April 22, Spearhead Passage Randonne Race
4/15/06
2723
1
I participated in the first annual The North Face Spearhead Passage which was part of the wildly amusing and entertaining Whistler World Backcountry Freeride Jam. In short the Backcountry Freeride Jam was a small and rather intimate part of the World Ski and Snowboard Festival. Features included much Schwag, Tele and AT demo gear, raffles benefiting the Alpine Club of Canada and the Canadian Avalanche Association, both stunning groups, one for huts, the other for education/information. The Festival itself was a little rough around the edges, but in light of the fact that it came together in little time (some said about 3 weeks) it was pretty damn good¦. so what if it was not run like a Swiss watch. Next year, Im sure they will have it dialed in terms of organization, but it was fun to see it in its unpolished and very personal form.
The name Whistler World Backcountry Freeride Jam was itself a little funny. Whistler was true, but it was not a World event, not even close, hardly regional to be honest, but oh well. Backcountry was about half true, since with the exception of a couple of tours (I think anyway) and the long race (Spearhead Passage) most of the events occurred inbounds. There was little related to Freeride as has been defined these days. The exact definition of a Jam is not clear to me (am I too old at 30 years to understand such things?), it was not strawberry jam and String Cheese Incident was thankfully not present, or at least not playing or Jamming. However this strange collection of words did not hamper the good times.
Onto the Randonee races. They had two courses, one inbounds, which was 10 km and was called both the Rec Course and the Whistler Dash, it started at the Roundhouse, went thru the top of the T-bar, up to the top of Harmony and then to the top of Flute, down Flute Shoulder and back to the T-bar or something like that. I did the longer course Spearhead Passage, which also started at the Roundhouse, went thru the top of the T-bar, to the top of Harmony, out the backcountry gate, to the top of Flute, (the shorter course splits here) down the back of Flute, up Oboe, down to Singing Pass, up Cowboy Ridge, past Rampart Lake, up the Whirlwind Moraine, and to the very summit of Whirlwind via fixed rope. It then retraces itself to the summit of Flute, down Flute shoulder, back to the gate, up to the Saddle (via Burnt Stew), down to the bottom of the T-bar and back to the Roundhouse. Although part of the Spearhead traverse, it was never close to Spearhead, which is on the Blackcomb side of the valley, go figure? I think Whirlwind has a better ring to it anyway, and it was the turnaround point.
Strangely both races started at the same time, with the skis about 50 feet from the mass of humanity that owned the skis. The long course people in front of the shorter course people. Had it been really competitive it could have been ugly, however, it was pretty casual for most folks. I strolled over leisurely and clipped into my skis.
Everyone went up the hill in mostly 2 lines. The track was set the whole way (by the rules and regs I guess), which was nice. The short race had its one character, a European guy in Skate ski boots and fishscale skis in a Pink one piece ski, not Randonee Race outfit, complete with Porno moustache. He herringboned around everyone else, HAHAHA! The long course had a character as well, with a full beard on half of his face, 70s disco ski pants, some fuzzy scarf made of Buffalo fur or something, crazy strong as well.
At the top of Harmony all took off their skins and skied down to the backcountry gate, I made the mistake of putting on my skins before the gate, since when I was there previously it was ungroomed and in a whiteout, making me think it was uphill instead of downhill¦ duh! Was not a huge problem anyway. Then off to the top of Flute, and the skins stayed on despite the descent down the Musical Bumps. At about the bottom of Oboe I realized that I was basically dead last, at least I could not see anyone else behind me, which was not where I wanted to be despite proclaiming loudly that I was just in it for the tour and not for the competition. I chumped it down to Singing Pass with my skins on having passed one person. The rest of the way was a slog, slowly passing a couple other folks. By the time I had reached the Moraine, the two leader whizzed passed me going the other way, having already tagged the summit a couple thousand feet above me. They were less than two minutes apart.
Most all of the route was really well wanded, with big flags or Bamboo with orange disks on them as markers, then at about 6 different spots, they had tents with people in them taking down your bib number. I lumbered up the hill, past the back side of Fissile and up to the summit of Whirlwind, cheering on those in front of me who were going the other direction, carving up the virgin powder. Once I got to the top of Whirlwind, I took off my skis, and climbed the knotted rope hand over hand to the summit. To my amusement, they had a tent (all marker tents were North Face VE 25s or whatever they are called these days) pitched and dug into the very summit. I descended, shed my skins and took off the one really good downhill run of the course. Sadly, my legs were too shot to really enjoy it (a little too much inbounds skiing at Whistler and Blackcomb, having not taken a rest day after 7 days of solid skiing). I managed to pass one more person, but that was it for me. I did the run down Cowboy ridge, which was ok. Then the slog back up to Flute seemed a little long. By the time I was at the bottom of Flute Shoulder, there was a clump of 4 ahead of me about 7-10 minutes. However, I was in no shape or mood to chase them. So I casually strolled to the top of the Saddle, enjoying the bewildered looks of the normal skiing public. The highlight of which was a brightly dressed Mexican Couple on Snowblades who were falling all over themselves. The man asked Why are you going back up? to which I smugly replied Why did you buy a lift ticket? we then stared at each other for what seemed like a rather long while. The Patroller manning the checkpoint loved that story as recounted it to him as I shed my skins for the trip down the Saddle which was pretty moguled by then. I chose to put the skins back on for the final uphill to the finish line.
I came in fourth to the last in a field of about 20. My time was 5:30 or there abouts, the winners were within 8 seconds of each other at about 3:28, with first and second being decided by the call to remove or not remove the skins at the saddle. I was still rather pleased, since 25 km and 7100 ft in 5:30 hours is still pretty proud, despite the fact that the field beat me.
The weather was really warm, the first day in a week that the alpine was above freezing. Skiing in the AM was soft and fun. By afternoon it was sticky and not as much fun. I was using the new G3 Targa Ascents, which make a world of difference. However, having seen the new BD O1s, I think they might work a bit better, both are set to make the world of Tele-Touring heaps easier, for me, I would say a 50% improvement in terms of efficiency. Thankfully, there were no racers in Lycra one piece race suits and F1 boots, so the Euros have not made it up yet, maybe next year.....
The name Whistler World Backcountry Freeride Jam was itself a little funny. Whistler was true, but it was not a World event, not even close, hardly regional to be honest, but oh well. Backcountry was about half true, since with the exception of a couple of tours (I think anyway) and the long race (Spearhead Passage) most of the events occurred inbounds. There was little related to Freeride as has been defined these days. The exact definition of a Jam is not clear to me (am I too old at 30 years to understand such things?), it was not strawberry jam and String Cheese Incident was thankfully not present, or at least not playing or Jamming. However this strange collection of words did not hamper the good times.
Onto the Randonee races. They had two courses, one inbounds, which was 10 km and was called both the Rec Course and the Whistler Dash, it started at the Roundhouse, went thru the top of the T-bar, up to the top of Harmony and then to the top of Flute, down Flute Shoulder and back to the T-bar or something like that. I did the longer course Spearhead Passage, which also started at the Roundhouse, went thru the top of the T-bar, to the top of Harmony, out the backcountry gate, to the top of Flute, (the shorter course splits here) down the back of Flute, up Oboe, down to Singing Pass, up Cowboy Ridge, past Rampart Lake, up the Whirlwind Moraine, and to the very summit of Whirlwind via fixed rope. It then retraces itself to the summit of Flute, down Flute shoulder, back to the gate, up to the Saddle (via Burnt Stew), down to the bottom of the T-bar and back to the Roundhouse. Although part of the Spearhead traverse, it was never close to Spearhead, which is on the Blackcomb side of the valley, go figure? I think Whirlwind has a better ring to it anyway, and it was the turnaround point.
Strangely both races started at the same time, with the skis about 50 feet from the mass of humanity that owned the skis. The long course people in front of the shorter course people. Had it been really competitive it could have been ugly, however, it was pretty casual for most folks. I strolled over leisurely and clipped into my skis.
Everyone went up the hill in mostly 2 lines. The track was set the whole way (by the rules and regs I guess), which was nice. The short race had its one character, a European guy in Skate ski boots and fishscale skis in a Pink one piece ski, not Randonee Race outfit, complete with Porno moustache. He herringboned around everyone else, HAHAHA! The long course had a character as well, with a full beard on half of his face, 70s disco ski pants, some fuzzy scarf made of Buffalo fur or something, crazy strong as well.
At the top of Harmony all took off their skins and skied down to the backcountry gate, I made the mistake of putting on my skins before the gate, since when I was there previously it was ungroomed and in a whiteout, making me think it was uphill instead of downhill¦ duh! Was not a huge problem anyway. Then off to the top of Flute, and the skins stayed on despite the descent down the Musical Bumps. At about the bottom of Oboe I realized that I was basically dead last, at least I could not see anyone else behind me, which was not where I wanted to be despite proclaiming loudly that I was just in it for the tour and not for the competition. I chumped it down to Singing Pass with my skins on having passed one person. The rest of the way was a slog, slowly passing a couple other folks. By the time I had reached the Moraine, the two leader whizzed passed me going the other way, having already tagged the summit a couple thousand feet above me. They were less than two minutes apart.
Most all of the route was really well wanded, with big flags or Bamboo with orange disks on them as markers, then at about 6 different spots, they had tents with people in them taking down your bib number. I lumbered up the hill, past the back side of Fissile and up to the summit of Whirlwind, cheering on those in front of me who were going the other direction, carving up the virgin powder. Once I got to the top of Whirlwind, I took off my skis, and climbed the knotted rope hand over hand to the summit. To my amusement, they had a tent (all marker tents were North Face VE 25s or whatever they are called these days) pitched and dug into the very summit. I descended, shed my skins and took off the one really good downhill run of the course. Sadly, my legs were too shot to really enjoy it (a little too much inbounds skiing at Whistler and Blackcomb, having not taken a rest day after 7 days of solid skiing). I managed to pass one more person, but that was it for me. I did the run down Cowboy ridge, which was ok. Then the slog back up to Flute seemed a little long. By the time I was at the bottom of Flute Shoulder, there was a clump of 4 ahead of me about 7-10 minutes. However, I was in no shape or mood to chase them. So I casually strolled to the top of the Saddle, enjoying the bewildered looks of the normal skiing public. The highlight of which was a brightly dressed Mexican Couple on Snowblades who were falling all over themselves. The man asked Why are you going back up? to which I smugly replied Why did you buy a lift ticket? we then stared at each other for what seemed like a rather long while. The Patroller manning the checkpoint loved that story as recounted it to him as I shed my skins for the trip down the Saddle which was pretty moguled by then. I chose to put the skins back on for the final uphill to the finish line.
I came in fourth to the last in a field of about 20. My time was 5:30 or there abouts, the winners were within 8 seconds of each other at about 3:28, with first and second being decided by the call to remove or not remove the skins at the saddle. I was still rather pleased, since 25 km and 7100 ft in 5:30 hours is still pretty proud, despite the fact that the field beat me.
The weather was really warm, the first day in a week that the alpine was above freezing. Skiing in the AM was soft and fun. By afternoon it was sticky and not as much fun. I was using the new G3 Targa Ascents, which make a world of difference. However, having seen the new BD O1s, I think they might work a bit better, both are set to make the world of Tele-Touring heaps easier, for me, I would say a 50% improvement in terms of efficiency. Thankfully, there were no racers in Lycra one piece race suits and F1 boots, so the Euros have not made it up yet, maybe next year.....
Wonderful report. 7100' in 5 + hours is great. ;)
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