March 6, 2004, Alpental Randonee Rally

Not lift-accessed, but not backcountry, so I'm not sure where to put this....<br><br>A bunch of buds and I did the Rando Rally on Saturday. Due to the storm the previous days, the route (originally up Snake Dance, out to Piss Pass, back down, up to Source Lake, Pineapple Pass, and back down) was rerouted. Instead, it was all inbounds - up SD/International and back down for the Rec division, up SD/International, down Edelweiss bowl, back up, down Int to the bottom, back up to the Snake Dance gate, and back down for the Race division. It was too bad to not have some BC to deal with, but was still an awesome time. I got my ass kicked, of course, but it's all good, and picked up some modest schwag at the raffle. Thanks for Martin Volken for working hard to make it a success. Maybe next year stats will be kept on how many folks were on Rando vs Tele gear?<br>Good times.<br><br>Results posted at www.life-link.com/raceresults_alpental.htm

-DP

Thanks for the report and race results. I recognize the names of quite a few people with whom I've failed to keep up over the years. <br><br>Thanks also to Greg L, who posted photos and a report at www.turns-all-year.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB...splay;num=1078626893 . Maybe the day will come when I enter, claiming my rightful position at the far rear of the pack. <br><br>Enjoy,<br><br>Mark

I enjoyed this year's Rally too (although no schwag ???). I did the event 2 years ago as well and noticed that many more folks this time were on AT, particularly Dynafit. <br><br>I am guessing that 2 years ago over half the participants were tele and this time maybe a quarter, if that. I used a much lighter and more touring friendly set up this time. I am pretty certain my tele days will now be focused at the ski area - the new AT setup is just so much more efficient for climbing....