{"id":801879,"date":"2019-12-01T15:04:01","date_gmt":"2019-12-01T22:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/steamboat-howelsen-hill-to-host-new-ski-ascent-series-starting-dec-18\/"},"modified":"2019-12-01T15:04:01","modified_gmt":"2019-12-01T22:04:01","slug":"steamboat-howelsen-hill-to-host-new-ski-ascent-series-starting-dec-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/steamboat-howelsen-hill-to-host-new-ski-ascent-series-starting-dec-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Steamboat, Howelsen Hill to host new \u2018Ski Ascent Series\u2019 starting Dec. 18"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Averill Doering unbuckles her boots after a morning of skiing at the Steamboat Resort in 2018<\/strong>
John F. Russell \/ Steamboat Pilot & Today<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS \u2014 Skinning, ski mountaineering, uphill skiing \u2014 they\u2019re all essentially the same thing \u2014 skiing up, then down the mountain. And more people are catching on to its greatness.<\/p>\n

The Steamboat Springs Parks and Recreation Department is creating the Ski Ascent Series after being asked to help grow a grassroots ski mountaineering series created by locals. Think of it as a Town Challenge but on skis and in the winter.<\/p>\n

The series, which is open to uphill skiers ages 15 and older, will offer five races at Steamboat Resort and Howelsen Hill from Dec. 18 to March 26. A points system isn\u2019t solidified, but there will be one, just like the mountain bike Town Challenge series.<\/p>\n

The December and January races will be individual races, while the race at Howelsen Hill in February will be a circuit race. When the challenge returns to Steamboat Resort in March, there will be another individual race ahead of the season finale: a vertical challenge that is intended to end at Sunset Happy Hour.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re keeping it small, but obviously want to have that socializing aspect, too, to get people excited about coming out,\u201d said Emily Hines, special events coordinator for Steamboat Springs Parks and Recreation. \u201cIt\u2019s the time of year where you just want to hibernate. You go home after work, and it\u2019s cold and dark.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hines hopes post-race drawings and unofficial gatherings at Timber and Torch will encourage people to drive to the mountain, rather than their warm bed right after work. She\u2019s also hoping to arrange post-race food at the Howelsen race.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is gonna, very much be a trial year,\u201d Hines said. \u201cIt could end up being the same 20 people come out, and that\u2019s all it is. Then, we\u2019ll have to reevaluate next season.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an effort to attract skiers of all levels and ages, Hines will offer three divisions. The junior division is open to skiers ages 15 to 18. The sport category will feature a shorter route for less experienced skiers or for those who may not have the most lightweight gear. The race division will be for the competitive uphill skiers, like the ones who brought this all about in the first place.<\/p>\n

Since 2014, a growing group of dedicated skinners created a small independent series of races up and down Mount Werner. Among that group were Charlie MacArthur, Alex Pond, Bryan McGovern and Kyle Lawton.<\/p>\n

Over the years, they brainstormed how they could possibly grow their group. With Pond being an active participant in the mountain bike Town Challenge, he brought that to the group\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was kind of the model that we pegged to mimic,\u201d MacArthur said. \u201cWith Alex on board, he was like, \u2018Hey, I can talk to Emily and see if that\u2019s something they\u2019d be interested in.\u2019 He did, and they were, and Emily has been phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each participant of the series must follow Steamboat Resort\u2019s uphill guidelines.<\/p>\n

Patrons must sign the uphill access policy, either online or at the Welcome Center in Gondola Square. Upon completion of the form, skiers will receive a bright green armband that must be visible while they\u2019re on the mountain.<\/p>\n

During operating hours, people must adhere to the suggested routes. Uphill traffic isn\u2019t allowed on lighted night skiing trails and must obey all signs, just like the downhill skiers. Those skinning also must avoid all snowmaking equipment, so the resort suggests waiting until after the early season.<\/p>\n

This story is from SteamboatPilot.com<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Averill Doering unbuckles her boots after a morning of skiing at the Steamboat Resort in 2018John F. Russell \/ Steamboat Pilot & Today STEAMBOAT SPRINGS \u2014 Skinning, ski mountaineering, uphill skiing \u2014 they\u2019re all essentially the same thing \u2014 skiing up, then down the mountain. And more people are catching on to its greatness. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-801879","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-02 03:23:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801879\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}