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2019 Skimo World Championships

Individual Race – 2019 Skimo Worlds – Mar 12: Antonioli and Mollaret win senior titles

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individual-2019-worlds
After a forced day off due to stormy weather yesterday, the World Ski Mountaineering Championships continued today with Individual race for all categories.
» If you are looking for results only then visit this page, otherwise, keep reading for more details.

Men (Senior & Espoir)

Today’s course was very technical and lots of big names dropped out, and it was big for Italy when Robert Antonioli (ITA) added a gold medal to his bronze from the sprint race two days ago! His team-mate Michelle Boscacci was only 35 seconds behind to take silver. This results makes them the top favourites for the Teams race later in the week. Third place went to Xavier Gachet (FRA) only another 40 seconds behind.
The whole top 10 was distributed only among 3 countries – Italy, France and Switzerland – with the Italians had 4 of their athletes there!

Michelle Boscacci leading the pack.
Michelle Boscacci leading the pack.

US and Canadian men:
There were lots of anticipation whether John Gaston (USA) can improve on his 15th place from the Individual race from two years ago. Gaston is known not to be satisfied with himself even when he delivers his absolute best which adds to the pressure. However, he seems to constantly deliver when it matters the most and today was no different as he took a historical 12th place in this event for North America with only less than 5min behind the winner!
Cameron Smith (USA) had a very good race as well to take 33rd, with only 12min off the podium, in his first ever showing in the senior category. Cam definitely has potential in the coming years! Max Taam (USA) was 41st and likely not as satisfied.
The Canadian’s were led home by Peter Knight in 51st place, followed by Tyson Smith and Matt Ruta in 53rd and 54th respectively.
Of note, Mike Foote (USA) suffered an injury in training and likely won’t race at these Worlds at all.

Women (Senior & Espoir)

It might not be Laetitia Roux but the French have a new queen when Axelle Gachet Mollaret took gold with 3.5min ahead of Alba de Silvestro (ITA). Another French lady, Lorna Bonnel, had a great race and took bronze.
Of note is that two Swedish women placed 5th and 6th which is a big result for such a new skimo country!

Kylee Ohler racing to her 25th place.
Kylee Ohler racing to her 25th place.

US and Canadian women:
After delivering her first baby only a couple of months ago, Jessie Young (USA) reached her personal historical maximum with 13th place. Congratulations!
While Sierra Anderson (USA) might be reasonably new to skimo, and participating in her first Worlds, she delivered a great performance to finish in 18th. Nikki Laroche and Kate Zander (both USA) took 26th and 27th respectively.
The best Canadian result came from Kylee Ohler in 25th. Kylee was likely dreaming for a slightly better result (top 20) but we are sure she left everything on the course. Lori Ann Donald missed the top 30 by only one spot.

Juniors & Cadets  – Women and Men

US and Canadian athletes – highlights:
Jessie Mcauley (CAN) had a great race to place 10th in the men’s junior category. Jacob Dewey was best US athlete in 18th in the same category.
There were no North American women in the junior category.
There were 49 athletes in the men’s cadet category! The best NA results went to Caden Klein (USA) with his team-mates following closely behind, while Canadians didn’t participate.
In the cadet women’s category, among 24 athletes, Team US did very well as Grace Staberg and Elsa Bates took 6th and 8th respectively. Canadian athlete Ema Chlepkova had a satisfactory performance to finish in 18th.
» For full results visit this page. 

Sprint Race – 2019 Skimo Worlds – Mar 10: Arno Lietha and Galicia Cotrina win senior titles

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The 2019 Skimo Worlds were off to a windy start when strong gusts caused couple of issues to organizers. At the end, everything worked out and the first medals have been distributed to the fastest athletes.
» If you are looking for results only then visit this page, otherwise, keep reading for more details.

ISMF photo
ISMF photo

Sprint Race – Men (Senior & Espoir)

After a big disappointment at the 2017 sprint race,  Robert Antonioli (ITA) the 2015 Sprint World Champ, made it back to the podium to capture a bronze medal. He was out sprinted by a pair charging Swiss athletes Arno Lietha who took gold and Iwan Arnold silver.

Max Taam (USA) during the qualifying round.
Max Taam (USA) during the qualifying round. ISMF photo

US and Canadian men:
Today was not as successful for the North American men as 2 years ago when Eric Carter made it in the top 20. The best performance came from Cam Smith (USA) who made it into the quarter-finals and ultimately placed 27th.
Jason Dorais was the second best from Team USA while Tyson Smith was the best Canadian in 44th.

Sprint Race – Women (Senior & Espoir)

The women’s gold medal was decided quite early on as Claudia Galicia Cotrina (ESP) took the lead from the start. Silver medal went to Marianna Jagercikova (SVK) and bronze to Deborah Chiarello (SUI).
US and Canadian women:
Strong performances came from Sierra Anderson (USA) and Kylee Ohler (CAN) as they made it into quarter-finals and placed 20th and 24th respectively. Nikki Larochelle (USA) was the continent’s third best woman and placing 31st overall.

Sprint Race – Men and Women (Junior & Cadet)

Among Juniors the Italian Giovanni Rossi and the Russian Ekaterina Osichkina have perfectly opened the world week in the Canton of Vaud, while among Cadets Caroline Ulrich (SUI) and Robin Bussard (SUI) got the top stage of the podium.
» For full results visit this page.

Ema Chlepkova (CAN) in her first ever Skimo Worlds race. She is one of the top junior biathletes in Canada.
Ema Chlepkova (CAN) in her first ever Skimo Worlds race. She is one of the top junior biathletes in Canada. Eric Carter photo.

US and Canadian athletes – highlights:
Two years ago, Quinn Simmons earned a historical silver medal for USA in the sprint race in cadet category.
While North American’s didn’t come out with a medal Grace’s Staberg 9th place in the women’s cadet category is a big success.
Best placed cadet men was Rush Peterson in 24th place. A biathlete specialist trying her luck in skimo, Ema Chlepkova (CAN), placed 19th.
In the junior category, top honours for North Americans went to Finnegan Remias for USA and Noah Schuh for Canada while there were no NA women on the start line in this category.

Overview: 2019 Skimo World Championships + Team USA and Team Canada Athletes

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Two years went by very fast since the last World Ski Mountaineering Championships!
On Sunday, March 10 athletes will line up for the first event of the 2019 Skimo Worlds in Villars, Switzerland.
We have prepared the following overview – including names on the US and Canadian Teams – to make it easier for you to follow events every day… and a little bit of controversy too.
2019-skimo-world-champs-overview

Events

World Ski Mountaineering Championships take place every second year and usually take over a region or a valley somewhere in Europe for 6-7 days.
Here is the events schedule for 2019 Skimo Worlds:

  • March 10 – Sprint Race – All categories
  • March 11 – Individual Race – Junior & Cadet
  • March 12 – Individual Race – Senior & Espoir
  • March 13 – Vertical Race – All categories
  • March 14 – Day Off
  • March 15 – Teams Race – Senior
  • March 16 – Relay Race – All categories

Controversy: Pierra Menta dates clashing with World Championships

Over the years, there have been many issues regarding collaboration between the ISMF (International Ski Mountaineering Federation) and the Grand Course races (big traditional team races) such as Pierra Menta.
This year, the two biggest skimo events, the World Championshisp and Pierra Menta, take place in the same week – Pierra Menta goes from March 13 to 16.
While both sides tried to work this out to some degree it shows that skimo as a sport is still very small that no one has the luxury to move the dates infinitely.

Team USA

The following athletes were named to the US National Team after qualifying races in February, however, there could be last minute changes due to athletes’ abilities to fund themselves to participate.
This is the largest US Skimo Team ever with 20 athletes being less than 21 years old!
Athlete Demographics by State:

  • Colorado – 28
  • Utah – 7
  • Montana – 3
  • New Mexico – 2
  • Washington – 1

Senior Men:

  • Jon Brown – Crested Butte, CO
  • Jason Dorais – Salt Lake City, UT
  • Mike Foote – Missoula, MT
  • John Gaston – Aspen, CO
  • Tom Goth – Salt Lake City, UT
  • Rory Kelly – Boulder, CO
  • Jack Linehan – Aspen, CO
  • Cam Smith – Gunnison, CO
  • Max Taam – Aspen, CO

Senior Women:

  • Michela Adrian – Bozeman, MT
  • Sierra Anderson – Breckenridge, CO
  • Jamie Brede – Breckenridge, CO
  • Sarah Cookler – Silver Fork, UT
  • Annamae Flynn* – Marble, CO
  • Sara Kadlec* – Boulder, CO
  • Nikki Larochelle – Breckenridge, CO
  • Chelsee Pummel – Bozeman, MT
  • Jesse Young – Aspen, CO
  • Kate Zander – Breckenridge, CO

Espoir Men:

  • Peter Butler – Port Angeles, WA
  • Jeshurun Small – Gunnison, CO

Junior Men:

  • Max Bonenberger – Breckenridge, CO
  • Jacob Dewey – Gunnison, CO
  • Peter Hajdo – Gunnison, CO
  • Henry Hanes – Albuquerque, NM
  • Finnegan Remias – Breckenridge, CO
  • Sam Wescott – Silverthorne, CO

Junior Women:

  • Morgan Fortin – Albuquerque, NM
  • Victoria Olson – Salt Lake City, UT

Cadet men:

  • Connor Albin – Breckenridge, CO
  • George Beck – Woody Creek, CO
  • Sam Burke – Dillon, CO
  • Paul Hans – Breckenridge, CO
  • Mark Jardim – Breckenridge, CO
  • Caden Klein – Aspen, CO
  • Rush Peterson – Silver Fork, UT
  • Jeremiah Vaille – Dillon, CO

Cadet Women:

  • Elsa Bates – Breckenridge, CO
  • Ada Fendler – Silver Fork, UT
  • Samantha Paisley – Silver Fork, UT
  • Grace Staberg – Silverthorne, CO

Team Canada

We have not received an official press release from the Canadian Skimo federation neither the World Champs team is announced on their website but these should be the athletes representing Canada this year.
Men’s Team – All categories:

  • Matt Ruta
  • Tyson Smith
  • Peter Knight
  • Scott Semple
  • Noah Schuh

Women’s Team – All categories:

  • Kylee Ohler Toth
  • Lori-Ann Donald
  • Ema Chlepkova
  • Courtney Post
  • Katarina Kuba
  • Caroline Reid

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

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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.
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