North American Team Wins Inaugural Atomic Waymaker Race in Europe

Submitted by brackec on

North America should be proud, American Mark Smiley (husband of US Women's National Chamption Janelle Smiley) and Canadians Andrew McNab and Reiner Thoni won the inauguar Atomic Waymaker race.  Andrew and Reiner and experienced skimo races, but this was Mark's first European race.  Janelle said, "It was a great event to watch unfold. I was in the judges booth as the race took place. I could not understand everything (it was in German) that was said but I started to get the idea that our team was scoring a lot of points!! Very exciting!"

You can read about the race and their other adventures on their websites (linked above).  Here are some details of the race and photos (Thanks Janelle)

The inaugural Atomic Waymaker, the ultimate ski touring challenge, has proven a great success, despite the difficult weather conditions. The eight ambitious teams breathed life into a concept which is both inspiring and which celebrates the versatility of the sport.

When asked at the start about their goals in the Atomic Waymaker, the "United States of Canada" team answered with a mixture of emotion and irony: "To be able to say in 20 years that we took part in the very first, now globally successful, Atomic Waymaker." Now the three top athletes from the USA and Canada will be able to wrap up their story with a very satisfying punch line - because not only did they compete in the inaugural Atomic Waymaker, they also won it.

For more information about Atomic Waymaker visit www.atomicwaymaker.com

Red Bull Contentpool: https://www.redbullcontentpool.com/content/international/products/perm/1365277106954-1869225756

Waymaker video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiaUdPDCx0E&feature=youtu.be

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wasatch Powder Keg

Submitted by brackec on

The Wasatch Powder Keg has become one of the classic skimo races in the west. The 11th annual race will take place at Brighton Ski Resort on March 8, 9, and 10.  Racers must register by 8PM on Monday, February 25 in order to receive the 2013 technical race shirt.

The race was started in 2003 by Andrew McLean, Butch Adams, and Colleen Nipkow with support from Black Diamond (who remains one of the race’s supporters). The race was originally part of the Life Link race series that got skimo racing started in the US. For the first few years, the race started at Alta and finished at Brighton. In 2004 and 2005, the Powder Keg was a World Cup race. To this day, the Powder Keg is the only race in North America to ever be on the World Cup circuit. The race eventually went away from the point to point format as people got so fast that the race organizers could barely drive from Alta to Brighton before the first racers finished. For the next several years the race both started and finished at Alta. In 2009, the race was taken over by Chad Brackelsberg, Emily Brackelsberg, Mark Christopherson, and Gambrelli Layco. In 2010, the race was moved to Brighton where it remains today. In 2012, a sprint relay race was also added which provided a fun, fast, crowd friendly event after the regular race. In 2013, the Powder Keg became the first 3 day race in North America featuring a Friday Sprint Race, Saturday Individual Race, and Sunday Technical Teams Race.

The sprint race will be a similar format to the European sprint races with a qualifying time trial format (1 racer at a time) followed by semi finals and final rounds that are ski cross style (6-8 racers at a time).

Saturday's race will be part of the traditional Powder Keg course with some areas following new routes that will continue to take advantage of the great Brighton backcountry access. Here is a detailed description of the course.

Sunday's Team race will be longer, harder, and more technical than the Saturday race. We are planning a course with around 8,500' of climbing with 3 booters (1 will be roped). The Powder Keg is excited to have a technical teams race and hopes that with the option of racing 3 days for over 15,000' of climbing the race will draw in a larger crowd than previous years.

As in the past, the Powder Keg will have great prizes, a huge raffle, and a BBQ after the race. New for 2013, the Saturday Male and Female Race Division winners will split a $1,700 cash prize purse! All other divisions for all 3 days will have 1st, 2nd, 3rd place purses of a combined ~$750 plus there will be an overall triple crown male and female winner.

Course details

Sprint

  • 1 climb of ~300' that will include kick turn, a booter, GS gate descent, and a skate finish

Inidividual

  • Race and Heavy Metal Divisions
    • 5 climbs
    • 2 booters
    • ~6,100' ascent
    • ~10 miles
  • Recreation Division
    • 3 climbs
    • ~3,500' ascent
    • ~6 miles

Technical Teams

  • 7-8 climbs
  • 2 standard booters
  • 1 roped booter required harness, ascender, via ferrata, and possibly crampons
  • ~8,500' ascent
  • ~15 miles

For full race details, the weekend schedule, and registration, visit the Powder Keg website at www.wasatchpowderkeg.com.

World Championships - Relay Race - Final Day

Submitted by brackec on

Friday was the Teams Race.  Short, report, but the US had a men's and women's team who both had good days.  I have included links to the overall results below.

Final Team Results 

Final US Placements 

Kim on the relay transition

Meredith booting

Men's relay leaders

Scott

Final Team Photos

The Spanish Team partying at closin ceremonies

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