Hoff's first Skimo race - so hard!
Skimo Race Report –
Last year I randomly met a top coach at a competitor to EN on the gondola at Stowe during Xmas week. Our 8 minute conversation was about gravel biking, but also moved to Skimo. Skimo stands for Ski Mountaineering. Read this current Article in Vermont Sports Magazine to learn all about it. During February break last year, I took some backcountry lessons with a guide learning how to use the various gear one needs to ski uphill.
Skis, skins (to allow you to walk uphill on your skis), tech bindings and alpine touring gear. Last year when scanning the results of a race near my house in Vermont, I spied the name of a local tri friend who is competitive in my AG group and has a similar fitness level to myself. Between he, Coach John (the lift guy) and Coach P’s interest in the sport, I’ve cobbled together fitness, skills and equipment to do my first race.
I am doing the NOS and have been struggling the last two weeks. I caught a bug a few days before xmas, managed to run back to back 40 mile weeks and hit the wall this week. Life, fatigue and the bug caught up with me. So I did minimal work this week, but did a strong Tour de Zwift race for an hour plus on Thursday night.
Vermont is a bit hurting for snow, despite having an awesome Snowvember, we’ve had three rain events since xmas and it’s starting to hurt. The event I chose was taking place at Magic Mountain. Never been there, have heard great things. It’s not one of the hoity toity mountains, it’s a skiers mountain, known as the “Mad River Glen of Southern VT.” MRG has a bumper sticker for years “Mad River Glen, ski it if you can…” The mountain did a great job of keeping enough open to hold a race on great snow.
Drove up from my house 30 minutes away at 8 am in the rain, again. Wasn’t expecting that, but the good news it was warm. Gathered in a side room of the base lodge with other racers(20ish participants which is a good showing), reconnected with my coach friend and with my neighborhood buddy. Most of the group was in their 30s & 40s, and did I say fit? After much discussion on what to wear in the rain, I opted for my skimo suit with goretex shell pants & top. Turned out to be too much.
We had a pre-race briefing, people went outside to warm up, and I immediately noticed what “race skis” look like and immediately felt like I brought my very good hybrid bike to an OLY tri. My only goal was to beat my friend as he hasn’t been training much, and I’ve been doing an OS!
The course entailed skinning up 1350’, transition, ski most of the way down, put skis on your backpack, open boots to walk mode, bootpack up 240’, convert back to ski mode, ski to start, repeat two more laps for total climbing of 4888’ for the day.
Got to the first transition and got passed by two people including my buddy in transition. “race skis” don’t have brakes on them, you don’t have to fiddle with a rear binding, and skins come off and on very quickly. I passed back one of the two on the next skin up and kept them behind me for the rest of the race, never caught my buddy.
Post race analysis: friend feels most of my issues are gear related & transition time related. I finished the race 14 minutes behind him. An hour behind the winner, the coach guy 43 yo (3x Kona) finished 4th, he also lives near Stowe and skins most every day of the week. Total time 2:19. HrTss – 174 AHR 149. I suspect being fatigued from a bug and hard work cost me a bit as well.
https://www.strava.com/activities/2057748531
My boots & skis probably weight 4-6lbs more than what anyone competitive was in. That said, on the ups, I was pushing an HR in the 150s. Survivable for me, But really couldn't think of doing something in the 160s., which I can’t really imagine maintaining for 30+ minutes of a uphill skin, but something to strive for. I am contemplating 1-2 more races this year. I am stupidly toying with a 24 hour race that takes place in February.
Bottom line, Skimo is one of THE best alternatives to biking on a trainer, it’s outdoors, it’s in the mountains, and it’s crazy hard, all things that appeal to me. Looking forward to some backcountry ski tours as well, not really racing, but definitely long hard days in some of the best places you can visit on 2 skis.
The race basically sums up like this -
30 mins threshold HR skinning
2 1/2 min ski
5 min threshold HR bootpacking
1 1/2 min ski
repeat above 2x
of course my rest breaks were longer than needed with my slow transitions..
Comments
Sounds fun. Congratulations!
Yeah Hoff- sounds super fun. great way to "mix it up"in the winter.
Seems like fun and a great workout. You still have another month or so till you need to just SBR so go for it.
Sounds pretty brutal, and while the HR shows rest on the descent , I doubt it feels like rest to the legs and body? Some nice hard work. Congrats.
@tim cronk -"I doubt it feels like rest to the legs and body" - Skimo skis and boots are made for going uphill, they suck going down. I was surprised that my HR wasn't higher because of nerves. Having never skied the course before and a thick fog, I opted to take it easy on the DH.
I have to tell you @scott dinhofer the last time you mentioned SKimo in the GroupMe I've been researching it since I'm moving to Montana. The have a nice race in BigSky. Im gonna have to look into it. Nice race report btw.
@Jeff Horn if you get into let me know, I am looking for someone who might want to do the Aspen Power of Four with me as a team in 2020 or 21, also, if you are talking about the Shredhorn, I'll buy the beerz!
check this out - https://www.themanual.com/outdoors/best-ski-mounaineering-races/
if you decide you want to do this, ping me and we can set up a call, I can save you a bunch of $ and help you avoid the same mistakes I made in first gear go around...
also make sure to check out the USSMA site. The big thing to find is a local weeknight series. Living in Westchester there is nothing for me, if I can get to stay in Vermont here and there next year, I may have options. if NOTHING else, get out on the mountain with your touring gear and just start doing it, there are locals that go up early most every day as I've found a group at Okemo..
@scott dinhofer Sounds like you need to buy better gear!!! I'm sure it's cheap. (and practice your transitions... Were you doing your nails or just eating a sandwich in Transition? 🤣
Awesome! A lot of the big time ultra runners do skimo in the off season. I'd love to try it but I'm the only person in the state of Utah who doesn't ski. :)
When I was at Snowmass early Dec, sometimes it seemed there were more people skiing up than going down. It's a Thing now, with weekly races there, etc. After my father died, I found he had amassed about 10 different pair of what we used to call "Cross-Country" skis, including what was probably the 1990 version of the stuff you need to get. He skied every day from his house in the winter, basically along the trails you know from Ragnar.
He never could interest me in that brutality, and I doubt you will either. I prefer to let gravity do the work for me on the snow...
Seriously, good on ya, mate, you may be onto something.
@John Withrow already done.FB is great for all gear, got probably the best pair of skomonskid, bindings and boots from a guy up the road from me in VT who also happens to be an ultra coach... now to practice.
@Al Truscott it is becoming a thing. I think after struggling for a while this sport is poised to take off in the next 5 years. Sadly the weekday night series only works if you live in a sk town.