Arapahoe Basin Ski Area this weekend will host a ski mountaineering racing event that will be the first of its kind for not only Summit County, but for the United States as well.<\/p>\n
Friday, Saturday and Sunday\u2019s events at A-Basin will serve as the U.S. Ski Mountaineering Association\u2019s official national-team qualifier for the International Ski Mountaineering Federation\u2019s March World Championships in Villars sur Ollons, Switzerland.<\/p>\n
The event will also serve as the federation\u2019s first-ever Pan American Cup series race while doubling as a U.S. National Cup series race.<\/p>\n
In total, more than 100 racers from across the U.S. and Canada are expected, said Summit County local Ram Mikulas, one of the event\u2019s lead organizers and the president of the U.S. Ski Mountaineering Association.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of just built up slowly with the opportunities we\u2019ve had working with the U.S. Ski Mountaineering Association and the ISMF,\u201d Mikulas said. \u201cWe\u2019re great partners with A-Basin. And the youth participation is expected to be the highest at any race there has ever been in the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n
The event will commence on Friday evening at 4:30 after A-Basin stops spinning its lifts for the day. A vertical race will begin with a women\u2019s start at 4:30 p.m. and a men\u2019s start 10 minutes after. The vertical race will require skimo racers to skin to ascend up about 1,600 feet of A-Basin\u2019s front-side terrain. Mikulas said he expects the top finishers to clock in at under 30 minutes.<\/p>\n
The top four American finishers in five different age divisions will earn the right to represent the U.S. in the vertical race in March in Switzerland. Racing divisions for both Friday\u2019s vertical competition and Saturday\u2019s individual competition include cadets (15-17), juniors (18-20), espoir (21-23), open (21+) and master\u2019s (45+).<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s individual race, scheduled to start at 7 a.m., will qualify the top two American finishers in both the male and female divisions to March\u2019s world championships, with the other two slots awarded at a Jan. 5-6 skimo event at Sunlight Ski Area near Glenwood Springs.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s individual long race course will require skiers to complete multiple ascents and descents across A-Basin\u2019s terrain that will total just under nine miles and around 4,500 vertical-feet of elevation gain. The individual race will also require racers to complete four boot-pack hikes off of their skis and a temporary via ferrata roped-climbing section near A-Basin\u2019s new Beavers terrain expansion.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re wearing a harness and have lanyards with a shock-absorption system in it,\u201d Mikulas said of the via ferrata portion. \u201cYou clip in your lanyards into the ropes to make sure if you were to take a spill or fall, you\u2019re protected.\u201d<\/p>\n
For members of the public looking for a less-strenuous race, there will also be an individual race 2,500-foot elevation gain short course.<\/p>\n
The individual race course will begin with an ascent from A-Basin\u2019s base area near Mountain Goat Plaza to the top of A-Basin\u2019s frontside terrain, near the Snow Plume Refuge. Racers will then descend to near the base of A-Basin\u2019s Lenawee Mountain Lift before skinning back up to the top of the front-side terrain.<\/p>\n
Boot-pack hikes near the ski area\u2019s West Wall and Pallavicini Lift will follow, before racers ski down the gut of the Pallavicini area. They will then traverse from the bottom of the Pallavicini Lift up the ski line connecting Pali to the lower portion of the Beavers territory. It\u2019s there where racers will complete the via ferrata portion at a spot just below the base of The Beavers Lift referred to as \u201cThe Bald Spot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe tried to make a course we think is representative of the world championships,\u201d said U.S. national team head coach and Breckenridge resident Joe Howdyshell.<\/p>\n
Then, on Sunday, there will be morning and afternoon International Ski Mountaineering Federation-sanctioned youth camps hosted by Howdyshell as well as U.S. national team athletes. The free camp is open to anyone under the age of 23 and will introduce young skiers to competitive ski mountaineering racing.<\/p>\n
All events are open to the public, though registration for both the individual and vertical races will close at 3:30 p.m. Friday.<\/p>\n
Summit County locals are expected to compete for top spots in both youth and adult divisions. Top Summit County athletes such as Sierra Anderson, Jaime Brede, Nikki LaRochelle and Kate Zander are prime contenders heading into the women\u2019s races.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe top of the women\u2019s field is getting more and more competitive, and is growing,\u201d Mikulas said. \u201cSo we are really excited about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
For racers competing in the cadet division, this weekend is a major race leading up to 2020\u2019s Winter Youth Olympic Games, which for the first time will feature skimo. Howdyshell said with Winter Youth Olympic inclusion, the popularity of the sport among youth has not only increased across the country, but in Summit County in particular. Howdyshell said his Summit Endurance Academy will have 17 youth competing this weekend, though he expected the total number of youth to be upward of 40 athletes. Last year, Summit Endurance Academy trained nine athletes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a super cool opportunity for Summit County in a sport that is growing a lot,\u201d Howdyshell said. \u201cTo kind of host a race and give back to the community a little bit and show that we can go fast.\u201d<\/p>\n
The weekend\u2019s events will be directed by Joe Risi\u2019s Cosmic Race Series while Jon Lowe of the Summit Skimo Club led the course design. The second Pan-American Cup race of the 2018-19 season will take place later this season in Lake Louise, Canada.<\/p>\n
For more information and to register, visit USSMA.org\/event.<\/p>\n