March 15th Update - How hard is this race?

Submitted by admin on Mon, 03/15/2010 - 16:48

We've received a number of emails concerning the time cut-off and the difficulty of the course. Think of the time cut-off as your friend - when it's 2:30 you get to ski DOWN (no more UP) to dinner and a beverage (or three). The 2:30 cut-off gives teams seven and a half hours to skin and ski. Remember 80% of this race is above 10,000 ft., so people will begin to slow and tire much sooner than at 5,500ft. Seven and half hours is enough. Also, the ski patrol has to close the hill and our volunteers want to go to the banquet as well.

A big factor in reaching the final Peak 7 climb by 2:30 is the weight of your equipment. If you're on heavier bc gear (tele or alpine) enjoy the down and keep it steady on the up; don't worry about making it to Peak 7 by 2:30, you'll have seven and half hours of great touring. Teams are free to call it a day and head for the finish at any point in the course. All that is required is for teams to advise the nearest transition of your leaving the course and GOING TO THE FINISH LINE (using chairs is ok if needed) to report to the finish timers.

None of the skiing is particularly steep. The difficulty is tired legs and variable backcountry ski conditions. Odds are we'll have very firm snow on Peaks 10 and 9, going to corn on 8 and 7.