That felt better. Who knows why? With the new Suunto computer on board, my training is evolving significantly so it's impossible to know what made the difference. Hell, it's only two races. I could have just had a good day yesterday or a bad one at the Jackson race. No way to tell. I need more time and data to make any sense of it. On it goes…
I had never done the Bozeman race, the Bridger Bowl Skin to Win Randonee Rally. The name, itself, gives away it's history. Skimo races are not called "rallies" anymore but they were in the sport's early days. So, it was good to finally get over there and throw down. The course is known to be good, kind of annoying in places, and with real deal descents on some of Bridger's notorious terrain.
We had good, warmish weather for this year's edition. The recent thaw created some refrozen skin tracks that were occasionally challenging but the skiing was generally excellent. The steep couloirs were shaded and mostly chalky goodness. Perfect for 50 degrees steep on race gear. As you can tell from the map, the dominant feature of the area is the ridge line at the top and we saw all of it. In between those long traverses we did the usual yoyo-iing typical of ski resort skimo courses.
For a local race, we had a good turnout of talent with several top finishers from the Jackson race in attendance. Definitely not the depth of Nationals but good enough to be fast on the top end of the results. The course starts with a low angle groomer to a cat track that brought us to the top of the lifts which actually end at the base of the steepest terrain. Above is about 500 vertical of excellent 50 degree chutes accessed via booters from the tops of various lifts. The first skin took us to one of those.
From the gun an old school Le Mans start (hate those!) got us moving. I was second out of the line up which was nice. I was determined to watch the HRM (heart rate monitor) and try to keep things under control for a change. I pegged it at 168 bpm at the first rise and let up. A group of 4 guys eased out in front of me. I was having a good day and did not feel too labored at that pace. I wanted to stay with them but felt the "experiment" was worth pursuing. I slowed to 163 bpm and settled in to a comfortable pace. I was alone for the first 15 minutes or so and then another guy slowly came by. He got in front but did not get any gap as the slope steepened.
As we angled onto a machine road that would take us the final 300 vertical to the booter, I passed him again and got some distance. The switch backs allowed a look back to see if anyone else was threatening. Nope. Up the booter we went and transitioned to skinning again for 10 minutes out to the steepest, longest descent of the day. This is the one I had heard about. Usually an ice chute, it was glorious chalk on this day. I held my advantage at the transition.
Chris Kroger (L) and Luke Nelson (R) rip skins at Bridger BowlThe first part of the climb was another booter to a platform where skins went on. The track was steep and refrozen. I felt like I was slowing a bit. After getting above some cliffs the track flattened and I was glad to have fast skins here. Lots of gliding ensued and I pushed to maintain my HR at 161 bpm or so. I was holding my advantage but could see no one in front.
The next descent was less steep but equally good snow. The guy behind me seemed to be making up some time as he pulled in as I was leaving. That was a little troubling. This ascent was a bitch. It followed a side hill descent that lift skiers use to traverse this part of the mountain. You know what these things look like. I call them "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride". The little steep roll-overs that are a bit concerning going down are horrible going up! These were full-on side step, herringbone, grab-a-tree-and-pull, anything goes kind of thing. It was a little soul-crushing at times and I hoped the guy behind me was struggling too.
A look back from the top saw that he wasn't so much. He was closing. Shit! My output was still high but I did not feel like I was powering. Another fun descent, this one a little tricky through some trees with big moguls got us to the final climb before a long traverse out the ridge. The guy behind me pulled into the transition as I still had one skin to apply. For some reason, I already felt defeated and indicated to him that he just might catch me on this one. Even with this negative attitude, I kept the pressure on to the ridge. He kept pushing me and I only had 10 seconds on him at the top.
The ridge skinning was a completely different beast. It climbed but barely. It was more up and down over sketchy wind drifts that were tricky to take with skins on. There was even a hundred feet of descending at one point that we took with skins on, doing hip checks over the drifts. Not graceful but pretty efficient. The final ascent up to the transition had two skis-off boot sections which spiced it up a bit. I finally ventured a look back and saw no one close. No telling what was happening in his world back there but I was enjoying the space between us.
I ripped skins for the last time and savored a wide open bowl with good snow to the final groomer. There were two uphill skating sections before the finish which definitely tightened the glutes up. I was glad not to be pressured here. It would have been gruesome! I ended up 5th with a few minutes to spare. I have not seen the final results. Finishing order that I am aware of is:
Men's Pro Race
Brandon French, 1st
Cary Smith, 2nd
Chris Kroger, 3rd
Luke Nelson, 4th
Brian Harder, 5th
Nate Brown, 7th
Women's Pro Race
Amy Fulwyler, 1st
Niki Kimble, 2nd
Katie French, 3rd
I will post the HR data separately. Suffice it to say that I was happy with 5th. I overcame the little battle I had with self doubt and rallied at the end. The one thing I would change, once again, was to eat more. It was a two hour race and I ate about 500 calories. Not bad, more than most, but another 200-300 would have been better. I only brought one flask with 400 calories in it and should have had two. Eating is hard in these races since the pace is so constantly high but taking time to get the calories down should pay dividends later. I keep saying this! Next time. - Brian