A Great Race Day
January 9th, 2010Posted in Skiing in the Tetons
The third time was indeed a charm this year when Grand Targhee hosted its third edition of its Grand Targhee Ski Mountaineering Classic race. Fifty-seven racers showed up to race in bright sunshine- quite the change from the foggy and storming weather of the past two years when racers had difficulty finding their way up and down Fred’s Mountain and Peaked Peak. This year they only had to dodge avalanche debris zones. The calm, clear, sunny weather was also great for spectators watching the racers panting up the mountains and working hard to ski the stiff crud on the off-piste descents.
Because this race was a qualifier for the USSMA team heading for the world championships to be held in Andorra later this winter, the top three finishers who had not already qualified in the 2009 qualifying races became automatic selections to the USSMA team heading to Andorra.
Aside from families and friends, there were not many spectators aware of the talent racing at Grand Targhee today. How often does the public get to mingle with and ski beside racers preparing to compete in a world championship event? The best racers in the U.S. were charging up and down Targhee’s mountains today. Perhaps as this tough sport grows in popularity and more people become aware of the abilities of these athletes, its fan base will grow too.
Grand Targhee’s Director of Special Events, Andy Williams, and his crew did a great job creating two challenging race courses. The shorter recreational course, with approximately 3000 vertical feet of climbing, ascended the front face of Fred’s Mountain, ran down through Targhee’s chutes to the valley between Fred’s Mtn and Peaked Peaked, then up to Mary’s Nipple, down Fourth of July Bowl and out to the finish at the Targhee base area. The fasted men’s time was one hour twenty-four minutes and the fastest women’s time was one hour thirty-five minutes.
The longer full-on race course with approximately 5000 vertical feet of climbing diverged from the rec. courses route at the saddle between Mary’s Nipple and Peaked Peak. Where the rec. racers turned down hill to make their final descent to the base area, the competitive racers ascended Peaked Peak, skied down the south side of Peaked on the Broadway trail, then climbed back up to the top of Peaked via Colter’s Run and then dropped back down to the saddle between Peaked and Mary’s to rejoin the rec. course where it descended Fourth of July Bowl and returned to the finish at the Targhee base. The winning time for the men’s race division was one hour thirty-seven minutes. The fastest woman was done in one hour fifty-four minutes.
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