4/2/16 Gunbarrel 25 Race Report

This race took place on a 1700' vertical, famous bump run overlooking Lake Tahoe. Being springtime, there was a vicious freeze/thaw cycle going on. The Director of the Heavenly Valley Ski Patrol later told me that the run was too firm to have been opened before the middle of the afternoon - if not for the race. We started at 10am. There were duel objectives....One was to finish 25 laps as soon as possible. The other was to do as many laps as possible in six hours. My objective was to ski the bumps as good as I could, for as long as I could. I was mostly successful  and finished 32 laps. My guess would be that I did about half my laps in style, and half to survive and conserve energy in the difficult/dangerous early conditions. I got to my 25th lap in about four and a half hours.

The course was in three parts. The upper bowl was lowed angle and had medium sized bumps that could be traversed and slid around on skiers left. The middle section was steep bumps that could be circumvented on skiers left on another run called the Pistol. It could also be slipped on the left, avoiding the largest bumps. The lower section (below a road)  was also a steep bump run that could be side slipped on skiers left. The problem with each section  was that for the first few hours everything was as hard as a rock. The other problem was  the speed differences between the contenders and the ones who wished to ski bumps and stay uninjured. Though I had many near collisions, everyone tried hard to avoid contact, and yield the right of way.

Bump skiing was nearly impossible until afternoon, so I slipped the high speed areas on the left as much as possible without getting run over by the "skier cross" type contenders.

As conditions began to soften, more riders ventured out on the bumps - especially on the lower angled upper bumps. The upper section became very good bump skiing. The bottom sections remained very challenging all day long. There were long sections of water ice that threatened to prerelease you from the chattering of the skis. The middle of the bumps had icy backsides  and deep, nearly vertical and erratic sides. The troughs were very deep and  bad choices were dealt with harshly. As conditions softened,  most of the high speed contenders stuck to their track and just got faster. Myself, and a handful of others ventured out into the middle of the bumps. On the top section I had a blast all afternoon and pounded the zipper lines as hard as I could. I still had to ski the lower two thirds conservatively because of the conditions. A few of the best bump skiers were able to pound the steeps in short sections. The eventual winner could look like a World Cup bump skier for short, fast sections. I'm happy to say that I only crashed once on the upper softer section. I did not stop all day except on the last run to talk with the most uncompromising bump skier of all, Don Venisuala. The 4 minute chairlift rides along with water, bars, and oranges were enough to keep me going for six hours.

Overall I had a good time and was very happy with my 32 laps. I wish the conditions were softer, but with 150 riders doing  an average of 20 laps each  -  that's not going to happen. I grew up skiing California bumps and have had a pass at Whistler for many years. I pride myself for continuing to ski the bumps when able. With less bump skiers than there used to be, I am often one of the few hitting the lifeline bumps, or the really steep hard bump lines. Though I don't ski the bumps really fast anymore, I knew that I would be proud to show GlennPlake (host of the event) how I skied the bumps! Unfortunately he was a no show this year. 

I encourage bump skiers with good legs, or skier cross types with no fear -  to check this race out in the future. We never know how long these types of events will last in the corporate ski resort culture of today.

Brian

Most excellent. What are your bump skis?

I used an old pair of 167 Salomon Sho Guns. They are the direct descendants of the 1080 and Pocket Rocket. Another guy named Don from
Kirkwood Meadows skied the 1080's hard all afternoon. He would ski hard and semi-fast then rest up for a couple of minutes and do it again. He skied 25 laps like that!

I had just bought a pair of Ascente 175 CL's with a 66 waist and a modern, fat tip (106). These skis had been Hart's, and at one
Point were the best competition bump ski in the world. I skied them for a half day in Park City and also for one run on Gunbarrel. I liked them, but wasn't comfortable enough to switch because of the extreme conditions. They were very light and quick turning. When I skied them at Park City that really rocked the groomed runs and felt like a quick turning GS ski. I'll keep them for that of sell them to someone that has a real competitive use for them. They are brand new with new bindings as well.