Feb 23-25 Kootenay Coldsmoke Rando Rally
2/15/07
2246
1
(Yeah, I know its a bit long¦ slow day at the fire station)
Randonee racer Cary Smith won the prize for longest road trip to the Powder Fest in Nelson, B.C., driving all the way up from Jackson Hole. He then showed why hes a member of the U.S. Ski Mountaineering Team, by winning all the rest of the weekends prizes.
Cary met me in Spokane Friday morning and we car-pooled up to British Columbia, arriving at Whitewater Resort in time to ski part of the Rando Race course. After skinning to the top of the first climb, we snaked down through the trees on the South side of White Queen making knee deep powder turns. The perfectly gladed run was a promising start to the weekend. Just as the trees closed in too tight, a gap would give way to yet another untracked snowfield. If youve never skied the Kootenays famously dry powder, this is the year to do it. The locals tell of a season of endless powder days, at a time when most of the U.S. is dealing with low snow pack and scary avy conditions.
While a crowd packed the sold out Capitol Theatre that night for slide shows by Andrew McLean, Martin Volken and Meagan Carney; Cary and I opted for an early return to our room for pre-race prep. For me this usually entails 20 minutes of packing my race bag and laying out clothes, followed by two hours of pointlessly fussing with gear instead of getting the sleep I really need. I went to bed with a bad case of pre-race jitters, worrying too much about the dudes that looked really fit at the Race Meeting, and the myriad ways I might screw up the race in the morning. What would race day be without a restless night of anticipation?
The next morning 34 AT and Tele skiers lined up for the start. Most of the racers were entered in the mens pro division. After a short dash up a groomed Nordic run, we were funneled into a single track up to the Ridge of White Queen Mountain. Thanks to Greg Hill and the R.O.A.M. crew for getting up early and setting a good skin track.
Cary pulled away to an early lead, while I settled in behind Canadian National Team member Andy Traslin. We were able to build a comfortable gap on the rest of the field, and were hard at work trying to keep Cary in sight. The long ridge to the summit seemed to go on endlessly, and we let up the pace slightly on the rolling, low angle track. As we reached the summit 2 racers came into sight behind us. Game on! We pushed hard down the ridge and back up a short climb, then transitioned quickly and dove down the steep, treed descent with the two racers breathing down our necks. As Andy and I transitioned for the third climb, a tall young redhead came charging out of the woods and immediately begin skinning uphill. #%@$!! Andrew McNab had gotten us with the infamous 'Kroger move- leaving his skins on for the descent- and he charged into 2nd place.
Tired legs led to a good tumble through the trees on the next descent, and I chased the two Andys down to the lodge, intent on making up the time I had lost. At the start of the last 1100 climb, they had a minute and a half gap on me and Traslin quickly powered ahead of McNab back into 2nd place. I put the hammer down and started to reel them in, passing McNab half way up the hill. I gave it everything I had on the steep upper section, but couldnt pull in Andy Traslin. The final descent was a fast groomer and I laid down exhilarating GS turns, happy to have won a spot on the podium.
Carey Smith took first place in 1:23, followed by Andy Traslin at 1:30, and me at 1:31. Next was Andrew McNab, another 2 minutes back. Now racers were coming in one or two every minute, bunched tightly in a hard fought race. I was really impressed with the speed of the pack. Lots of guys showed up on lightweight gear ready to give 'er. Fast times were also turned in by John from Bozeman, Andrew McLean, Aaron Chance and Mike Traslin, among others. The race was a Canadian National Team selection event, and it seemed like everybody raced like it mattered.
A big group of us met up for some post race touring, and enjoyed nice powder turns off the south side of a ridge west of White Queen. Later that night we returned to the lodge for a surprisingly good buffet dinner followed by slide shows, a movie, live music and various shwag giveaway shenanigans. The high points for me were Greg Hills breathtaking photos from a 13 day traverse of the Bugaboos, and an amazing multi-media presentation by Nils Larsen on the origins of skiing. Nils showed a fascinating montage of film and still photos of the hill tribes of the Altai Mountains in China. These folks still ski on seven foot boards hewn out of a log and cured in a fire.. and they rip! Yeah they were actually making turns down steep slopes and hucking their meat off small kickers. Then to top it off, a hundred or so native skiers raced a 15k Rando Rally on primitive gear in a celebration of their skiing heritage.
Sunday morning, a handful of us raced a fun, steep dash up a course of around 300 vert, and won some pretty good shwag at the cost of a short but intense lactic acid bath. I opened up a pretty good gap on the field from the start, but was chased down by the relentless Cary Smith, who won by seconds. Andy Traslin came in third.
Then it was off for more touring, this time into the Five Mile Basin with the Traslin brothers. We had some incredible runs through open bowls off the ridge, then perfectly spaced steep trees lower down. The air was filled with hoots and hollers as we reveled in the blower pow, then grumbles of discontent from me as I dragged a ridiculously heavy Fritschi/Armada rig back uphill. It sure is hard to tour on anything else once youre spoiled by Dynafits.
Big props to Mountain Gear and Arcteryx for putting on this event, and Whitewater for hosting. I didnt get to check out the clinics, but talked to some folks that were really psyched about getting to ski with Andrew McLean, Eric Pehota, Naheed Henderson, and Meagan Carney. Everybody seemed to be smiling ear to ear by the end of the weekend, and the positive vibe was contagious. Mark this one on your calendar for next year. You cant miss.
Scott Coldiron
Randonee racer Cary Smith won the prize for longest road trip to the Powder Fest in Nelson, B.C., driving all the way up from Jackson Hole. He then showed why hes a member of the U.S. Ski Mountaineering Team, by winning all the rest of the weekends prizes.
Cary met me in Spokane Friday morning and we car-pooled up to British Columbia, arriving at Whitewater Resort in time to ski part of the Rando Race course. After skinning to the top of the first climb, we snaked down through the trees on the South side of White Queen making knee deep powder turns. The perfectly gladed run was a promising start to the weekend. Just as the trees closed in too tight, a gap would give way to yet another untracked snowfield. If youve never skied the Kootenays famously dry powder, this is the year to do it. The locals tell of a season of endless powder days, at a time when most of the U.S. is dealing with low snow pack and scary avy conditions.
While a crowd packed the sold out Capitol Theatre that night for slide shows by Andrew McLean, Martin Volken and Meagan Carney; Cary and I opted for an early return to our room for pre-race prep. For me this usually entails 20 minutes of packing my race bag and laying out clothes, followed by two hours of pointlessly fussing with gear instead of getting the sleep I really need. I went to bed with a bad case of pre-race jitters, worrying too much about the dudes that looked really fit at the Race Meeting, and the myriad ways I might screw up the race in the morning. What would race day be without a restless night of anticipation?
The next morning 34 AT and Tele skiers lined up for the start. Most of the racers were entered in the mens pro division. After a short dash up a groomed Nordic run, we were funneled into a single track up to the Ridge of White Queen Mountain. Thanks to Greg Hill and the R.O.A.M. crew for getting up early and setting a good skin track.
Cary pulled away to an early lead, while I settled in behind Canadian National Team member Andy Traslin. We were able to build a comfortable gap on the rest of the field, and were hard at work trying to keep Cary in sight. The long ridge to the summit seemed to go on endlessly, and we let up the pace slightly on the rolling, low angle track. As we reached the summit 2 racers came into sight behind us. Game on! We pushed hard down the ridge and back up a short climb, then transitioned quickly and dove down the steep, treed descent with the two racers breathing down our necks. As Andy and I transitioned for the third climb, a tall young redhead came charging out of the woods and immediately begin skinning uphill. #%@$!! Andrew McNab had gotten us with the infamous 'Kroger move- leaving his skins on for the descent- and he charged into 2nd place.
Tired legs led to a good tumble through the trees on the next descent, and I chased the two Andys down to the lodge, intent on making up the time I had lost. At the start of the last 1100 climb, they had a minute and a half gap on me and Traslin quickly powered ahead of McNab back into 2nd place. I put the hammer down and started to reel them in, passing McNab half way up the hill. I gave it everything I had on the steep upper section, but couldnt pull in Andy Traslin. The final descent was a fast groomer and I laid down exhilarating GS turns, happy to have won a spot on the podium.
Carey Smith took first place in 1:23, followed by Andy Traslin at 1:30, and me at 1:31. Next was Andrew McNab, another 2 minutes back. Now racers were coming in one or two every minute, bunched tightly in a hard fought race. I was really impressed with the speed of the pack. Lots of guys showed up on lightweight gear ready to give 'er. Fast times were also turned in by John from Bozeman, Andrew McLean, Aaron Chance and Mike Traslin, among others. The race was a Canadian National Team selection event, and it seemed like everybody raced like it mattered.
A big group of us met up for some post race touring, and enjoyed nice powder turns off the south side of a ridge west of White Queen. Later that night we returned to the lodge for a surprisingly good buffet dinner followed by slide shows, a movie, live music and various shwag giveaway shenanigans. The high points for me were Greg Hills breathtaking photos from a 13 day traverse of the Bugaboos, and an amazing multi-media presentation by Nils Larsen on the origins of skiing. Nils showed a fascinating montage of film and still photos of the hill tribes of the Altai Mountains in China. These folks still ski on seven foot boards hewn out of a log and cured in a fire.. and they rip! Yeah they were actually making turns down steep slopes and hucking their meat off small kickers. Then to top it off, a hundred or so native skiers raced a 15k Rando Rally on primitive gear in a celebration of their skiing heritage.
Sunday morning, a handful of us raced a fun, steep dash up a course of around 300 vert, and won some pretty good shwag at the cost of a short but intense lactic acid bath. I opened up a pretty good gap on the field from the start, but was chased down by the relentless Cary Smith, who won by seconds. Andy Traslin came in third.
Then it was off for more touring, this time into the Five Mile Basin with the Traslin brothers. We had some incredible runs through open bowls off the ridge, then perfectly spaced steep trees lower down. The air was filled with hoots and hollers as we reveled in the blower pow, then grumbles of discontent from me as I dragged a ridiculously heavy Fritschi/Armada rig back uphill. It sure is hard to tour on anything else once youre spoiled by Dynafits.
Big props to Mountain Gear and Arcteryx for putting on this event, and Whitewater for hosting. I didnt get to check out the clinics, but talked to some folks that were really psyched about getting to ski with Andrew McLean, Eric Pehota, Naheed Henderson, and Meagan Carney. Everybody seemed to be smiling ear to ear by the end of the weekend, and the positive vibe was contagious. Mark this one on your calendar for next year. You cant miss.
Scott Coldiron
Serious congrats. To place on the podium with that group is amazing.
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