April 21, 2007, Spearhead Passage Backcountry race

I debated about posting this on the backcountry trip report page as it's more of a race report that took place in the backcountry; but maybe one or two may find it interesting, or at least pretty absurd.

Saturday marked the 2nd annual Spearhead Passage backcountry ski race up at Whistler. Starting at the Roundhouse Lodge, the 27km alpine course traversed over to Symphony Bowl, past Flute, down Oboe to Singing Pass and then climbed to the top of Whirlwind Peak, (just past Fissile), at which point racers turned around and retraced the course with a ski down Flute, skin up to the Whistler T-bar and back to the Roundhouse.

Always a bit curious about rando racing, I believed this would be a perfect way to get my feet wet. My feet are now very sore. At the starting line I realized I was a bit out my league; kind of like showing up to a road race on a mountain bike with slicks. Not surprisingly, of the 28 racers I was one of maybe three or four on tele gear. The majority were here to kick some serious vertical butt, with AT setups that could not have weighed more than a couple pounds...boots, skis, bindings and all. And because the event organizers are trying to make this an international event, we were graced with some of the fastest rando racers in the world. Hailing from Spain and Slovakia with names like Kilian Jornet Burgada and Mireia Miro Varelathese, these mutants (I mean that in a good, athletic way of course) were clad in skin suits and packs so small I found it hard to believe they could fit all the mandatory gear.

We were very fortunate with the weather: partly cloudy skies in the morning and high clouds in the afternoon couldn't hide the stunning views of the coast range. Cool temps and fast snow were recipes for a pretty perfect day of racing.

At 8:30 the gun sounded and off we went...running...with skis on. Initially I wasn't sure what to do as I typically don't run in my tele gear. But being a bit competitive myself I decided to give it a try as I was here to race afterall. My heart rate spiked...to fast. It didn't take long for the pack to string out, nor for the mutants to disappear into the distance.

It took me about an hour to reach Singing Pass. The snow was basically frozen crust the entire way; great for racing, bad for skiing. I quickly realized that fat skis really suck when skinning downhill. I was passed by a couple guys on skinny skis but told myself I would catch them on the long uphill to Whirlwind...not. I reached Whirlwind in two hours, pretty much exhausted but retaining what I thought was maybe a top-10 position. The hardest part of race was climbing the rope-assisted, vertical wall of Whirlwind,  a point in the race in which you're completed worked over but have to kick step and focus on holding the rope. Otherwise you'll tumble what felt like a hundred feet but was more like ten.

Oh, I forgot to mention the top-three were up and heading back from Whirlwind in under a hour and half. Yes, mutants.

SNOW REPORT: the first 500 ft of skiing from Whirlwind consisted of maybe 6 inches of very nice powder. Thoughts of taking a quick detour over to the Banana Chute on Fissile crossed my mind more than once.

Onwards...

By the time I began climbing back out of Singing Pass I was really pretty damn tired. But again, this was a race and fortunately there was another guy maybe one minute behind me who forced me to just keep chugging along. A couple double-shot caffeinated Clif Shots and a lot of mindless yapping with myself was all I could do to keep going and going despite the very obvious signs I was beginning to bonk.

But all good things must come to an end as I crested that last hill, that tingling sensation you feel only after pushing yourself beyond what you thought was previously possible, swept through my body. My feet were thrashed, it felt like a hundred degrees out, I was hungry and thirsty,  I had just raced through some utterly spectacular terrain I should have been skiing on, but I was completely content. It was time for a beer.

My time of 3:30 was enough for 10th place. The winners completed the course in an amazing 2:26 or something. The top woman, who was also from Spain, finished in 3:19 I believe.

Obviously not everyone is into such events, but I'm a firm believer that competitive sports are good for the mind and body. Obviously you don't need to race to test your limits, but rarely will you find yourself on the edge both mentally and physically...

Ian