Another U.S. Ski Team To Root For!
March 13th, 2009Posted in Skiing Everywhere
There are currently only twelve members on this team and they are all in Areches, France competing in the merciless four-day Pierra Menta randonee stage race which requires each two-person team to ski up and ski down more than 32,000 vertical feet. Think of racing up a mountain higher than Everest, on skis, starting from sea level.
Today was the second day, which required the teams to ski more than 17 miles, climb 9000 feet and still have leg strength to ski down 9000 feet. The fastest U.S. team, consisting of Pete Swenson and Cary Smith completed this leg in a little over 4 hours, which was fast enough to move them only into 44th place! Our two women’s teams are faring better. Monique Merrill and Sari Anderson are in 8th place while Nina Slitich and Lynsay Myer are just behind in 9th.
I love this sport and wish it was around when I was maybe 20 or 30. What’s not to like about a race that actually lets you ski powder down a huge mountain side when nature graces the course with fresh snow? Plus you can eat and drink along the way. Yeah, there’s all those hours of racing uphill compared to mere minutes going down…. that just means more time needs to be spent training in the backcountry, right?
Team captain Pete Swenson created the United States Ski Mountaineering Association to organize and sanction ski mountaineering (randonee) races in the U.S. to popularize the sport and nurture races and racers so the U.S. will eventually be able to field teams that will compete successfully against the European teams who dominate the sport. Thanks to Pete’s efforts there are now more than 25 races scheduled for this winter across the U.S.
The U.S. Ski Mountaineering Championships will be held in Jackson next Saturday, a race that will have about 6000′ of climbing. The top two finishers next Saturday will earn berths on the U.S. team which will compete in the International Ski Mountaineering Federation’s World Championships in Andorra next winter. Other U.S. team members will earn spots on the team going to Andorra by placing in the top three at Grand Targhee’s Ski Mountaineering Classic in January or by a top three result in the Heathen Challenge at Sunlight Mountain, also next January.
To follow this year’s team as it races in the Pierra Menta, check out team member Sari Anderson’s site website.
Want to give this exciting sport a try? Many races in the U.S. offer recreational divisions so skiers can get a taste of the sport without tackling the more arduous courses the pros compete on. Check out the USSMA’s race schedule to find a race near you.
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