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SkinTrack.com & SMCC Skimo Training Camp in September 2014

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camptopEric Carter and I are organizing a summer skimo and trail running training camp in Squamish, BC and we want to invite you to join us! The camp will take place September 12-14th, 2014. This will serve as the fall training camp for SMCC Canadian National Team but we have also opened it up to the public. Last years camp was an absolute success and we want to make it even better this year so please save the date and join us in September!
9D6B20FB-01F3-4119-93FC-9B5F96A3F3C2[4]Not a skier? No problem! This will be a trail running focused camp so trail, mountain, and ultra runners are encouraged to join us! Rollerski workouts are optional and there will be an alternative workout planned for the non-skiers!
» Stay tuned to this page over the next few weeks as we announce more details!

CampsponsorsQuick overview

  • Training for three days around Vancouver, Squamish, and Whistler, BC  with fellow skimo racers and members of the Canadian National Ski Mountaineering Team.
  • Dates are September 12-14, 2014.
  • The agenda includes trail running, strength training at Challenge By Choice in Squamish, and roller skiing with video technique analysis.
  • Cost will be approximately $20 per person for all three days!
  • SMCC stands for Ski Mountaineering Competition Canada and is a section of the Alpine Club of Canada

Presentations

Dynafit and Escape Route are bringing us an excellent evening presentatios that we think will be interesting to skimo racers, ski tourers and trail runners. For those already attending the camp, there is no additional cost. For those who just wish to attend the presentations, the cost is $5 at the door. The presentations will take place at 7pm on Saturday at the Escape Route in Squamish. Escape Route is also preparing special pricing for those in attendance to pre-order the latest and greatest skimo gear that is difficult to get our hands on here in North America.
If a skimo training camp like this interests you, please, email us to sign-up or to ask for more information via the form below.

colltexTentative Schedule

(click the links for meeting place)

Friday

Saturday

  • 9:30 AM: Yoga for skiers who don’t do yoga…aka: light stretching (30min at S2SG Base)
  • 10:00 AM: Sea to Sky Gondola – Sky Pilot Long Run/Scramble (5+ hrs)
  • 7:00 PM: Slideshow Presentation at Escape Route, Squamish.

Sunday

*Just announced: Sea to Sky Gondola has partnered with us to provide access to the Sky Pilot area!

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Logistics and Gear

The camp will officially begin Friday morning but we understand work schedules may prevent some from joining us then. Feel free to come Friday night or catch up with us Saturday morning. Athletes are responsible for finding their own housing during the camp but we will do everything we can to help you find a place to crash. If you have friends to stay with in town, great, if not, let us know and we will try to figure something out! Below is a basic gear list for the camp:

  • Running Shoes
  • Training clothing
  • Sandals, post workout clothing, and beach gear
  • Ski/running poles
  • Food for fuel during workouts
  • Preferred snacks for meals
  • Helmet
  • Rollerskis (optional)
  • Mountain bike (optional)
  • Rock climbing gear (optional)

Can I handle it? For non-members of the national team, you may be wondering if you can handle workouts. You should be able to complete 3 days of intense exercise, with up to 3hrs of running per day in order to attend. Most of our long runs have extended periods of hiking involved so are not as intense as they may sound but they still require fitness. If you are unsure if you should attend, take a look at the write up from last year’s camp or send us an email!
Cost: Approximately $20 per person to participate in all the workouts. We are trying to keep the cost as low as possible. Once we confirm attendance, we will have an exact number.
» Here is how the the first Canadian Team summer training camp in Squamish went last year.
» Here is how our Canadian Team summer training camp looked like in Revelstoke in 2012.
» To improve your training in the meantime checkout these:

PLEASE MAKE SURE TO LET US KNOW IF YOU WILL BE JOINING US. IF YOU HAVE NOT GOTTEN ANY EMAIL UPDATES FROM ERIC, YOU ARE NOT ON THE LIST!

Contact us:

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What if SkiMo becomes an Olympic sport?

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Back in April, most of us caught the news that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) granted a provisional recognition to the International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF). This comes after about a decade of hard work from the ISMF and all national skimo federations who together are trying to get ski mountaineering racing back into the Olympics.
skimo_olympic_equation

What does the provisional recognition mean?

If you were getting excited about watching skimo racing on TV during the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea then you can relax because that is unlikely to happen.
In my understanding, this is just the very first step for a sport to have a chance to be included in the Olympics in the future. First, the IOC recognizes there is a large enough organized sport; second, it observes and tries to figure out how is this sport salable for broadcasting; and finally, it maybe includes the sport in the Games.
However, even if the inclusion is looming, the IOC still has to consider whether to just add another sport or kick one out in order to include a new one. It’s business, no other way around it. Environmentally friendly sport or not, the ROI will have to make sense. (Unless some other federation/sport would subsidize it.)

What’s next? Broadcasting rights.

Since the ISMF has the IOC recognition now, we are onto the second step – observing and figuring out how to make skimo TV friendly. What I mean by that is the sport needs to accomplish couple of things to be right for (live) broadcasting:

  • attract enough audience,
  • based on which numbers broadcasting company can sell advertising,
  • which in turn brings enough money to pay for production and distribution costs,
  • and have some profit left over.

By now, you might be thinking why I am so focused on TV broadcasting as the only way of monetizing Olympic Games since we know there are other ways for sports to make money. And you are right, there are. But according to IOC revenue sources and distribution page selling broadcasting rights brings the IOC 47% of its revenue. Then 45% is from sponsorships, only 5% is from tickets, and 3% is from licensing.
If we take skimo and say “let’s a find a away to replace some broadcasting money with something else” we will quickly run into a problem. Who would the sponsors be? From what I know, from approaching outdoor companies with offers to advertise on Skintrack, they all have very little money, or so I am being told. That means, there would have to be some big players that are (also) involved in the outdoor industry to pay the difference. Could it be Salomon? Maybe. Black Diamond? Perhaps. Will it be enough? Maybe Adidas since they make some outdoor clothing.
But really, how much money are we talking about for broadcasting rights?
Just a few days ago, the IOC awarded NBC Universal the broadcasting rights (across all platforms) in the USA for the Olympic Games from 2021 to 2032 for $7.65 billion USD. There was also a $100 million signing bonus. And we are talking about the USA rights only.

What does this mean for skimo?

If we agree that a major decision factor, for skimo racing to make it into Olympics, will be whether it can attract large enough audience (advertising money) that will pay for the production costs then there are about two or three scenarios of how this will impact our sport:
1. Skimo stay as is – very unlikely:

  • Broadcasters figure out a super cost efficient way to film skimo races in all kinds of weather and terrain to off-set the not so big viewers demand.
  • Or the audience rapidly grows in the next couple of years to pay for the production and distribution.

2. Skimo changes drastically – most likely:
Unless the audience grows rapidly, broadcasters will need to lower their costs substantially and make it watchable for the masses. This can be pretty much done in only one way – by changing the sport until it fits the financial equation.
It is difficult to predict how big or small the changes would need to be but I wouldn’t be surprised if this meant lapping the same course (full length individual race) a couple of times and avoiding possible problematic terrain (alpine, etc.) in the process.
And why not have that as the first option on the table? Because after all, even the Olympic 50 km cross-country races are done on an amazingly short loops now:

The use of  short loops allows spectators in the stadium to see the contestants every 10-12 minutes. – quoting directly from Sochi Games website explaining the 50 km race

That means that during the Sochi 50 km skate (freestyle) race the athletes did 9 or 10 laps since the winner’s time was just under 1 h 47 min.
3. Skimo changes at least a bit – very likely:
Maybe the change will not need to be as dramatic as I painted above but it still will likely be considerable.

Are Olympics good for skimo? Why we want it there?

So with all this discussed, pretty much the only two questions that really matter are:

  1. Will Olympics be good for skimo?
  2. Why do we really want skimo to be an Olympic sport?

These are the most important questions we need to ask because they force us to look inside and evaluate our sport from its roots, to its current state, to its future. Answers will of course depend on individual values, priorities and motives.
As for myself, I am quite undecided about skimo as an Olympic sport but here are some of my thoughts:
If Olympic skimo should degrade to laps sport in unnatural terrain would it still be ski mountaineering racing as we know it? Aren’t we perhaps already half-way there but threading the line still on the good side?
For example, if we look at the sprint, I believe the discipline was invented to comply with the broadcasting “rules” I outlined above, thus, to please the IOC. Do I like the sprint? Kind of. Is it ski mountaineering racing? Definitely not.
Another one would be the vertical race. It has been shortened over the last few years and even a simple technical element such as boot-packing has been ruled out. Only skinning and no transitions are how verticals are done now. So, at its current form, how is it different from a cross-country ski race? Yes, it’s steeper but why not just use xc gear with skins glued on?
On the other hand, Olympics would bring lots of money which would make it appealing to more people – growing our sport significantly. Therefore, maybe we should be happy that more people would be participating in something we believe is the best sport in the world.
Ultimately, the only thing we can do is to watch carefully and demand change if we don’t like where skimo is going. Whichever direction we prefer.
What are your thoughts on skimo becoming an Olympic sport? I am very interested to read them.

2014 SkiMo Racing Videos: Pierra Menta, Tour du Rutor, Wasatch Powder Keg, Grand Traverse, Sella Ronda, World Cup

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2014-skimo-videos
Around this time every year I spend some time on YouTube searching for the best videos and short films from the world’s skimo races. Since the skimo is still somewhat of a niche sport usually the best videos are also from the biggest races but there are also some gems to be found from the smaller events.

Atmosphere of Pierra Menta 2014 (FRA)

This very well done video by Montura, one of Pierra Menta’s sponsors, shows the amazing athmosphere of the race through characters of the race or just random locals.
The 2014 Pierra Menta was the 29th edition of the race and the winners after 4 stages were:

  • Italian men Matteo Eydallin & Damiano Lenzi,
  • Laetitia Roux (FRA) and Maude Mathys (SWI) for women,
  • with Canada’s Melanie Bernier claiming fourth with Valentine Fabre (FRA).
  • Full results are here.

15 minutes:

3 stages of Tour du Rutor 2014 (ITA)

Tour du Rutor is an Italian skimo stage race that is held every second year. Next edition is promised for April 1-3, 2016.
The course goes through beautiful terrain and the event usually starts one week after Pierra Menta. Because of its later place on the skimo calendar, starts are usually on foot due to less snow low down in the valleys.
The winners of the 2014 Tour du Rutor 3 day stage race were:

  • again, the Italian men Matteo Eydallin & Damiano Lenzi,
  • again, Laetitia Roux (FRA) and Maude Mathys (SWI) for women,
  • while Canada’s Melanie Bernier finished fifth but partnered with Marion  Maneglia (FRA).
  • For full results go here.

Stage 1 – 10min:

Stage 2 – 6min:

Stage 3 – 5min:

Wasatch Powder Keg 2014 (USA)

Currently, the biggest skimo race in North America spreads over 3 days – sprint on Friday, individual race on Saturday, and teams on Sunday – was labeled as the North American Championships this year and so most of the fastest racers from US and Canada came to measure up.
For a full report and race results visit our coverage of the 2014 Powder Keg.
Sprint race – 3min:

Individual race – 3min:

Grand Traverse 2014 (USA)

Despite the need for significant course changes, due to high avalanche danger in Colorado in March, the 2014 edition of the Grand Traverse still delivered the challenge everyone was training for.
The 2014 Grand Traverse was won by:

  • a men’s team featuring Brian Smith and Bryan Wickenhauser,
  • and by Stevie Kremer and Jari Kirkland.
  • Full results are here.

Sella Ronda Ski Marathon 2014 (ITA)

This is not a very technical race and thus superbly well attended – 1200 racers this year. It is held during the evening hours and navigates around the beautiful Gruppo di Sella massive in Italian Dolomites. Usually goes down late in March.
Winners for the 2014 edition of this 40+ km race were:

  • Italian’s Pietro Lanfranchi paired with Tadei Pivk for men,
  • and for women it was the most accomplished pair in skimo history, the Italians Roberta Pedrazini with Francesca Martinelli
  • Full results here.

6 minutes:

Ski Mountaineering World Cup Circuit 2014

Starting in 2013, the International Ski Mountaineering Federation really stepped up their game with producing high quality videos and galleries from each of the Wold Cup events.
Here is the video gallery archive page for even more skimo porn 😉

Photos, Results, Report from Dogtooth Dash – 2014 BUFF Canadian SkiMo Championships

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The results and lots of photos were posted through Facebook and Twitter within few hours after the Dogtooth Dash race party, however, I want to apologize that I slacked with writing up a nice race report for you. Here it is.
Secondly, one more big shout out to all 26 volunteers that came out to help marshal the race course on Saturday!
Thirdly, big Thanks to main sponsors goes to Kicking Horse Mountain Resort for their unwavering support, BUFF Headwear for keeping the Dash going for another year, Live Out There store for superb enthusiasm, and Clif Bar and Hammer Nutrition for fueling the participants and volunteers.
»For reference here’s the original 2014 Dogtooth Dash event page

Friday’s vertical: Thight margins

The new addition to the Dogtooth Dash was an 800 m (2625 feet) vertical race that featured a steep 200 m section sandwiched between rolling and flat terrain.

Marg Fedyna on her winning path.
Marg Fedyna on her winning path.
Gun went off just after 5pm and 24 racers charged from the start line. I was standing at the beginning of the steep section to cheer and brief everyone of what was to come. All racers were grinding and grimacing but everyone appeared to have good times.
In the men’s race, everything was kept very tight all the way up to the finish. At the end, Reiner Thoni managed to get a small gap to secure his vertical national title (in 35:52), but behind him there was an Olympic-like diving finish for second between Nick Elson and Pascal Egli (from Switzerland). After some discussion, even 3 pairs of sharp eyes could not pick one over the other and so we had two second place finishers! Fourth went to a great Canadian trail runner, Adam Campbell, who was trying his luck in skimo this past season. My SkinTrack’s co-author, Eric Carter, finished fifth.
The women’s race started to take shape much earlier as Marg Fedyna used her known climbing abilities well. Mid-way through the steep section she already started to establish a nice gap. Eventually, she took the vertical national title ahead of Lizanne Bussieres and Michelle Roberts who were separated by only 35 sec after a 53 min of climbing! Fourth went to a young Katarina Kuba and fifth to Jean Ann Berkenpas.

Saturday’s individual: Full on ski mountaineering

After taking over the Dogtooth Dash, from the very competent hands of Ian Gale, Eric and I knew the expectations will be high yet we decided to raise the bar for course setting even higher.

The unstoppable train, Reiner Thoni, collected his 5th Canadian individual race title.
The unstoppable train, Reiner Thoni, collected his 5th Canadian individual race title.
With the main 1890 m (6200 feet) course consisting of 6 downhills and 6 climbs – featuring 4 steep descents, 4 boot packs, and about 100 switchbacks – there was no question that technical skills will play as big of a role as conditioning.
With such a course, the single biggest challenge for us organizers was to keep all skin tracks and boot packs well set and marked. At the end we managed to pull it off!
With the traditional downhill start and not very long first climb the men’s race stayed quite close. Gaps started to appear on the second climb (the biggest of the day) when Reiner Thoni began to turn the screws and Nick Elson started to find himself in no-man’s land between Reiner and a group consisting of Eric Carter, Ben Parsons and trailing Travis Brown and Pascal Egli.
Very similar scenario was playing out in the women’s race as well when none of the girls were establishing significant gaps. This started to change on the third (and the most technical) climb where by the top Michelle Roberts was leading Katarina Kuba (only 19 years old) by about 4 min who managed to establish the same gap to Kylee Ohler by this point.
As all the top racers managed to take good care of their skins and fueling the order didn’t change. However, Ben and Eric had a great sprint battle with the later eventually snatching the third – a nice reward for all the organizational work.
On the Enduro course (about 800 m or 2625 f), the race for junior’s national title (under 20) played out with Brinton Wolever (16) taking the gold just in front of Tyler Gillson (19). Brinton’s brother Riley Wolever (16) took bronze a bit further behind the two. All three are new to skimo so we hope they like it and will stick around.

Full results

Below is a PDF with results, however, for an unexplained reason, the times from the vertical race are missing “1h”, thus, affecting all times that were more than 1h.
» 2014 DTD Official Results

Photo gallery

All individual race photos by Malcolm Taylor – thank you!
 
Once again, thank you everyone for coming!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Coming up this weekend: Two amazing courses at the 2014 BUFF Canadian SkiMo Champs

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One of the best things about skimo racing is that anyone can line up with the top athletes in their very first race.
Another one is that if you want lots of fun and challenge but are hesitant about going the full Elite course then you can get your moneys/legs/skis/skins worth on the Enduro course.

Race courses for the Dogtooth Dash

dogtooth-dash-280x210In case you haven’t heard it yet:
On March 21-23, the Dogtooth Dash event at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort will host the 2014 BUFF Canadian Ski Mountaineering Championships.
Why does the Dogtooth Dash get to host the Championships? Because of the awesome terrain and challenging courses!

Friday’s vertical race

Doing the vertical race is not mandatory but since it’s a standard discipline on the skimo racing World Cup circuit, we have decided to bring it to Canada as well.
Dogtooth’s vertical will be an 800m, single-climb event – from the KHMR base to the Heaven’s Door Yurt – and gives anyone a chance to try skimo racing in a very safe manner (without having to race downhill!).

Vertical race course map.
Vertical race course map.

Saturday’s 2 individual race courses

If Friday’s event will be the appetizer then Saturday’s race will be the main course… with the night party being the dinner 😉
The shorter, Enduro course is uniquely designed in a way that you still get to summit a peak despite racing a smaller version of the Dogtooth Dash!
The first downhill on a groomer is a great warm up for the black diamond run off the summit ridge of  Blue Heaven. This comes early in the race so your legs will still be fresh to take it on.
The whole Enduro course features about 780m of climbing spread over two climbs and one boot-pack up a narrow chute (end the end of 2nd climb).
As you can see on the map below, the race starts with a descent from the Eagle’s Eye restaurant at 2330m, followed by a 285m climb (about 30-40min) which brings you to the top of Blue Heaven. The long, beautiful descent first takes you down Whitewall and continues down the valley for a total of 625m of great skiing! The second and last climb features a nice boot-pack (yellow line) that brings you back to the finish at Eagle’s Eye (510m climb – about 1h to 1.5h).
Click image for a big map:

Individual race course map - Green is skinning, Red skiing, Yellow boot-packs.
Individual race course map – Green is skinning, Red skiing, Yellow boot-packs.
The Elite course is designed to challenge your fitness, skills and sense for adventure! It’s true that the whole Elite course is laid out within KHMR boundaries, thus, at first glance might not appear that adventurous. However, we designed it in a way that logically connects the most challenging and steep terrain (which KHMR is famous for) from bowl to bowl, from ridge to ridge, from peak to peak.
In total, it features around 1600m of climbing (usually around 2.5-3.5h) and you will get to summit 3 peaks, boot over 3 ridges, and travel through 4 distinct bowls!

Register Now

If you are up for the challenge or just want to have loads of fun make sure to register online to save $10 and so we can get your race package ready for you (Clif bars, a buff and more): http://secure.eventsonline.ca/events/dogtooth_dash/
For $90 (or $97 if doing the vertical as well) you will get an entry into the Saturday’s individual race, Saturday’s dinner and party, and lift tickets for Saturday & Sunday! Now, that is a best deal any skimo race ever offered.
You can also win a free entry into the Dogtooth Dash by showing us how much you really want it:
http://www.skintrack.com/contests-giveaways/free-entry-dogtooth-dash-2014/
win-free-entry-600-banner

Thank You our volunteers

There will be almost 20 volunteers out on the course during the Saturday’s race and others helping to set everything up during the days leading up to the Dogtooth Dash.
To everyone, on behalf of all racers, we want to say BIG Thank You for continuously supporting skimo racing, thus, keeping this sport alive in this great outdoor country.
Thank You,
Stano, Eric & KHMR crew

Report & Results for Jay Peak VT and Owl’s Head QC + Preview for Magic VT

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The following report was submitted by our East Coast SkinTrack correspondent Jonathan Shefftz.
After the March 2 100-percent backcountry race Mount Greylock in the northwestern corner of Massachusetts, the Eastern circuit shifted much further north for the March 8-9 weekend races at Jay Peak in Vermont and then Owl’s Head just across the Canadian border in Quebec.
Overall, Equipe Quebec dominated both the start lists and the podiums, although the East Coast Team Hagan and recently returned Chamonix expatriate Nina Silitch provided some strong American representation.
owl-head-1
Both races were rescheduled from their original January dates on account of various “wintry mix” nastiness at the time.  Jay has held a rando race annually since 2005, although recent years have been in somewhat of a decline, with participants sometimes in the low single digits, and the course featuring loops at the nordic center.  However, the Quebec Dynafit rep Jeff Rivest has reinvigorated the race with an entirely new layout for this year.  By contrast, the Owl’s Head is entirely new, and ascends via a new backcountry sector, so this was an entirely new venue for everyone.  Racers recorded the vertical at 4027’ for Jay and 4307’ for Owl’s Head (or in meters of course for the Quebec Strava reports!).

Click to see results from both days.
Click to see results from both days.
For Jay, the top five men finished within four minutes of each other, and traded places through the race.  George Visser was assessed a time penalty for missing a critical turn (and ending up on a bump run instead of a glade), and was demoted to second place behind Leigh Quilliams.  Josh Flanagan blew past his fellow Team Hagan member Jerimy Arnold at the final transition to take the final spot on the podium, although Jerimy compensated somewhat with the dramatic move of tripping a bamboo pole at the finish to blow up the finish tent.  (Your faithful correspondent was  unable to attempt to repeat his 2008 win due to teaching an avalanche course on Mount Washington NH.)  Philippe DeGuire rounded out the top five only another six seconds later.
For the women, Nina Silitch took the win, and was ninth overall, with Danielle DeGuire several minutes behind her, and tenth overall.
The top five the next day at Owl’s Head were all the same men, although somewhat reordered, with the top three spots going to George Visser, Jerimy Arnold, and Josh Flanagan (despite a 30-second time penalty on the two J’s for missing a turn), then Leigh Quilliams and Philippe DeGuire to round out the top five.  Top women were once again Nina Silitch and Danielle DeGuire.
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The combined results for the weekend were not just a conceptual exercise, as a $500 cash prize went to George Visser and Nina Silitch.

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Coming up on the East Coast:

Looking ahead, the next stop will be the NE Rando Race Series venue of Magic Mountain in southern Vermont, on Sunday March 16.  The good news is the course has been flagged since Monday.  The bad news is that as of press time the flags are being buried in up to 27” of new snow.  The good news is … well, that should be obvious!
The Full Course will start off with three laps on the very nicely graded skintrack of 1520’ vertical for each lap.  The then final lap will 960’ vertical, starting off with a nicely graded skin, but culminating in a 270’ vertical extremely steep boot pack that will seem much longer!  All descents will be on the ungroomed bumped-on Witch to the extremely steep Red Line (in full view of the chair lift overhead!), making the race feel much longer than its 5520’ vertical.
More detailed course information will be posted here:
http://nerandorace.blogspot.com/2013/09/course-layout-magic.html
Team Hagan will be out in full force, and probably Nina Silitch too.  Plus rumor has it that U.S. Department of Homeland Security might be hearing some interesting declarations about large quantities of carbon fiber at the Quebec border crossing!

2014 Wasatch Powder Keg aka North American SkiMo Champs: 3 Days of Fast Racing over Challenging Courses

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powder-keg-2014-banner-600
Hosted at Brighton Ski Resort, UT the Wasatch Powder Keg has long been on To-Do lists of many people and it seemed like all of us 1st timers showed up for the 2014 edition. Record participation once again proved that skimo in North America is growing rapidly and that the Powder Keg is the most popular race on the continent.
Participation numbers – combined for men and women in all categories:

  • Sprint race: 54 people
  • Individual race: 162
  • Teams race: 33 teams of 2

Sprint race – Friday, March 7th

This fairly new discipline for skimo racing  – last 3 seasons on the World Cup scene – has become the one most likely to make it into the Olympics (the decision should come in July).
powder-keg-sprint-race-2At Powder Keg, the sprint attracted a notable number of races and at 4pm Chad Brackelsberg (PK’s organizer) sent off the first athlete on the 4-5min course of a qualification round, with athletes being sent off in 30 second intervals. After that, 12 fastest men were seeded into two semi-final “full contact” heats, and 6 women created the finals heat.
The course consisted of about 30m of flat skinning, leading into a diamond shaped skin tracks where racers could pick their path as pleased for about 40 vertical meters (150 feet). Then it was time to quickly transition into boot-pack mode and run up another 30m before clipping back into the skis for a 20m flat section. After a skins-off transition, couple of skating strides brought us to 6 turn slalom gates downhill, and finishing the whole thing with a 15m false flat skating section.
Men’s finals – drama for 3rd:
powder-keg-sprint-race-1Wasatch’s own Jason Dorais showed no mercy and flew up the boot-pack like a rocket which netted him the sprint gold. While skinning towards the booter transition Jason was still closely followed by Reiner Thoni who eventually comfortably secured 2nd but was no match for the local skimo icon. However, the most drama was created by Andy Dorais and Andrew McNab racing for 3rd. Once on the downhill portion, Andy seemed to have the bronze in the bag until he lost some speed 3 turns from the skate finish, and Andrew miraculously managed to pass him on the outside 2 turns later and then “padded” the gap with strong skating.

  1. Jason Dorais (USA)
  2. Reiner Thoni (CAN)
  3. Andrew McNab (CAN)

Women’s finals – drama for 1st:
The women’s sprint final was even more exciting to watch and just like in the men’s final everything seemed to be decided way before. From the gun, Melanie Bernier took to the lead with the other five ladies right on her tails. Right before the boot-pack Gemma Ribot made her move to match Melanie into the transition, and just like Jason Dorais she took off with a frenetic uphill run. Gemma emerged on the downhill with a very solid lead but like Andy Dorais lost momentum in one of the gates and allowed Melanie to quickly close the gap. At the end, Gemma manged to take the gold by only about half a ski length. Due to similar circumstances, drama for bronze was in the making as well but Sari Anderson seemed to regain control to fend off rapidly approaching Jari Kirkland.

  1. Gemma Ribot (SPA, but living in Utah)
  2. Melanie Bernier (CAN)
  3. Sari Anderson (USA)

» Full sprint results – sprint results (PDF)
First and fourth photo by Rick Carter, other two from ISMF:

Individual race – Saturday, March 8th

Even only a brief look at the start list of the individual race of the 2014 Powder Keg revealed that this would arguably be the most contested skimo race of all times in North America. And the question was: “Can Reiner Thoni prevail once again, or would it be John Gaston confirming his talent, or Jason Dorais using his local knowledge to snatch the NA crown this time around?”
In women’s race, the field was stacked as ever as well. You know a battle is coming when a reigning UTMB champ, Stevie Kremer, lines up against Melanie Bernier who just recently won a bronze medal in World Cup race, and then you still have another very fast women itching to go – Gemma Ribot, Janelle Smiley, Sari Anderson…
Men’s race – Top 5 within 2 minutes!
powder-keg-individual-race-2Right off the gun a very fast pace was set by the usual suspects and pretty much each climb and descent failed to create any significant gaps between top 5-7 racers. With that, it all more-or-less came to the last climb and descent combo on which John Gaston opened a 17sec gap on Jason Dorais, with Marshall Thompson only 38sec further back. Reiner Thoni wasn’t able to follow the strong pace at later stages and came in 7th.

  1. John Gaston (USA)
  2. Jason Dorais (USA)
  3. Marshall Thompson (USA)
  4. Tom Goth (USA)
  5. Scott Simmons (USA)

Eric managed to place a very solid 12th which was only a sign of things to come the next day.
 Women’s race – Top 2 separated by 28sec only!
powder-keg-individual-race-1After over two hours of racing it was a very well pacing Janelle Smiley to take the win just in front of a local skimo queen Gemma Ribot. Stevie Kremer came in about 5min back but comfortably ahead of Sari Anderson. The fifth was taken by a very strong yet fairly knew to skimo Kate Zander, who should be a force to watch out for in the future.

  1. Janelle Smiley (USA)
  2. Gemma Ribot (USA)
  3. Stevie Kremer (USA)
  4. Sari Anderson (USA)
  5. Kate Zander (USA)

» Full individual results:

# 1, 4, 5, 6 photos by Rick Carter, rest from ISMF.

Teams race – Sunday, March 9th

To put the nail in our energy coffins but happiness on our faces, the Powder Keg crew came up with one hell of a long technical course that would have satisfied any skimo geek. With way over 8000 feet of climbing it featured an ascender/via ferrata boot-pack, ridge travel, really good skiing, and some gnarly icy skinning since the sun failed to do its job.
Men’s race – All came down to last 1200 feet:
powder-keg-teams-race-4For the first 1,5h of racing no significant gaps were established by the top 5 teams as everyone was mostly dealing with the technicalities of the course and saving energy for later stages. On 3rd or 4th descend John Gaston broke his boot but managed to kept his cool despite his big weapon – super fast skiing – was neutralized. And so, two strong teams started the last ascent (6th) that featured around 500m of climbing together – John Gaston with Max Taam, and local’s Jason Dorais with Tom Goth. At the end, Max and John slowly opened and kept steadily increasing their gap on the SLC boys all the way to the top transition. John’s boot somehow held on the last sketchy downhill and they managed to win by just only one minute. Third place went to Teague Holmes and Marshall Thomson who managed to escape from SkinTrack’s Eric Carter and his partner Nick Elson on the last ascent as well. Eric and Nick really produced a performance of their skimo lives but at the end just had bow down to their more experienced rivals.

  1. John Gaston + Max Taam (USA)
  2. Jason Dorais + Tom Goth (USA)
  3. Teague Holmes + Marshall Thompson (USA)
  4. Eric Carter + Nick Elson (USA + CAN)
  5. Cary Smith + Pete Swenson (USA)

Women’s race – 4 minutes after 4 hours:
powder-keg-teams-race-1The women’s race started to shape up right from the beginning as Janelle Smiley and Lyndsay Plant were pulling away on the first two climbs and into the via ferrata. However, the battle was won until the second half of the race and at the end they prevailed by 4 minutes over strongly climbing Stevie Kremer and Jessie Young. Third went to the newly discovered Kate Zander and a skimo veteran Jari Kirkland.

  1. Janelle Smiley + Lyndsay Plant (USA)
  2. Stevie Kremer + Jessie Young (USA)
  3. Kate Zander + Jari Kirkland (USA)
  4. Lyndsay Mayer + Melanie Bernier (USA + CAN)
  5. Sarah Cookler + Zinnia Wilson (USA)

» Full teams race results – teams
Photo #2 by Rick Carter, rest from ISMF.

Personal account

With lack of training this season and quite high altitudes at Brighton I wasn’t expecting any miracles, mostly I wanted to finally experience the Powder Keg. But racing at 3000m while living at 14 went a bit harder than I thought.

With Tim after Sunday lunch.
With Tim after Sunday lunch.
The sprint went reasonably well since I managed to pull off smooth transitions at all points in the qualifying round. But in the semis I messed them up.
After three mostly sleep-less nights at 2200m the individual went downhill right from the start. I was constantly treading the line of stopping to gasp for oxygen and just keeping it going. The highlights were that I enjoyed the whole course very much and did not back off skiing fast even after hitting a tree on the third downhill.
Despite another short night my warm up before the teams race felt better than the days before and I was looking forward to take on the big teams race course with an avid SkinTrack reader Tim Zander. We connected via email only couple of days before and I thought why not race with someone that can benefit from my experience. And the Sunday’s race quickly became my weekend’s favourite as Tim and I enjoyed the technical course while occasionally chatting about all things skimo. Tim dug very deep on the last climb but still skied strongly down to the finish. My feeling is that this will help him in future races to race much harder and faster than before as he was quickly picking up any technique tips and pushed beyond of what he thought was possible.
At the end, I want to say Thank You to everyone that have expressed their appreciation for the SkinTrack website, it was great to hear kind words even during the races right in the skin track 🙂
And big Thank You to you Tim for your great enthusiasm during the whole race on Sunday, it was great 🙂

March 1-2 Weekend Skimo Racing Roundup

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World Cup

2WC2This weekend marked the second to last World Cup race of the season at Les Diablerets in Switzerland, dominated by Spaniard Kilian Jornet and Latetia Roux of France. The weekend started with an individual race covering 1850 vertical meters for the men and 1650m for the women. Kilian (ESP) broke away early in the race, chased by Damiano Lenzi (ITA) and William Bon Mardion (FRA).  Unfortunately, while attempting to pass Bon Mardion, the Italian crashed with a tree and was unable to regain 2nd position. Roux (FRA) finished the women’s race solo with Maude Mathys (SUI) and Emily Forsberg (SWE) chasing minutes behind.
2WC1The final vertical event of the World Cup season took place on Sunday and again Jornet and Roux took the top of the podium.  The race climbed 560 vertical meters and was completed in 22min 51sec by Jornet with Roux only requiring an additional 3min. Damiano Lenzi  (as well as Roux) solidified his World Cup win in the vertical specialty with a 5th place finish.
This weekend’s results put Jornet in the leaders position of the overall World Cup but he could still be surpassed in the event of a poor race in the World Cup finals in Tromso, Norway. Jornet had this to say about his weekend:

TODAY’S RACE WAS HARD FOUGHT AND DIFFERENCES WERE MINIMAL. MY ASSESSMENT OF THE WEEKEND IS VERY GOOD AND I ALSO MANAGED TO PUT MYSELF IN TOP POSITION OF THE WORLD CUP RANKINGS. NONETHELESS, THE SCORE DIFFERENCE IS NOT VERY HIGH SO I’LL HAVE TO GIVE EVERYTHING OF MYSELF IN THE FINAL ROUND, WHICH WILL DECIDE THE CHAMPIONSHIP.
-Kilian Jornet to Atomic.com

Again this weekend, no North Americans competed in World Cup events. The final World Cup is scheduled for April in Tromso. Stay tuned!

North America

2P41In the West, all eyes were on the Audi Power of Four race in Aspen, Colorado. Racers in teams of two competed on a 26 mile course, covering 12,000 feet of elevation gain (3000m) in 5hrs 20min for the fastest pair. The race featured a 6:30am start time and 3 to 10 inches of fresh snow on course for the leaders to break through. High winds and low visibility made for difficult conditions to deal with but most of the teams persevered.
Locals John Gaston and Max Taam teamed up to take on the rest of the competitors and Gaston had the following to say about their preparations going into race day:

We knew the wet weather and new snow would definitely play a big factor, and that the race would be effectively neutralized until Highland Bowl. With that in mind, our main goal was to be the first team into Congo trail. A lot of time can be gained or lost there, and there’s absolutely nowhere to pass if someone’s holding you up in front. Then it was just a matter of keeping it pinned up Midnight and really focusing on not blowing up. And of course not breaking any equipment!

Gaston also had the following to say about the course itself:

The course is great. The Highland Bowl/Congo trail descents, as well as the finale down Ajax, are some of the best skiing of any race on the calendar, and really require strong ability. It’s a lot easier to make up two minutes on a descent than two minutes on a climb when they’re that long. The climbs are certainly not the most interesting out there, with a lot of groomers and cat tracks. This is something the Aspen SkiCo is working on every year though and is getter better at. It’s just logistically really tough to route 26 miles of skin tracks. Hopefully in the future the volunteer staff can grow and they’ll be able to work on this.

Gaston and Taam relied on their ability to work as a team, watching over one another’s fuelling and hydration throughout the race.
Scott Simmons and Marshall Thompson pulled into the finish ~13min after Gaston and Taam despite a binding issue, with Brian Smith and Bryan Wickenhauser just  5 min behind them.
» Results HERE
The East Coast contingent competed at Mt. Greylock. Jonathan Shefftz sent us this recap of the racing:
Mount Greylock, in the northwestern corner of Massachusetts, was the site of the first-ever 100-percent backcountry Eastern rando race featuring almost 6,200 feet of vertical for the full course, spread out over three ascents and challenging ski descents on March 2nd.
All three descents included the core of the historical Thunderbolt ski trail plus the Bucket Trail, but the first descent also included the aptly named “Chute” and a ski-friendly portion of the Appalachian Trail (i.e., coming off the summit).  The final descent included a maze of trails back to the trailhead.
This was a separate event from the March 1 Thunderbolt race, a revival of the original 1930s “down mountain” race, although both were supported by the Thunderbolt Ski Runners club and Thunderbolt Ski Patrol.  The March 1 race was essentially a time trial version (i.e., ascent and descent timed separately, as opposed to continuously) of the first lap of the March 2 rando race, so an excellent opportunity to warm up for the rando race and become familiar with the terrain.  Plus although the focus for most participants is the descent, separate prizes are awarded for the fastest ascent and the King and Queen of the Mountain for fastest combined time.
Chris Busch at finishFor the March 1 “down mountain” race, your faithful correspondent was the defending King from 2011, and also the record holder since the 2012 and 2013 races were cancelled.  However, I focused exclusively this year on serving as a member of the Thunderbolt Ski Patrol on race day, so Jerimy Arnold snatched the win.
For the March 2 rando race, Jerimy Arnold once again dominated, although Josh Flanagan surprisingly was fairly close behind.  Surprisingly because Josh had competed the prior day in the Aspen Power of Four, then after logging 12,000 vertical in that race, drove to Denver, slept three or four hours on the plane, and drove two-and-a-half hours the next morning from Boston to Greylock just barely in time for the time.  I filled out the podium for the Eastern Team Hagan.
Nina Silitch was, as always, the fastest woman, and also finished fifth overall despite missing the final turn in the aforementioned maze, resulting in a descent below the finish, and a final skin ascent.
» Results HERE: Results, Greylock 2014

Upcoming Races

The major upcoming race this weekend is the Wasatch Powder Keg at Brighton resort in Utah. One of the jewels on the USSMA calendar, the PowKeg features three days of racing, starting with a Friday night sprint race where racers complete a qualifying round and then the fastest racers continue on to head-to-head rounds. Saturday is a individual distance race followed by a technical teams race on Sunday where racers must compete with a partner and use a harness and equipment to cover technical terrain.
Race Director Chad Brackelsberg is predicting snow throughout this week, ending on Friday when a high pressure ridge should move through the region with the likelihood of sun throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday. It is still up for debate if the sprint race on Friday will be in heavy snowfall or clear weather. Brackelsberg provided the following links to obsess over:

Brackelsberg also asked us to remind all racers that officials will be checking everyone at the race start and finish for mandatory gear. Gear lists can be reviewed on the race website here. Finally, Brackelsberg offered the following predictions for the race outcome:

I predict an extremely tough fight for the Saturday podium.  I think it could be Tom G, Jason D, Reiner T, John G, Max T or anyone from several others.  My top 3 in any order will be Reiner, Tom, and John, but I have no idea in what order.

-Wasatch Powder Keg Race Director Chad Brackelsberg
There will be a strong Canadian contingent in attendance at the Powder Keg including top racer Reiner Thoni. Thoni will be paired with Andrew McNab for the Teams race. As a team Thoni and McNab have raced together on numerous occasions at the Pierra Menta, World Championships and at last year’s Atomic Waymaker event. While Thoni expects to have to work for placing, he is hoping their strong descent skills will work to their advantage.

This year I think both of us have been doing much more powder skiing than racing so the longer race might be better suited to us.  It will be interesting to see how it all plays out, the US guys are looking strong.
-Reiner Thoni

When asked about racing at altitude, Thoni offered the following advice:

The altitude adds to the challenge but with most racing being below 12,000 feet I feel it’s still in a reasonable range from what I’m accustomed to.  I live at 2000 feet but spend a lot of time skiing around 5000-9000 feet so from where I do most of my skiing it doesn’t feel like a huge adjustment.  It seems some times ignorance is a bliss, maybe I will just eat a lot of brussel sprouts 😉

-Reiner Thoni
Stano Faban will be racing with Tim Zander, and Eric Carter and Nick Elson will be teaming up. John Gaston will again pair up with Max Taam and Gaston had this to say about race predictions:

I think it’s going to be a real battle either way, and weather/conditions/powder could play a big role. I see a big battle with a lot of players. Reiner and McNab, Tom, Jason, Marshall, Max. Everyone’s going real well right now.
-John Gaston

It is safe to assume that altitude, duration, weather, and technical ascent and descent skills will all play a major role in the outcome of this race. The women’s race is tough to predict but Canada’s Melanie Bernier will be gunning for a top spot on the sprint podium. In the teams race, Mel will be paired with Lyndsey Meyer and should be expected to compete strongly with Sari Anderson and Stevie Kremer. Mel had this to say about the competition between the Canadian and American women:

I think the US have a good up of strong women. The ranking should be similar to the Jackson Hole Race earlier this year.
-Melanie Bernier

Our East Coast friends have two race options this weekend. SkinTrack correspondent Jonathan Shefftz sent in this preview. The Jay Peak VT and Owl’s Head QC races have been rescheduled from their original January dates.  The Quebec Dynafit rep Jeff Rivest has reinvigorated the race with an entirely new layout for this year.  By contrast, the Owl’s Head is entirely new, and ascends via a new backcountry sector, so this will be a new venue for everyone.
The very strong Equipe Quebec is sure to attend in force, and Team Hagan’s Jerimy Arnold and Josh Flanagan might sally northward to meet them.  (Your faithful correspondent will be unable to attempt to repeat his 2008 win.)  Perhaps Jan Wellford can be convinced to emerge from his Adirondacks redoubt and take a weekend off from Mordic racing to repeat his dominating performance from the February 23 Mad River Valley VT race.
For the women, Nina Silitch is as always the favorite.  Danielle Deguire is probably a bit faster skinning, although still relatively new to skiing, and of course unable to match Nina’s sprint-specialist transitions.  Should be some interesting lead-changing among them, and with Nina fresh from her dozen years in Europe, some interesting French dialogue too!

Feb 15-16 & Feb 22-23 Weekends Skimo Racing Roundup

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It has been a busy couple of weeks at SkinTrack.com with Stano and I travelling to races. So while we missed the weekend roundup last week, here, we are bringing you two weekends worth of race reporting. Enjoy!

International

European Champ Latetia Roux
European Champ Latetia Roux
Start of the European Championships Individual Race
Start of the European Championships Individual Race
World Cup racing action took a break last weekend for the European Championships in Andorra. The weekend started with a vertical event and Robert Antonioli (ITA) and Laetitia Roux (FRA) are the new European Champions.
» Vertical results
Roux continued her domination in the individual race and William Bon Mardion (FRA) stepped up to take the men’s title. Throughout the race, Mardion was trailed by two Italians but he managed to keep ahead using his superior downhill skills on the technically demanding descents. The women’s race was well established in the lead with Roux occasionally looking back to keep an eye on improving Maude Mathys. But the real excitement was the race for bronze among three women, eventually won by Axelle Mollaret who also cinched the Espoir category (under 23).
» Individual results
Vertical race video – it would be great if they didn’t make such fast cuts and showed more long-shot footage.

Individual race:

North America – Feb 15-16 Weekend

Racers climbing the first ascent at Vertfest Alpental
Racers climbing the first ascent at Vertfest Alpental
Another weekend passed without any racing in Canada but a large contingent of Coastal skiers were able to attend the Subaru Vertfest at Alpental Resort in Washington. Marshall Thompson came from Colorado to represent Team Dynafit and won the Men’s race while Holly Davis of Seattle won the Women’s. Here you can read Stano’s more detailed report on the race.
» Alpental Results
Also, the same weekend was the CROWBAR race at Sink Hollow in Utah. The lead group (including Gemma Arro i Ribot leading until a binding breakage on the first descent) took off hard from the gun with Nick Francis taking charge. The race was on for the remainder of the podium places with Chad Brackelsberg powering away from his pursuers on the last climb. In the Women’s race, with Gemma out of the way, Sarah Cookler took the lead and let Emily Brackelsberg and Emily Sullivan battle for second, with Emily B eventually landing on top. Also of note was the 5 Junior racers (13-18 years old) who competed!
Winners of the 214 Crowbar Race
Winners of the 214 Crowbar Race
2nd Chad Brackelsberg had this to say about the race and the course:

The Crowbar is the only 100% backcountry races in the US that I know of.  The organizers decided to step up the race this year adding an additional 1000′ climbing and 2 booters. In the week prior to the race, Logan Canyon received 12″ of snow water equivalent. The course was their best one yet with gradual ridge climbs and moderate tree (often tight) descents.

» Crowbar Results

North America – Feb 22-23 Weekend

There were four big races over the weekend:

Men's and Women's Podium at the ROAM Rando Rally in Nelson
Men’s and Women’s Podium at the ROAM Rando Rally in Nelson
At the ROAM Rando Rally a full contingent of Canadians battled it out in Nelson for spots on the National team due to two race cancellations so far this season. Reiner Thoni – the usual favorite – set a strong pace off the start, not to be seen again until the finish. A major miscommunication between a course official on the second to last descent and a group of chasing racers sent a small group off course, adding extra vertical. Andrew McNab chased hard to get back on course and pulled in to a strong second, out-sprinting Travis Brown from Calgary and Stano Faban. Despite losing the course as well on the last descent, Melanie Bernier won the Women’s race with Michelle Roberts and Marg Fednya rounding out the podium.
L) Reiner Thoni wins the ROAM Rando Rally. R) Ben Parsons - Montana's skinniest fireman - places third in huge upset at fire building competition!
L) Reiner Thoni wins the ROAM Rando Rally. R) Ben Parsons – Montana’s skinniest fireman – places third in huge upset at fire building competition that was one of the festivals Backcountry Olympics.
Also of note is that Ben and Jen Parsons who went on to compete in the full Coldsmoke Powder Fest King of the Mountain competition, finishing 2nd and 4th overall!
» ROAM Rando Rally Results
For The Five Peaks race we received a short and sweet report from Tim Zander. Thank you!

The 5 Peaks race was a cold and windy affair, but not as bad as last year. The turnout was amazing with 132 racers in 66 teams competing. Last year saw 72 racers, over 80% growth. The course was quite enjoyable with three short bootpacks, some good switchback sections, fun descents and plenty of alpine wind exposure. Max Taam and John Gaston took first with an impressive time of 2:35:35. Marshal Thomson and Stevie Kremer came in 3rd overall and 1st for Coed Duo. Annie Gonzales and Jessie Young did quite well in the Womens Duo at 3:10:01.

» Five Peaks Results

Vertfest continued in Oregon at Mt. Bachelor. The race course was a bit unclear beforehand but it looks like the end result was three climbs and descents race with the final climb to the summit crater of Mt. Bachelor. Definitely an interesting race that I will consider in the future! The sun was out for the race, uncharacteristic of Vertfest events! Aaron Talbot and Brandon Kern were the local favourites battling each other to a close finish with Patrick Fink trailing behind to round out the Men’s podium. Molly Grove won the Women’s race with a healthy lead over Hailey Garside and Laurel Manville.
» Bachelor Results

Mad River Valley Rec Category.
Mad River Valley Rec Category.
Mad River Valley in Vermont sported an updated course with some challenging skiing restored on Mount Ellen (via a bootpack and subsequent ski of Upper FIS), and the pointless nordic skate skiing section eliminated at Lincoln Peak.  Total competitor-measured vertical was 4,722’ across 11.4 miles.
Jan Wellford repeated his 2009 and 2013 wins, by the largest margin ever recorded since the race first started in 2006 thanks apparently to a competitive focus on nordic ski racing. Competition  for the rest of the podium was fierce, with Jerimy Arnold battling a very strong Equipe Quebec seeking to repeat its dominance two weeks earlier at the Burke race. Daniele Poirier took third only 19 seconds behind Jerimy, with Philipe Deguire in fourth less than half a minute later.  George Visser (5th) would have been a favorite to win with his new Dynafit-rebranded Pierre Gignoux boots and bindings.  Unfortunately, the release pin broke on one of his toe units during the first ascent. Even with all that, Jerimy, Daniele, Philipe, and George all traded places multiple times in the final course segment, with Jerimy finally benefitting from his course familiarity.
On the women’s side, Manon St-Pierre took first, with Burke winner Danielle de Guire less than half a minute later.  We look forward to more of this strong international competition from our friends across the northern border in future races!
» Mad River Valley Results:
Results- MRV 2014, reformatted
(Thanks to Jonathan Shefftz for his East Coast submission)
Did you race at any of these events? Write a blog post about it or take some pictures? Post up in the comments so we can read your take!

Upcoming Races – Feb 22-23 Weekend

This weekend World Cup racing action resumes in Switzerland at Diablerets with an individual race on March 1st and a vertical race the following day. We have not received word of any North Americans on the start list but will be covering the race regardless.
March 1st marks the Audi Power of Four race in Aspen, Colorado. Expect big guns in attendance and a very challenging race course for all racers. The rest of the continent will be busy preparing for the Wasatch Powder Keg in Utah on March 7th-9th which we will be attending as well.

Listen up: Interview with Melanie Bernier on CBC Radio!

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Here you can listen to Melanie Bernier’s five minute telephone interview on Canada’s main station – the CBC Radio – from this morning. This is another step for ski mountaineering racing in finding its way into more Canadian hearts.
Being the first ever Canadian to step onto the World Cup ski mountaineering podium she rightly deserved to be featured on the CBC Daybreak show.

For more details about Melanie’s 2014 skimo World Cup racing check out these Skintrack interviews and articles:

If you know of other main stream media interviews with skimo athletes share a link in comments below.

Melanie on the World Cup podium (right side) after placing 3rd in a sprint in Feb 2014.
Melanie on the World Cup podium (right side) after placing 3rd in a sprint in Feb 2014.