the pace most of the day to take the win. Lenzi and Eydalin abandoned the race as they didn’t feel up to the task. Boscacci and Antonioli battled the whole way but ultimately finished second again, yet loosing only 4 seconds to the winning team. The French team conceded over 4 minutes and it was safe to assume they fell out of contention for the overall win.
> John Gaston and Tom Goth delivered a great performance to claim 10th in the stage and moved up to 12th overall.
Boscacci and Antonioli started the day 3 in “pole position”, leading Jornet and Herrmann by about a minute in the overall. However, thanks to Jornet’s experience and motivation of his teammate they pushed the pace in grand fashion to win the stage by over 3 minutes ahead of the Italians, and claiming the overall lead by about 2 minutes. Gachet and Bon Mardion finished safely in 3rd.
> Gaston and Goth continued with their measured effort to place 11th in the stage and staying 12th overall.
The final day brought the biggest disappointment in skimo’s recent history and a bag of mixed emotions. As Jornet and Herrmann were on a mission once again, the Spaniard suffered a fall in a descent mid-stage and broke his lower leg. He is fine otherwise. Heavy wet snow was coming down since the morning to make conditions really challenging. Behind them an amazing battle for the stage win unleashed as Bon Mardion and Gachet found their legs from day one. At the end, they beat the Italian team by only 12 seconds with Boscacci and Antonioli collapsing in the finish to claim the surprising overall title.
> The US Team rallied into 8th place in the stage and jumping to 10th overall.

Women’s race recap:

The women’s race was a little less exciting but it did bring a surprise. The strongest team on paper, French Laetitia Roux with Sweden’s Emelie Forsberg, uncharacteristically struggled to even match the duo of Axelle Mollaret (FRA) and Katia Tomatis (ITA), and kept loosing minutes in the first three stages. Only on the last day did they prevail to claim at least one stage. On the other hand, Mollaret and Tomatis delivered a spectacular performance to win three stages and the overall title by 11 minutes over Roux and Forsberg.

Katia Tomatis and Axelle Mollaret full of joy. (Pierra Menta photo)

Third place was never really contested as Spanish team of Mireia Miro and Marta Garcia put in a solid effort every day to always place 3rd.
Of note, is the fourth place of a purely Swedish team consisting of Ida Nilsson and Fanny Borgstrom.

USA and Canada Race News

Marmot’s Revenge – Jasper, AB – Mar 17, 2018:

The Canadian Cup came together for the third weekend in a row at Marmot Basin in Jasper, AB for the very first time of this event. Fresh snow day prior to the race made for soft conditions along with warm temperatures. The Canadian Rockies snow-pack is deep at the moment and with a mid-mountain start, racers were treated to excellent skiing. Unfortunately, dense fog rolled onto the course making for challenging race conditions. Racers in the elite course covered five ascents and descents totaling approximately 1800 meters of climbing.
Peter Knight, the devious course designer, broke trail up the first climb. After the first descent, Nick Elson, feeling strong after two recent wins at Panorama and Squamish, pushed off the front with only Eric Carter following his track. The two swapped the lead through the remaining race until Elson opened a gap on the final boot-pack and transition, skiing into the finish with a 10 second lead.

As a "revenge", for designing such a tough course, Peter Knight was left to break trail on the first climb. All in good spirits ;) Marmot Basin photo. — As a “revenge”, for designing such a tough course, Peter Knight was left to break trail on the first climb. All in good spirits 😉 Marmot Basin photo.

Kylee Ohler remains the undisputed women’s leader and won, also taking 5th overall, with more than 30min gap over second place Marg Fedyna. The third step on the podium went to Courtney Post.
> Full results

Shedhorn Race – Big Sky Montana – Mar 17, 2018:

With arguably the scariest course on the North American skimo circuit this race is no joke! The big terrain of this unique resort provides a spectacular setting for a proper ski mountaineering event.

Big Sky ski patrollers always put on a great course! Photo by COSMIC (Joe Risi).

While we don’t have the backstory from this race we will mention the winners on the elite course and you can find out the rest in the results below. First place in the men’s category went to Max Taam, who is US Skimo Team member and one of the best skimo athletes on the continent when it comes to technical courses. In the women’s category the top prize went to Sierra Anderson from Breckenridge, CO.
> Full results

East Coast races:

We don’t have any reports from that side of the country this week.

Upcoming Events

Grand Traverse
Those not attending Continental Championships in Canada will likely be competing at the Elk Mountain Grand Traverse from Aspen to Crested Butte. It’s a bit too early to make any predictions about weather conditions but we do suspect that repeat champions, John Gaston and Max Taam will be tough to beat, even with John likely tired from his amazing performance at Pierra Menta. Or is Max coming to race in Lake Louise? Who do you think will put up the best fight? What do you expect to see from the women’s teams? Let us know what you think!

Skimo News – Mar 16, 2018: Backcountry skimo racing in Squamish BC, Power of Four in Aspen and more…

March 16, 2018 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

It has been quite busy last two weeks for race organizers, athletes and us as well. However, we are reporting only on three races as we are still waiting for recaps and results to be sent to us.
The next two weeks will be busy again, especially with the Skimo Pan-American Championships taking place in the beautiful Lake Louise, Alberta over three days Mar 23-25.

USA and Canada Race News

Ski to Sky – Squamish, BC – Mar 10:

A brand new race, and the only entirely backcountry skimo race in Canada (and one of the only three in North America), was held this weekend in Squamish, British Columbia. The inaugural event held at the Sea to Sky Gondola – organized by US and Canadian National Team members Eric Carter and Nick Elson – sold out 85 entries with a week remaining to the race date. Organizers contended with difficult weather conditions in the week leading up to the race but managed to prepare a great track on a modified course to account for increased avalanche danger.

We set a double track on most of the course.

Race day arrived with a crisp, perfectly blue sky and there was an excited buzz as volunteers headed out on the course along with guides, and search and rescue personnel. The majority of the athletes were ski tourers and trail runners completing their first race while a few National Team members were excited to enjoy some racing action off-piste.

Amazing scenery above the top transition.

Athletes lined up for a Le Mans style start, running out from the gondola station and up a short hill where they put their skis on for a 2 km skate and out towards the course – fastest skiers covered this section in just over 8 min. Once skins were on athletes cruised up the Shannon Creek Valley before heading onto a technical skin track into the alpine. Despite warm temps and sunny skies, ski conditions were pretty good on the north facing slopes below the Stadium Glacier. Skiers had a treat as they climbed up the double skin track to the high transition with views of the Sky Pilot massif dominating and the Pacific Ocean down in the valley below.
Elite racers completed two laps of the alpine section of the course while Rec category completed one. Nick Elson took the lead from the start and skied away from Travis Brown and Joel Desgraniers, both from Alberta, opening up time on both the ascents and descents finishing in 1hr and 40min. The women’s open field was led by Oregonian Megan Erspamer in 2hrs 49min, beating out Moni Ambrozaitis of North Vancouver. The short course was won by Jiri Prochazka of Whistler for the men and Kyle Kirkegaard of Squamish for the women.

Nick Elson had an impressive lead already after 45min of racing.

Upon the successful return of all the racers, everyone converged on the beautiful Gondola deck to take in some sun, drink a lot of Backcountry Brewing beer, and get their hands on a TON of prizes from race sponsors.
The race organizers would like to thank all our sponsors, volunteers, and athletes for an amazing day! We should also note that we’ve raised more than $500 to donate to Squamish Search and Rescue!
For more info on Squamish Skimo, check out our website (www.squamishskimo.com) or follow @Squamishskimo on Facebook and Instagram
> Full results

Power of Four – Aspen, CO – Mar 3:

A couple of days before flying over to Europe to race the magical Pierra Menta, John Gaston partner once again with Max Taam for one of the biggest skimo events in North America. In grand fashion, the duo set a new course record and comfortably won this race for a fourth time.

They were followed home by Cam Smith, a rising skimo star, and his partner Paul Hamilton. Third went to an experienced team of Rory Kelly and Jon Brown.
On the women’s side, two experienced racers and both mothers – Nikki Laroche and Lindsay Plant – won with a sizeable gap of 30min over the second placed Sarah Tory and Caroline Tory.
> Full results

Steep Dreams – Panorama, BC – Mar 3-4:

New-kid-on-the-block last year, the Steep Dreams two day skimo event enjoyed little warmer temperatures than a year ago.
The first day hosted the vertical race on a 500m course. In his first race of the season, Nick Elson and Kylee Ohler took the wins. The top 3 men were within 20 seconds.
The next day, lining up for his second race of the season, Nick Elson didn’t leave anyone in doubt about his form as he marched on to build a massive 11min lead by the finish line. Second went to Peter Knight, a steady force on the Canadian scene, who just held off Joel Shehan, one of our Montana friends and a potential candidate for the US Skimo Team next year.
The women’s individual race once again belong to Kylee Ohler who also won with a big 25min gap. Second went to Michelle Katchur Roberts and third to more of sprint specialist Lori Anne Donald.
> Full results – Vertical race, Individual race

Upcoming Events

The Pierra Menta is in a full swing right now and will finish tomorrow. American duo, John Gaston and Tom Goth, are currently sitting in 12th after 3 days of racing. If they hold on to it then that will be the best ever North American result.
Marmot’s Revenge, another new race on the Canadian calendar, is taking place on March 17 in the beautiful Jasper, Alberta.
March 17 will also host the big terrain Shedhorn Skimo Race at Big Sky Resort, MT and while on the east coast we will see a race at Bromley Mountain.
The weekend of March 23-25 will belong to the Pan-American Championships (also Canadian Championships) in Lake Louise, Alberta. And of course the Grand Traverse in Colorado will be on that weekend as well.

Review of Northern Playground Ziplongs: Underwear for Mountain Athletes

March 7, 2018 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

Quick overview:

Usual Retail Price: $90-110 USD depending on length and material
Material: Wool or Micro Fleece
Pant length: Available as full length tights or 3/4 knickers as well as other products (tops, underwear, socks)
Pros:  Warm and comfortable long-underwear that can be removed without taking one’s boots off!
Cons:  Ever so slightly short on me
Suitability:  Ski Touring, Ski Mountaineering, Alpine Climbing, Hiking

Bottom Line:

Temperature regulation is important but can be difficult. Especially, if you have to decide at the car and live with your choices for an entire day. Ziplongs are a full-zip, removable long-underwear and make temperature regulation easily adjustable.

Product description and How we tested it:

Eric Carter’s review.
I generally run quite hot when I am exercising. I am the guy who has sweat through his shirt within ten minutes of leaving the car. Choosing pants is a pain because I’m almost always hot at the start, sweat a bit, and then get cold at higher, colder or windier elevations. Either I dress warm and try to move slowly or I dress cold and try to move fast to generate heat! This is especially a problem when ice climbing or doing proper ski mountaineering where you might have periods of relatively intense effort on the approach or ascent, followed by periods of relative inactivity while belaying or otherwise not moving.
Traditional long underwear is not an option because it’s a huge pain to take off your harness, boots, and pants while on the side of a mountain. Zip-on over-pants are good but are generally quite bulky.

With the issues listed above, I decided to test a product from a Norwegian company Northern Playground, with their Ziplongs. Their motto is “Designed by hot Norwegians”. Ignoring the fact that it immediately brings to mind their beautiful, blond Scandinavians, it is perfect for hot British Columbians or anyone else 🙂
Instead of having to remove all your clothing and boots entirely while standing in the snow, all you have to do is loosen your harness and drop your pants. The long underwear zips right on! It sounds a bit ridiculous and there are some entertaining pictures on their website but it’s a small price to pay for being warmer at belays and not getting soaked in sweat on the approach.

Northern Playground agreed to send me a pair to test out so I’ve been playing with both the Microfleece and Wool options in the 3/4 length size. I’m almost universally a size medium at 6ft and 33in waist. This put me in a Medium for the Ziplongs as well.
My first impressions was that they are very comfortable. Both fabrics feel good against the skin. No itchiness from the wool. The length is slightly shorter than I was expecting. I didn’t want the full-length version because I figured it would be harder to fit on with pants around the ankles and high boot cuffs. The 3/4 version goes to just below the knee and only a few pairs of socks I own go that high. This means that sometimes, depending on my socks, there might be a gap between fabrics. This is really my only complaint and since I haven’t tried the full-length version, I can’t say for sure that they wouldn’t solve the issue.
Using Ziplongs in the field is no problem. For ice climbing, I wore my shell pant from the car and upon arriving at the first belay I dropped my pants and zipped on the Ziplongs. They kept me warm all day. Another day out ski touring, the morning was warm and windless so I started with just a light soft shell pant. Once we got high on a ridge in the alpine, I started to get really cold. I had to find a rock to hide behind to put my Ziplongs on but after a brief arctic blast, I was comfortable again and ready to continue on.

The difference between Microfleece and Wool seems negligible. Both are very comfortable and as far as I can tell, provide about the same amount of warmth. The wool is slightly less bulky so I’d choose that option in the future.
I should also mention that the construction of the underwear is very impressive. Clean stitching and obvious attention to detail. I was worried about having a harness on and that it would push the zipper into my skin. They have included nice fabric flaps over the zipper that make it unnoticeable. I haven’t had any issues with the zipper separating in use.
Coming from Norway, I expected the cost to be fairly high but comparing to other (non-zip) wool products, they are nearly equivalent – if you don’t mind paying for Patagonia or IceBreaker, the Ziplong is no more expensive.
I also tested a pair of their Wool Ski Socks. They perfectly overlap with the 3/4 tights and are a moderately padded sock. I am prone to heel blisters and haven’t gotten any wearing these. With about 25 days of use, the socks are not showing much wear-and-tear. I will reserve my conclusions on durability for a little longer though. In the mean time, I can sum up the socks by saying: they are warm, comfortable to wear, and they fit well.
Overall impressions on Ziplongs: In my opinion, Ziplongs are an awesome idea for the hot alpinist or ski tourer who wants an option to layer up or down their lower body without the hassle of removing boots. The Ziplong is high quality and comfortable, and after testing out their 3/4 tights and Wool Ski Socks, I wish I had asked for one of everything in their line.

What can be improved:

Sizing maybe just slightly smaller than most. Ziplong Tight might interact better with more sock combinations than 3/4 length.

Buying Northern Playground Ziplongs:

at Backcountry.com – Wool and Microfleece versions
directly from Northern Playground

Essential Tips for Preparing to Race Patrouille des Glaciers in Switzerland

March 2, 2018 By Stano Faban 5 Comments

It’s that time of year when days are getting longer so we can start thinking of big days in the mountains instead of just storm skiing and occasional resort laps. For skimo racers, this means thinking about the classic races, the Grande Course events.
One of the biggest and oldest is the Patrouille des Glaciers (PDG) that goes from Zermatt to Verbier in Switzerland. The 75 year old race covers 53 km and accumulates 4000m+ of climbing along the classic Haute Route, with approximately 3000 participating each year!
This year, we will be watching closely as several North American teams are attending the 2018 edition and we have put together some tips to help teams prepare for this big event in the future!

Athletes arriving in Verbier. Photo by PDG.

Getting There

Getting there is the first hurdle that athletes must tackle. Once a team has been selected for the race, they don’t have to worry about accommodation the night before. However, it is wise to head to altitude prior to the race (more on this later) to acclimatize.
Geneva, Switzerland is the closest major airport. Rent a car from the “French Sector” of the airport where rentals are MUCH cheaper, but be aware that driving on the autobahn (freeway) in Switzerland requires your car to have a vignette sticker which costs around 40 Euros. If you rent from the French side, your car likely will not have a vignette. You may get away driving from the airport to Zermatt without one, but you may get stopped at the border and forced to buy one. Pleading ignorance will hopefully prevent a fine.

Legendary village of Zermatt with the arguably the most iconic mountain in the world in the background. Photo by PDG.

The town of Zermatt, where the race starts, is actually off limits to cars. Additionally, the start and finish are in two totally different areas. For a team with no support crew and traveling by car, it can be difficult. We suggest parking a vehicle in the medium-sized town of Martigny, from here it is a short train ride to both Zermatt, for the start, and from Verbier at the finish.

There are festivities all along the course. Photo by PDG.

Staying Healthy

Another important component of preparing for such a big race, especially in combination with traveling from North America to Europe, is staying healthy.

Don’t try to make up training in the last two weeks for the race, you should be doing that now.
Use care on public transit – wash your hands often while flying and taking the train.
Schedule your flights to help with your jet-lag by flying overnight.
Spend as much time at high altitude (above 2000 m) as possible, focus on training easy, and to practice your downhills.
Eat healthy and sufficient calories. Don’t try to loose weight!
Sleep enough and well!

Tips on Dealing with Jet Lag

Because of the length of the race, the start takes place VERY early in the morning. Don’t expect to get great or a long enough sleep so do your best to rest well in the days leading up to the race:

Arrive in Europe with plenty of time to overcome jet lag and optimize your sleep schedule (early to bed, early wake-up).
Sleep lots in the nights preceding the race.
Use an eye shade and ear plugs if needed.

How Long Will it Take?

Finishing times in such a long race vary wildly so your best bet is to simulate about 1/2 to 2/3 of the distance and elevation gain in your training to figure out how long your team might take to finish. With that, you will be able to figure out how much food and water you will need to bring as well.
Current men’s course record was set in 2010 by a very strong Swiss team with a finishing time of 5h 52min. Women’s record stands at 7h 27min and was set also, by historical standards, by a very strong team in 2014.
We expect that most male North American teams can finish in around 8-12 hours and female teams in around 10-14h.

Swiss army is involved every step of the way with approximately 3000 members preparing and marshaling the course. Photo by PDG.

PDG Race Logistics

Bring only what you need for the night before the race and the race itself to Zermatt. The organizers will only transport a small bag to the finish for you. It’s best to leave your big suitcase in the car if possible.
The race often starts on foot in town. Depending on the length of the dry segment, you may wish to bring or buy a pair of cheap sneakers to run the first section in. When you switch to ski boots, you can leave the shoes with the race staff who then donate them.
Checking in is a long process. Arriving in Zermatt by train the day before the race, you will feel as though you walked into the skimo centre of the universe. Walking down the main street, crowded with other athletes, army members working for the race organization, and tourists will be very unique. The crowds are funneled towards the town’s rec centre where check-in takes place. Be prepared to show each piece of your equipment to have it individually approved – the Swiss military is very thorough. If you are missing anything, vendors are available on site to purchase equipment from but be warned, the prices are in Swiss francs and are raised for the race. Avoid buying in Zermatt, try to buy gear elsewhere prior to arriving.

Most big races in Europe begin either with marching band or in with a mass in a church. Photo by PDG.

PDG Route and Roping Up

Because it is the Patrouille des Glaciers, you will be traveling on glaciers with crevasse danger. This necessitates that racers rope up for much of the itinerary.
The race organization will indicate where you must rope up and when you can take it off. You must have at least 30m, 8.5mm half rope. If you have a 29.5m rope, you will not be allowed to use it when you check in!
The PDG does allow teams to use bungee devices to make skiing with the rope easier. This makes a huge difference as it prevents the rope getting tangled in your skis:

Purchase 3 or 4mm bungee cord from a sport shop. Two 10m sections should be plenty. Also purchase a big bag of zip-ties.
The idea is to stretch the bungee out completely tight alongside the rope and then zip-tie them together in about 10-15cm segments.
When the bungee relaxes, it creates small loops in the rope. This keeps the rope from going completely slack and then getting tangled in your skis.
You don’t want the ENTIRE rope attached to the bungee. Leave ~2m at each end and in the middle normal so you are able to tie in.
Practice tying into the middle of the rope without using a carabiner (and with gloves on).
Practice skiing with the rope/bungee prior to the race with your teammates . It takes a LOT of time getting used to it!
You will have to remove the bungees from your rope to check in with the military and then reattach it afterwards.

Once you’ve checked in and been given your bib and hotel assignment, grab some Rosti (a Swiss specialty) in a nearby cafe and then check into your hotel.
The race briefing takes place in the evening. It’s a busy affair with a band and many speeches in multiple languages. It might be wise to have only the most responsible teammate attend the meeting while the others prepare for the race. A French speaker will come home with the most information but critical details are given in English as well.
For a feel of history, check out this silent 18min movie from the 1945 race after you finish this article:

Altitude Acclimatization

Altitude at the PDG is a serious issue (with much of the route above 2500 m), unless you live in Colorado. It is advisable to spend time at altitude to acclimatize before arriving for the race. We don’t however suggest you do this in Zermatt because of the cost. Just on the other side of the Matterhorn lies the Italian resort town of Cervinia which is much cheaper and still allows access to high mountains and the race course. Similar altitudes can be found in the Avoriaz and other areas in France.
A full acclimatization schedule of arriving two weeks prior to the race will allow sufficient time to get used to the altitude, overcome jet lag, and prepare equipment and team tactics. If you cannot do that then plan to arrive at least 5-6 days prior to deal with jet lag, but make sure to spend time at altitude at home.
» For detailed tips on altitude acclimatization read our older post – How to minimize effects of altitude on skimo racing performance

Fueling Before and During the Race

Finally, fueling is a critical component for such a long race. While getting outside assistance at specific points is possible there are no feed zones, so you must arrange your own support group or do as follows:

Eat as much as is possible the days before.
Wake up early enough to eat a large breakfast and digest it before the start.
You will be issued one Army Milk Chocolate bar at check in but don’t count on that during the race.
Make sure you have both liquid and solid calories to last you through the duration of what you expect the event to take.
You don’t want to, at most likely you won’t be able to, do the whole race on gels only – pack in some bars, chocolate, and even smoked sausage for a change of taste 🙂

Train and Practice

There are many fine details of preparing for a big race such as Patrouille des Glaciers but arriving in Zermatt in your top form and fully proficient with your gear will set you up for success. We want to recommend our own Manual For Ski Mountaineering Racing e-book and our skimo training plans as we truly believe they are the the best English resources on the subject of skimo racing.
Commit, train hard, and have a blast!

Skimo News – Feb 27, 2018: North American racing + Jornet and Antonioli took Euro titles as Mollarete dominates women…

February 27, 2018 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

Exciting racing all around the North America and severe weather conditions for athletes at the European Championships on Mount Etna on the Italian island Sicily!

Jornet pressing the gas pedal while Italians are hiding from the strong wind. Photo by ISMF. — Jornet pressing the gas pedal as Italians are hiding from the strong wind. Photo by ISMF.

In non-racing news, US National Team member Teague Holmes nabs the second descent of an incredible steep line on the Aiguille du Chardonnet in Chamonix, first opened by Vivian Bruchez and Kilian Jornet. Their descent of the “West-by-South-West Couloir” is an awesome example of true ski mountaineering!

Somewhere in the maze of couloirs. Photo by Teague Holmes.

USA and Canada Race News

Wasatch Powder Keg – Salt Lake City – Feb 23-25:

With the US National Championships in Taos cancelled few weeks ago, the Salt Lake City crew stepped up and hosted the event as part of the classic Wasatch Powder Keg. It was a great weekend of racing. The temperatures were cold and there was lots of new snow.
There was a great turnout of kids with a large cadet (14-17) and viking (U14) divisions. Weather made the skiing on the course great, but course setting challenging. An accident in Big Cottonwood Canyon on Sunday morning caused a 2 hour delay in the race start due to the canyon being closed.

Men's teams race podium at Wasatch Powderkeg. Photo by the race organizers. — Men’s teams race podium at Wasatch Powderkeg. Photo by the race organizers.

Tom Goth and Gemma Arro ran away with the sprint titles. John Gaston returned home from Europe in strong form and punctuated his dominance on the domestic scene with another year as national champion in the individual race, with Gemma Arro taking her 2nd title of the weekend. Gaston and Max Taam took the team title over Goth and Andy Dorais. The women’s team event only featured two teams with several of the top women electing to race in the co-ed division instead. Caroline Gleich and Kathryn Bowman were the women’s team winners.
> Full Results

ROAM Randonne Rally – Nelson, BC – Feb 24:

Canadian athletes descended on the powder capital of the World, the Whitewater Ski Area in the Kootenay Mountains of British Columbia, for the 3rd of the SMCC Canadian Cup races. A new course kept racers entirely in the front bowls, eliminating significant portions of undulating ridge skinning from previous years. This meant direct ascents and incredible fall line skiing in their slack country terrain. As always, fresh powder fell in the days leading up to the race so athletes had the treat of first tracks on each descent (as well as breaking trail on the ascents).
The athletes started up the cat track on a crisp, blue morning and quickly turned onto the skin track for the 1500m+ course. Peter Knight took the first big turn breaking trail before trading off with Eric Carter who then pushed ahead solo for the last ascent to ski to his second win in Nelson. Kylee Ohler had a Men’s race podium in her sights but was held off by Canadian National Team member, Matt Reid, and chased by the eventual “Queen of Coldsmoke” Lori Ann Donald. Marg Fedyna rounded out the Women’s podium. Also of note was Junior racer Noah Shuhe’s result in the open men’s long course race.
> Full Results

Berkshire East – Massachusetts – Feb 24:

Write-up provided by our New England Skimo correspondent Jonathan Shefftz.
On February 24, the NE Rando Race Series returned to its January 20 venue of Berkshire East in Western Massachusetts (moved from the backcountry venue of Mount Greylock on account of 0% natural snow). Temperatures 60F warmer than the -20F January 6 season-opener at Magic resulted in skinning conditions that tested racers’ slush-avoidance tactics and water-saturated climbing skin glue. Fortunately, the boot-pack segments mainly followed hardened trails in the Thunder Mountain Bike Park, and the skiing conditions were fairly standard spring fare (albeit about two months too early!).
The nearly ~5,000 feet vertical course layout entailed three cycles of a circuit that started with a full skinning ascent up the 1,000’ mountain. For Open men, Jerimy Arnold took the win and fellow Team Hagan member Alex Nichols took third to sandwich Abe Meyerhofer in second on the podium. For Open women, Kadie Vadasdi moved up from her January third to take the win. For 45+, Race Director and Team Hagan member Jonathan Shefftz added a win to his January runner-up.
> Full results

Skimo Chutes and Ladders – Blacktail Mountain, Montana – Feb 25:

Write-up was provided by Jason Mills, one of the founders and organizers of this new event.
Skimo is becoming more and more popular in Montana’s Flathead Valley thanks to the liberal up-hill policy at Whitefish Mountain Resort, the now-classic Whitefish Whiteout skimo race (150 participants this year!), and a four-week Wednesday night skimo race league at the same resort.
Thanks to Flathead Valley residents Jason Mills and Jed Hohf, Montana has new race at Blacktail Mountain Ski Area in Lakeside, a small ski area 15 miles south of Kalispell. BTW, Blacktail Mountain currently has the 11th deepest snowpack in the country with 115 in., all natural snow!
The goal for Chutes and Ladders was to be a little different: Offer something challenging and competitive for the elite racers and something weird and fun for the rec skinners. The name Chutes and Ladders wasn’t just a “clever” race name, it was an allusion to the crux of the course: competitors had to climb two ladders over boulders throughout the race – a nod to the “old school” skimo races at Jackson Hole and the ladder up and over Corbet’s Couloir.
Fifty-three racers lined up in some heavy winds and about two inches of fresh. With the race starting on top of the mountain, racers skinned for about three minutes, transitioned, and then descended 1,400 ft. to the base of the lifts. Racers then circumnavigated the ski area, skinning and skiing about 50/50 piste/off-piste, encountering two ladders along the way.
The men’s elite field (three laps, 5,600 ft.) was lead all the way by Flathead brothers Joel and Jeff Shehan, with Joel coming in first, Jeff about five minutes behind in second, and Cyril Burguiere in third about five minutes after. (Of note: The Brothers Shehan flew to Salt Lake City on Friday night, raced the Powder Keg Saturday, flew back Saturday night, and raced Chutes and Ladders on Sunday!)
While the women’s elite field only hosted three athletes, Nikki Kimball (Bozeman, MT), Amber Steed (Kalispell, MT), and Claire Kniveton (Whitefish, MT), the three ladies traded spots all throughout the race, with Nikki and Amber eventually coming in hand-in-hand for first and Claire less than two minutes back in third.
This was the first ANNUAL Chutes and Ladders. We hope you’ll come race with us and climb some ladders in Lakeside, Montana, in 2019!

International Race News

With World and European Championships alternating, it was time for the best Euros to battle it out in 2018. The island of Sicily might seem like a strange place for ski mountaineering, however, the volcano of Mount Etna is high enough to have snow and there have been World Cups hosted here in the past.
Unfortunately, the last week’s Championships have been marked by severe storms which forced the organizers to cancel the seniors sprint and vertical races (while the younger categories were able to complete their events), with the later one being thankfully re-run on the last day.
With Italian men crushing this season’s World Cup races and Kilian Jornet back from a shoulder injury, it was obvious there would be “fireworks” in the skin tracks!

Currently, the Italian Skimo team has 5-6 athletes capable of winning any World Cup level individual race on any given day. With that, Robert Antonioli and Michelle Boscacci took it by the horns to only be followed by Kilian Jornet through the mid-point of the individual race. As expect, Jornet doesn’t race for second so he ultimately took the rein to build a nice gap by the top of the last ascent. However, the amazing Robert Antonioli pulled off one of his signature descents and blasted to the finish with a time to spare for golden celebration. Michelle Boscacci chased down the Spaniard as well to position himself for a sprint finish (there was a small skin-up section to the line) where he just nipped Jornet for silver. What a race!

Ski like Antonioli, celebrate like Antonioli :) Photo by ISMF. — Ski like Antonioli, celebrate like Antonioli 🙂 Photo by ISMF.

In the vertical race, Italians were at it again and trying to see whether one of them could break Jornet eventually. At the end, it was the flying Spaniard emerging first from the heavy fog at the finish line. Second went to an incredibly talented 20-years old Davide Magnini who will likely dominate World Cups in 2-3 years. Bronze medal went to a little known Antonio Alcalde Sanchez of Spain. Robert Antonioli took 4th and Swiss Werner Marti 5th.
In women’s races, all eyes were on Laetitia Roux (FRA) as she has lost only a very few races on the World Cup level for many years now. But this time it was her team-mate, Axelle Mollarete who took down the Championships in style. First, she won the individual race and then a took gold in the vertical as well! Roux managed second in the individual were she was closely chased by two Swedish athletes – Emelie Forsberg and Fanny Borgstrom who finished 3rd and 4th, respectively.
In the vertical race, Mollarete won with a comfortable margin while Victoria Kreuzer (SWI) took silver and Alba de Silvestro (ITA) captured bronze.

Women's individual race podium. Photo by ISMF. — Women’s individual race podium. Photo by ISMF.

> Results – for some reason there were no official ISMF vertical race results published (or communicated to us)

Upcoming Events

The Quebec-based SkimoEast series will be at Jay Peak in northern VT for the second of its two annual Quebec vs. New England showdowns. Following the latest of the (too) numerous February thaw-refreeze cycles, much of the challenging terrain in the typically expansive course layout is currently closed, but midweek snowfall could add up just in time for the March 3 race date.
Canadian racing continues at Panorama Mountain Resort for the Steep Dreams Ski Mountaineering Festival which includes a Vertical and Individual event as well as a unique “Skiduro” category with timed downhill segments.
In Colorado – teams are lining up for the Power of Four race. No insight on entries but we expect to see some decent competition at what is usually a pretty exciting event!
> For full events calendar visit this page

The Lightest Ski Mountaineering and Ski Touring Skis in the World from Moonlight Mountain Gear

February 23, 2018 By Stano Faban 1 Comment

Out of nowhere and out of Norway comes a little known ski brand that is manufacturering a line of arguably the lightest skis in the world! Their ski weights either beat or match the lightest skis from established brands like Movement, La Sportiva or SkiTrab.
I didn’t know about Moonlight Mountain Gear until recently so I made sure to visit their booth at the recent 2018 ISPO show in Munich where they also won an award for their Eagle Carbon Race ski.
The company’s headquarters are in a small town of Burfjord in the very northern part of Norway.

Moonlight Skis

While Moonlight makes visually two very distinct lines of skis – Carbon and Carbon Race – the focus in both is on delivering the best performance through using latest high tech light-weight materials as well as some nature’s lightest woods.
The core of Moonlight skis is a blend of hybrid foam, Formula 1 graded carbon and company’s unique torsion box. For such low weights, this combination makes their skis feel quite stiff torsionally as well as strong overall – these were my impressions while flexing their skis at the show.
While “stiff” skis are desired in some conditions but not in others, Moonlight played with the shape of the skis to find the right balance. The stiffness should definitely help with edge hold in hard or icy conditions as their “LL Rocker System” (tip and tail rocker with some camber in the middle) should take care of easy floating in powder.

Carbon vs Carbon Race

The two Moonlight lines mainly differ in the ski core construction, which creates the differences in weight, and the topsheet design. Otherwise, skis in both lines share the same dimensions and shape.
Let’s take a closer look and compare each pairing in two lengths.

All Mountain Carbon vs All Mountain Carbon Race:

The Carbon model (fun topsheet) was designed for big mountains and to ski all types of snow, while the Carbon Race (black topsheet) is one of the worlds lightest big mountain ski made to cruise in softer snow. We see both as great big powder days skis.
Different weights but same dimensions for both models:
179 cm | 132-106-121 with 26 m radius | 1390 g and 1090 g
169 cm | 129-103-118 with 26 m radius | 1220 g and 990 g

Eagle Carbon vs Eagle Carbon Race:

The beautiful Eagle Carbon is intended as “do it all” ski to perform well on and off-piste, while the Race version won 2018 ISPO Award and is a super light ski touring machine. Given their dimensions, both skis would be great “daily drivers” for western Canada and US snowpack with the added featherweight benefit.
Different weights but same dimensions for both models:
177 cm | 130-95-120 with 20 m radius | 1350 g and 1040 g
166 cm | 127-92-117 with 20 m radius | 1190 g and 960 g

Northern Light Carbon vs Northern Light Carbon Race:

Both models are light-weight speed touring and mountaineering skis for long days in the mountains. Plus, the Race version is the lightest ski in the world in its size. These should be the right tools for big ski mountaineering missions and spring skiing conditions.
Different weights but same dimensions for both models:
174 cm | 110-84-99 with 23 m radius | 1100 g and 900 g
164 cm | 107-81-96 with 23 m radius | 960 g and 700 g

The Race 160 and 166:

And here’s the insanity for skimo racing enthusiasts. Moonlight went so far with the Race 160 skis that you have to mount it with a heavy binding to make it ISMF race legal 🙂
ISMF weight limit for men for ski + binding combo is 750 g. To fix this “mistake” they went back to a drawing board and managed to add 100 grams through fattening the ski a little.
166 cm | 95-70-85 with 26 m radius | 675 g
160 cm | 90-65-80 with 24 m radius | 570 g

Where Can I Get a Pair?

There aren’t many stores that stock Moonlight skis even in Europe as the brand is still very young so your best bet is to visit their website – www.moonlightmountaingear.com/en – and get your favourite pair directly from the weight obsessed Norwegians themselves.

Stano Faban

US Team Qualifiers

Canadian Qualifiers

Best Chances to Qualify

Differences between the US and Canadian systems

Official Documents with Selection Criteria

USA and Canada Race News

Cody’s Challenge – Steamboat Colorado – April 8, 2018:

International Race News

ISMF World Cup – Italy – April 6-8, 2018:

Lofoten Skimo – Lofoten Islands, Norway – March 10, 2018:

Upcoming Skimo Events

USA and Canada Race News

Pan-American Ski Mountaineering Championships – Lake Louise, AB – Mar 23-25:

Grand Traverse – Crested Butte, CO – Mar 24:

NE Rando Race Series Finale – Bromley, VT and Sunday River, ME – Mar 17 and Mar 24:

International Race News

Tour du Rutor – Italy – Mar 23-25:

Upcoming Events

The Interview

Upcoming Pan American Ski Mountaineering Championships – Mar 23-25

Mike Foote Sets a New 24h Record!

2018 Pierra Menta: Joy and Sorrows of Champions

Men’s race recap:

Women’s race recap:

USA and Canada Race News

Marmot’s Revenge – Jasper, AB – Mar 17, 2018:

Shedhorn Race – Big Sky Montana – Mar 17, 2018:

East Coast races:

Upcoming Events

USA and Canada Race News

Ski to Sky – Squamish, BC – Mar 10:

Power of Four – Aspen, CO – Mar 3:

Steep Dreams – Panorama, BC – Mar 3-4:

Upcoming Events

Quick overview:

Bottom Line:

Product description and How we tested it:

What can be improved:

Buying Northern Playground Ziplongs:

Getting There

Staying Healthy

Tips on Dealing with Jet Lag

How Long Will it Take?

PDG Race Logistics

PDG Route and Roping Up

Altitude Acclimatization

Fueling Before and During the Race

Train and Practice

USA and Canada Race News

Wasatch Powder Keg – Salt Lake City – Feb 23-25:

ROAM Randonne Rally – Nelson, BC – Feb 24:

Berkshire East – Massachusetts – Feb 24:

Skimo Chutes and Ladders – Blacktail Mountain, Montana – Feb 25:

International Race News

Upcoming Events

Moonlight Skis

Carbon vs Carbon Race

All Mountain Carbon vs All Mountain Carbon Race:

Eagle Carbon vs Eagle Carbon Race:

Northern Light Carbon vs Northern Light Carbon Race:

The Race 160 and 166:

Where Can I Get a Pair?

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