Melanie Bernier

Final 2015/16 Canadian Skimo Racing Rankings

March 31, 2016 By Stano Faban 8 Comments

With the conclusion of skimo racing in Western Canada last weekend in Lake Louise, our governing body Ski Mountaineering Competition Canada (SMCC) has released the final rankings for this season. We will take a look at how the rankings are compiled and what it means.

Rankings and How they work

Canadian Cup Rankings:

This season’s Canadian Cup consisted of the six races (at five venues) that were sanctioned by the SMCC – those that conform with the International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF) and SMCC rules. For the first time ever, one of these races was a sprint event. No vertical races were held this year and so the other five were individual events.

Kylee Ohler on racing to her win. — Kylee Ohler racing on to her win at Canadian Nationals.

The Canadian Cup ranking list seeks to reward performance within these Cup events. Rankings are determined using the ISMF World Ranking system. Athletes of all nationalities are included as well as anyone who competed in any of the events – racing the long/elite events. Points are assigned to each place in the race results (1st = 100pts, 2nd = 80pts, 3rd = 60pts, etc…). Overall placement on the ranking list is the sum of the athlete’s best four results.
Top 3 Men:

Eric Carter (USA) – 380 pts
Travis Brown (CAN) – 330 pts
Peter Knight (CAN) – 280 pts

Top 3 Women:

Kylee Ohler (CAN) – 360 pts
Michelle Katchur-Roberts (CAN) – 320 pts
Melanie Bernier (CAN) – 300 pts

» Canada Cup Overall Rankings (PDF)

Canadian National Rankings:

The Canadian National Rankings are made up of a so called “Points List” that is designed to accurately rank athletes in comparison one to another using any possible race results for the purposes of aiding (not finalizing) in national team selection for next season.
The Points List results were compiled from all Canadian Cup races, US nationally sanctioned races (e.g. US Nationals or Powder Keg Continental Championships), and World Cup or ISMF events.
The points system was derived from that used by the Canadian Nordic Ski Team. Athletes are assigned points that represent the percentage of time they finished behind the leader. Points are handicapped by the ranking of the race winner – this means athletes who finish near the front of a highly competitive field will be rewarded with better points than finishing near the front of a weak field. For example, finishing within 20% of the winner (say Kilian Jornet) at a World Cup would be worth more points than finishing within 20% of the winner at a Canadian Cup race. The average of an athletes top three points is taken to be their overall ranking. If the athlete has only one or two races, a slight penalty is applied to their average (see notes in the below PDF sheet).
Top 3 Canadian Men:

Nick Elson – 0.8803
Rob Krar – 0.8383
Peter Knight – 0.8080

Top 3 Canadian Women:

Melanie Bernier – 0.8847
Kylee Ohler – 0.8601
Michelle Katchur-Roberts – 0.7828

» Canada National Points List Final (PDF)

What does it mean?

Canadian Cup:

The Canadian Cup does not seek to identify the absolute fastest Canadian skier, but rather any skier with the best and most consistent results within the Cup races. A good example of this is seen in the women’s ranking with Melanie Bernier winning every race she entered (3) but finishing ranked third because of her missing a fourth result. Had she raced one more and finished at least 3rd, she would have won the Cup.
The Vert180 appears to be a good place to get points. Only 2 of the top 8 attended. Similarly, Fernie and Nelson were less well attended than Castle or Lake Louise. It is interesting that Castle was so well attended as it is far away from almost everyone (but it’s closer for the Montana athletes). This suggests that the double race weekend – holding the sprint and individual race – is very attractive to many. Absolute ideal would be to see a minimum of two events at every race weekend in the Canadian Cup. Holding a vertical or a sprint, along an individual, does not add too much extra work for the organizers while greatly increasing attractiveness for racers from further away to attend.
Special mention should go to the very few athletes who attended every Canadian Cup race – by our count, this is only Michelle Katchur-Roberts, Travis Brown, and Peter Knight (forgive us if we missed anyone).

National Points List:

The current points list can be skewed in the event of a race like what happened at Nelson. With new snow and no set tracks, a large group of racers skied together, finishing much closer to the leader than shown in other races, thus, gaining more points than if there were well established skin tracks. This underlines the need for properly set courses and forerunners in the case of new snow. In our experience, as race organizers and athletes, we believe that a forerunner should be a must. Setting out about 1.5-2h before a race starts it gives this person plenty of time to refresh the tracks set day before and to repair any course markings that perhaps got buried or blown away overnight.
However, the points list provides valid information to the SMCC for national team selection purposes. A good example of this is Rob Krar (an accomplished ultra-runner) who is presumably hoping to race for Canada at the 2017 World Championships. With only one race in Canada (though a strong 2nd among Canadians at Nationals last week), his US results support his ranking of second fastest Canadian.

Race Recap: Vert180 Skimo Race

December 15, 2015 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

“Oh great, now I get to be beaten by two people wearing tutu’s...” - Peter Knight — “Oh great, now I get to be beaten by two people wearing tutu’s…” – Peter Knight

The Vert180 is the annual season opener for the Canadian Skimo Calendar. While the setting may not be spectacular alpine peaks, there is no shortage of energy that descends on Calgary Olympic Park the first weekend in December.
Eighty-five racers toed the line at Winsport in Calgary on Saturday in three categories: solo, 2 person teams, and 4 person teams. Racers had 180 minutes to complete as many of the 150m ascent and descent laps as possible. The course was slightly different this year, climbing with skins almost to the top, then a bootpack to the top of the chairlift followed by a descent to the start/ finish area. As always the race involved less technical elements but a lot of mental strength as you lap again and again for three hours.

12308073_10153679918696335_2757319877308095034_o — Great to see some new faces making the transition into skimo!

Prior to the start of the race, National Team members held a clinic that started with a presentation by Melanie Bernier on the history of skimo racing, what the sport is all about and the race scene in Europe. The 10 athletes and their instructors then headed outside and practiced transitions; tips for race transitions but also useful tips for the backcountry. Strides and movement efficiency were discussed and kick-turns were demo’d and practiced.
As expected, National Team members Travis Brown and Peter Knight started the race hard with Melanie Bernier and Steve Sellers giving a strong chase. The laps took their toll, however, no-one could quite match Travis’ 18 total laps. Peter and Steve both finished with 17 laps (Steve placing well despite a ski lost into the trees during botched top-transition).

On the women’s side there was no surprise to see Melanie Bernier in good form, giving the boys a run for their money spinning 17 laps. The race for second and third was a bit more spread out with Kylee Ohler completing 16 laps and Michelle Roberts finishing with 15. Many impressive results by recreational back country skiers trying the sport for the first time. In addition to the elite spandex racer crew, there were 3 split boarders, tutu clad competitors, someone dressed as a giant hot dog, competitive rivalries between MEC teams, competitors from age 16-60, lots of high fives and laughter.
On the junior front, Marcus Zamzow got in 6 laps in 1.5 hours. A dramatic improvement over his race effort last year. No one pushed him for the victory. There were some other good efforts on pretty heavy gear!
Results HERE
The stoke is high as the snow is falling and people are getting geared up for the next four races on the Canadian circuit! Next up in Canada is the Castle Mountain Ski Mountaineering Race on Jan 9/10. This weekend, racing continues in Crested Butte with the Irwin Guides race cancelled due to lack of snow. Instead a vertical and ‘make-up’ individual race will take place at Crested Butte Mountain Resort.

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Thanks for Steve Sellers, Kylee Toth, and Melanie Bernier for contributing words and photos.

Report: 2015 Mondole World Cup – Elson, Bernier and Carter raced for North America

March 30, 2015 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

Report by Eric Carter, edits by Stano Faban, all photos by ISMF.
The Prato Nevoso venue for the World Cup finals was an exciting one. Being very close to the Mediterranean Sea in the very southern alps, it has a very coastal snowpack. The day before we arrived, a storm dropped 3+ feet of heavy wet snow on the entire region so while previewing the course on Thursday we had to ski through deep slush. Luckily, the temps overnight were just cool enough to allow the snow to solidify.

Vertical race

Laura Orgue, left, and Laetitia Roux battling it out once again.

Friday morning featured a vertical race of approximately 700 meters. The men’s race started fast right off the line and up a steep groomer with the Italian Damiano Lenzi pushing the pace. Midway through the course, when the grade kicked up, Kilian Jornet (ESP) attacked the Italian and was only matched by espoir Anton Palzer (GER), fresh back from an ankle injury. In the final 200 meters, Palzer attacked and gaped Jornet, and held on to the lead to the finish. Despite the lose, Jornet managed win the Vertical World Cup title.
Nick Elson (CAN) led the North American contingent with a 22nd place, with Eric Carter (USA) coming just behind in 25th.
In the women’s race, Laetitia Roux (FRA) was pushed by the 2015 Vertical World Champion Laura Orgue (ESP) but managed to hold on to the lead and the Vertical Cup title. Behind Roux and Orgue, Emelie Forsberg (SWE) took the bronze.

Eric Carter, in the far right, giving all trying to catch Marc Pinsach.

Individual race

The individual course on Saturday was shortened slightly due to avalanche conditions. At approximately 1550m of climbing, the course was slightly shorter than most World Cups this season but had a significant distance covered and the times for completion were similar to other races.

The race started fast with the Italians pushing the pace early like in the vertical. The race led through the Prato Nevoso ski resort and then onto the south-east ridge of Mont Mondole. This time Matteo Eydallin (ITA) took the victory in front of his teams race partner, Damiano Lenzi, and William Bon Mardion (FRA).
Canadian Nick Elson skied strongly throughout the race but an unfortunate crash near the finish dropped him to 30th place. Eric Carter (USA) had a solid race as well and finished in 36th. Melanie Bernier (CAN) placed 8th in the women’s race, again dominated by Laetitia Roux of France.

Sprint race

The weekend concluded with an exciting sprint event on Sunday on the lower slopes of Prato Nevoso. The ascent portion was steep and long and featured icy switchbacks. The descent was off-piste with breakable crust and ice and made racers very nervous before starting the qualifying rounds.
Damiano Lenzi (ITA), one of the favourites, took a big fall warming up and walked away with a bloody nose. Philipp Schaedler (GER), fresh off his visit to Canada, threw down a strong qualifying time but was eliminated from the quarter-finals when he botched the skins-to-bootpack transition.

In the centre, in yellow, German Philipp Schadle spent his winter couloir hunting and racing in Canada. — In the centre, in yellow, German Philipp Schadler spent most of his winter couloir hunting and racing in Canada.

The Germans and Italians battled throughout the day with the overall sprint cup on the line. Michelle Boscacci (ITA) survived through the heats unscathed and managed to gain a healthy lead along with Roberto Antonioli (ITA) to hold off the screaming descender William Bon Mardion (FRA). With Boscacci taking the day, the Sprint World Cup title was awarded to Antonioli.
Laetitia Roux skied head and shoulders above her competition through the heats and took a commanding lead to the finish in the finals, also taking the overall in the World Cup. Melanie Bernier was eliminated from a strong semi-final heat that included Roux, Forsberg (SWE – 3rd), and Malene Haukøy (NOR – 6th).
» Full results from all 3 races can be found on ISMF website, however, they are not complete.

This year saw ISMF spicing up the sprint courses with some surprising features on the descents.

Stage 3 – 2015 Pierra Menta: Carter & Elson 15th, Lenzi & Eydalin won again, Roux & Miro as well

March 13, 2015 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

Today’s stage went around Pierra Menta, the peak, and is traditionally the longest stage of the race.

Nick and Eric raced super well today to finish at 15th.

Stage 3

Top 3 men finished in the same order as yesterday except the time gaps were much smaller. Damiano Lenzi & Matteo Eydalin won by less than a minute in front of the home favourites William Bon Mardion & Xavier Gachet. Third, like yesterday, were Robert Antonioli with Michele Boscacci.
Women’s top 3 was also the same as yesterday but only a minute was separating the second and third teams. Win went to Laetitia Roux & Mireia Miro, second to Emelie Forsberg & Axelle Mollaret, an third to Jennifer Flechter & Severine Pont Combe.
Tomorrow, is the last stage of this 30th edition of Pierra Menta.
» Full results – stage 3

North Americans:

I got super excited this morning as I read Eric’s email before the results were fully released. They, with Nick Elson, came in 15th in today’s stage which moved them to 16th overall! Read further below about their day.
Melanie Bernier with her Norwegian partner repeated their 6th place from yesterday and are 7th overall by only about 35 seconds.
Nick Francis and Nick Bunce improved today once again and crossed the line at 132nd. They are in 133rd position overall.
Quote from Eric:

Hard day today but amazing stage going by Pierra Menta!
First few huge climbs felt good and we got into a good position. Descents were less stressful than yesterday but still extremely icy and difficult. I struggled a bit descending, especially the big ones but Nick was strong and led us well. Sun came out on the final climb and really drained us but we held position. The last descent into town was nuts – super low snow, crazy steep tight gullies around rocks and traverses over patches of dirt. Lots of spectators today.
Tomorrow will be hard. Major recovery time now. Whew…

Stage 1 – 2015 Pierra Menta: Carter & Elson 20th, Bernier 7th, plus others

March 11, 2015 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

Nick Elson with Eric Carter today at Pierra Menta. Photo by Andrea Kuba.

Today was the first day of the 2015 Pierra Menta. Usually, the PM starts on a Thursday but because this is the 30th edition the organizers shuffled things around to accommodate the festivities.

Stage 1

The stage was unusually short so something big must be awaiting the racers in the next few days to make up for the average of 2500m per day.
Domination of the Italian duo, Damiano Lenzi & Matteo Eydalin, continues! After winning everything there was to win last year, they won the teams title at last month’s World Championships, and today they won the first stage.

Lenzi and Eydalin are continuing the rish Italian history of super strong skimo teams. Photo by Andrea Kuba.

In women’s category, the super tight battle is starting to shape up. Two strong teams, Laetitia Roux (FRA) with Mireia Miro (SPA) and Emelie Forsberg (SWE) with Axelle Mollaret (FRA), went through the whole stage together. At the end, Emelie & Axelle took the win by mere 10 seconds!

The top two women's teams were neck and neck today. — The top two women’s teams were neck and neck today. Photo by Andrea Kuba.

North Americans

There are couple of North American teams competing this year.
The top men’s team, consisting of Eric Carter (USA) and Nick Elson (CAN), started the big race well and came in at 20th place, thus, nicely positioning themselves for tomorrow.
Among women, Melanie Bernier (CAN) paired up this year with Malene Blikken (NOR) and they also had a good start to Pierra Menta, coming in at 7th.
» Here’s a quick interview with Melanie from just few days ago.

Melanie Bernier approaching a transition. Photo by Andrea Kuba.

As for the rest, I am only aware of these North American teams racing the PM this year:

The team of Eric Bunce and Nicolas Francis (both USA) came in at 133rd place. BTW, Nicolas is the USSMA president!
At 151st today, came in Crowley Jon and Kilcoyne Jamie.

» Full results – stage 1

Kilian Jornet races with Marc Pinsach this year. They placed 7th today. Photo by Andrea Kuba.

Michele Boscacci with Robert Antonioli came in 4th today. Photo by Andrea Kuba.

4 Questions for Melanie Bernier before the 30th Edition of the Famous Pierra Menta

March 9, 2015 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

With Pierra Menta, the famous four day skimo race, approaching swiftly I figured it would be great to catch up with Melanie Bernier as she is readying for the 4th Pierra Menta. Melanie finished in the Top 5 on two occasions with two different partners – Janelle Smiley (4th in 2014) and Valentine Fabre (5th in 2014).

Melanie Bernier interview

Q1: How was your racing this year up to now? How do you feel about it?

This season is a slow progression for me. As you know, I did a lot of volume in November to raise money to be able to race on the World Cup circuit. I feel it was a great way to motivate myself to train hard and make some money along the way but it also made me do a lot of volume at lower pace and less intensity. As of December, I had very little time to transfer from long-and-slow to fast-and-snappy. I had the endurance but not the speed.
The first World Cup was a write off and I was jet-lagged, I was also fighting a virus and was racing at elevation for the 1st time. Then at the Andorra WC I started to feel better and more like myself.
The World Championships were hard but I feel like I had done a progression there again. Then at Val Martello WC two weekends ago I was feeling great while racing and felt like finally things are starting to be a little more normal. I’m hoping to carry the momentum and by training hard and racing hard over the few weeks to come, the last WC will be my strongest race.
Q2: Looks like the competition inside the women’s Top 10 increased. Is it younger racers coming in or just the older ones upped their game?
There’s a couple of new girls on the circuit this year but they are not in the top 10. Everyone has been working hard to be ready for the World Champs, so on those years the top 10 is always tighter.
I think some girls are having an amazing season, some others are building up just like me and while another ones are having a mellower season. Skimo is still a fairly young sport even in Europe, therefore, the level increases every year and so we just need to adjust our respective training to be able to follow the pace, but also gain that extra bit when possible.
Q3: Who are you partnering for Pierra Menta with and what are your goals?
This year, I am super excited to be racing with Malene Birken from Norway. She is very excited about the idea of doing the race and I think we will have a very good time together. She has never done the Pierra Menta before so she is in for a treat!
As for objectives, well there will be a lot of strong women’s teams this year. It will be interesting to see. The thing is, at the Pierra Menta, anything can happen and athletes that are strong on the shorter individual course are not necessarily the strongest at long races. I am hoping that Malene and I can be top 5 as I have been 4th with Janelle 2 years ago and 5th with Valentine last year.
Q4: What other races are you focusing on?
After the Pierra Menta, my favorite ski partner in the whole world is coming to meet me as we will live in Chamonix, so I will take a little break from racing to reset.
Then the biggest race left after that will be the last World Cup in Mondole, Italy. It should be a great event.

News Shorts: Aspen's Power of Four, NA racers in Marmotta Trophy World Cup, Upcoming races

March 3, 2015 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

Laetitia Roux going for another gold in World Cup last weekend.

Audi Power of Four, Aspen (Feb 28, 2015)

Quickly growing into the biggest skimo race in North America, the Power of Four is already a Colorado classic. With vertical gain totaling 11,600 feet and course spread over three peaks covering 25.3 miles in distance, this race’s proportions resemble some of the big European classics such as Mezzalama in Italy. The route is not as technical but the altitudes most likely make up for it.
This year, once again, it was the home team of Max Taam & John Gaston that took the win. However, this time around, they put in a big gap (23 min) between them and 2nd placed Jon Brown & William Laird who only narrowly beat (1 min) a team of Pete Swenson & Rory Kelly. In 4th, was a notable duo as the team consisted of well known ultra-runners Mike Foote & Rob Krar.
The women’s race for first was a much more exciting affair. The newly married, Stevie Kremer partnered with Lindsay Plant to take the win by less than 2 minutes, in front of Jessie Young & Annie Gonzales. All this after 6 hours of racing! Third went to Darcy Piceu & Petra Pirc.
» Overall results and results for various categories are here

Marmotta Trophy World Cup, Italy (Mar 1-2, 2015)

Recap and photos submitted by Eric Carter who raced as well. Edits by Stano.
Set deep in the Martello Valley of South Tirol, Italy, the Marmotta Trophy World Cup featured both an Individual race and Sprint. The weather was kind to the organizers and athletes, with fresh snow falling the week before the race – a contrast to the low-snow, spring conditions of the previous edition.

Canadian Team: Michelle Roberts, Travis Brown, Melanie Bernier, Nick Elson.

Individual Race

The course featured three major climbs and descents. A wide track at the start quickly funneled into a double skin track. The first climb ascended out of the shadowy valley to the sunny South facing slopes before talking a direct but steep and narrow descent on breakable crust. The second climb started with a long flat stretch before tackling steep switchbacks to a hut where the women descended. The men continued up innumerable but gentle switchbacks to the glacier below Cima Marmotta before descending wide open powder fields at high speed. A flat traverse at the bottom took racers to the base of climb three. The climb was primarily switchbacks split in half by a bootpack up a steep couloir that would have likely been a pleasure to ski. Descending another long powder field before entering a steeply walled couloir, racers were again spit back onto open slopes that led to a final luge track descent through the trees. The last skins on transition was within sight of the finish, athletes put skins on frantically for a 15-meter climb to the line.

The women’s race was dominated as usual by Laetetia Roux (FRA) who led the race essentially from start to finish. Axelle Mollaret (FRA) chased behind with Emelie Forsberg (SWE) keping the French espoir in view to round out the podium. Behind the leaders was a pack that battled throughout the race including couple of Italian and Spanish women.
Melanie Bernier (CAN) skied strong on the last descent to gain contact with the Spaniards and Italians and the five women arrived in a group to the final transition before sprinting to the line within seconds of each other. Melanie finished 8th, only 7 seconds behind 6th, which is her top WC Individual result this season. The only other North American women to race was Michelle Roberts (CAN) who finished 20th.
» Women’s full results are here
The men’s race was also a battle between France, Italy, and Spain. Killian Jornet (SPA) led much of the race only to be passed on the final descent by one of the finest skiers William Bon Mardion (FRA). Xavier Gachet (FRA) rounded out the Frenchman sandwich with Michelle Boscacci and Damiano Lenzi (both ITA) skiing strong but not well enough for the podium.
Nick Elson (CAN) led the North American men with a 35th place finish. Eric Carter (USA) was 43rd and Travis Brown (CAN) 45th. A notable absence was super-German espoir Anton Palzer, sidelined since the World Championship relay race with a knee injury. However, Palzer is expected to be back skiing just in time to attend the Pierra Menta.
» Men’s full results are here
Sprint Race
Sunday began cloudy with Junior athletes racing before the Seniors, allowing an extra bit of rest and recovery. The men qualified first with 30 athletes advancing on to quarter-finals. The women followed quickly after with only 12 advancing on to semi-finals. Nick Elson led the North American field, however, failed to qualify for the heats along with Travis Brown and Michelle Roberts.
Melanie Bernier qualified with a strong time in 5th position. Melanie raced an amazing semi-final, falling behind to fourth place in the boot-pack but ripping down the descent and skating into a photo finish, ultimately placing third in the heat and continuing on to the final. The women’s final was led throughout the race by Laetitia Roux with Melanie finishing in 5th.
In the men’s heats, the usual players worked their way ahead with the notable addition of Kilian Jornet, rarely seen in a sprint race, who placed 13th overall. The Italians fought hard along with the French and Swiss racers but the day was dominated by the German Josef Rottmoser who decisively led every heat and settled the final uncontested.
» Sprint results: Men and Women

Melanie Bernier (on the left) during her semi-final heat.

Upcoming races

Wasatch Powder Keg and US Skimo Nationals

Over three days, March 6-8, the whole US skimo scene will move to Brighton Resort close to Salt Lake City for the famous Wasatch Powder Keg. It will begin with a sprint race on Friday night, then continue with individual race on Saturday, and technical teams race on Sunday.
The very next weekend, March 13-15, everything and everyone will move to Crested Butte, CO for the 2015 Gore-Tex US Skimo Nationals that will also feature three days of competition – vertical race on Friday, individual on Saturday, and concluding with a teams race on Sunday.

East Coast

Skimo racers on the East Coast will also have their work cut out for them and they will line up for:

Mar 7 – Jay Peak Rando Race, VT
Mar 8 – Owl’s Head Quebec Touring Challenge, Quebec
Mar 14 – Magic Mountain Rando Race, VT
Mar 14 – Mt Orford Skimo Race, Quebec

Pierra Menta (Mar 11-14, 2015)

There will be couple of North American’s lining up for the 30th edition of Pierra Menta. Melanie Bernier is set to race once again, after collecting couple of top 5 finishes, and her partner should be a Norwegian athlete.
For men, North American will have an international team consisting of two good friends from Squamish, BC – Eric Carter will race with Nick Elson. Here is what they set in today:
Q: How are you and Nick feeling for Pierra Menta? What is your goal and what are you most excited about?

It’s the biggest event in skimo period. We are mostly stoked to race and test out all the training and preparation we have done. We of course want to place well. Reiner and Andrew’s 15th place in 2013 is certainly in the back of our heads but looking at the 2014 results it is very competitive and seems to be getting more so every year. We’re going to try to race a smart race and see what happens.

I believe the boys are in good shape and can definitely crack the top 20, so the question should be by how much. Melanie will be going strong as well since long and technical races suit her well.

Karl Egloff interview

In case you haven’t checked it out yet, I had the pleasure to interview the new Aconcagua speed climb record holder as Karl Egloff beat Kilian Jornet’s time by almost 1 hour few weeks ago!

Dec 1-7 News Shorts: US Skimo Team qualifiers, Vert180 in Canada, Bernier's big November, Jornet readying for Aconcagua

December 9, 2014 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

With a new season under way, we are going to continue the weekly roundups that you got used to last winter but we are going away from the “Skimo Racing Roundup” name and will be calling it “News Shorts” as there are often other ski mountaineering related items worth including besides just skimo racing. We believe you will enjoy this format even more!

US Skimo Team qualifiers: Gaston continues winning

One of several huge snowcats used to shuttle racers to and from the Irwin Lodge race venue.

Skimo World Championships take place every second year and this means the US skimo athletes continue to train harder than ever before. To qualify, and to have a choice at which events each athlete wants to race at the 2015 Skimo Worlds in Verbier (Feb 6-12), he or she first needs to prove the speed. The first two qualifying races took place last weekend (Dec 6-7) in Crested Butte, Colorado. Saturday’s individual race, at Irwin Guides, is known for great backcountry terrain and skiing. The Irwin race is a unique experience for skimo racers with the entire event taking place in the backcountry. Racers are required to take a 45-minute snowmobile or snowcat ride to the venue deep in the Elk Mountains.

Utah vs. Colorado after the vertical event.

Scott Simons (2nd place), a father of two and always improving, took off strong from the start and charged around the first lap at a blistering pace along with Marshall Thompson (3rd place). The two reached the first descent together with John Gaston close behind. Gaston, showing his perennial strength at descending, closed the gap and by the third lap, had a manageable lead on the two to win the race. Max Taam raced hard from 10th position to 4th by the finish and Jason Dorais battled illness to finish a strong 5th.
In the women’s race, Lindsay Plant (2014 NA Teams Race Champion with Janelle Smiley) stayed in the lead throughout the race with seemingly little competition. Sari Anderson and Jessie Young (new to the skimo circuit but quickly improving) equalled each other on the first climb. Anderson dropped out of the race and Young chased hard forcing Plant to increase her pace to maintain her lead. Nikki LaRochelle finished in third.

For more Irwin photos by Crested Butte Photography see a link further below.

Lindsay Plant shortly after crossing the line in first at the Crested Butte vertical race.

Sunday was a vertical race (also a team qualifier) hosted at the CB resort. The results changed a bit but not dramatically. Gaston dominated the men’s field again with Marshall Thompson taking a close 2nd. Local star, Brian Smith charged from behind, sitting at the back of the pack early in the climb and moving up to 3rd by the finish. The women’s race went again decisively to Lindsay Plant who was followed by Nikki LaRochelle and McKenna Douglas.
SkinTrack’s Eric Carter, who is trying to qualify for the US Worlds Team, placed 9th on Saturday and 5th on Sunday. Eric was happy with the results despite seeing room for improvement. His altitude acclimatization program seemed to work (he lives at 14 m in Squamish, Canada) and all the hard dry land training is paying off.
» Weekend results from both races – https://www.facebook.com/USSkimo/posts/795269280519181
» Great weekend race photos can be found here.
» Qualifying criteria and process can be found on USSMA website here.

Vert180 opens season in Canada

In Canada, the Vert180 in Calgary opened the skimo racing season with its unusual format once again. The winner of the men’s category, trail runner and skimo racer Travis Brown, climbed a little less than 3000 m in 180 minutes of racing. Second and third went to Peter Knight and Ryan Burlingame respectively. The women’s category win went to Kylee Toth, who is coming back strongly after having two kids in the last several years! Michelle Roberts and Marg Fedyna finished second and third.
» Vert180 results are here.

Melanie Bernier’s big November

Melanie Bernier is the only Canadian, and only the second North American, to place on a skimo World Cup podium and as part of her preparations for the World Championship season she went on to do a massive month of training. She accumulated over 70,000 vertical meters during November in the mountains around Revelstoke and in Rogers Pass. Once again, Melanie will travel to Europe for an extensive period of time this winter and we can’t wait to see what exciting performances she will be up to this season.

Kilian Jornet ready for Aconcagua speed attempt

If you haven’t caught the news yet then next couple of weeks will bring another speed record attempt by Kilian Jornet. Like Melanie, he also did lot’s of training in November and, only few days ago, left France for South America. None of such records are guaranteed but if the weather on Aconcagua is at least somewhat cooperative, then Jornet should be able to set the bar very high for anyone that will come after him.

Wolf Creek skimo race on Nov 22

The first race on the USSMA calendar went down two weeks ago at the Wolf Creek ski area in Colorado. Men’s category top 3 were: Scott Simmons, Jon Brown, Pete Swenson. In women’s race category, the win went to Lindsay Plant, followed by Sarah Stubbe and Christena Ward.
» Full results are here.

Teaser video for 2015 Ski Mountaineering World Championships in Verbier

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

May 19, 2014 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

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 😉

Listen up: Interview with Melanie Bernier on CBC Radio!

February 25, 2014 By Stano Faban Leave a Comment

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:

Podcast interview with Melanie from December 2014
http://www.skintrack.com/tips-tricks-advice/interview-with-melanie-bernier-skimo-training/
Melanie’s exclusive recap from January 2014
http://www.skintrack.com/skimo-racing/world-cup-skimo-racing-melanie-bernier/

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