Moose Chase/30K Sufferfest/My First Nordic Race

Today I suffered through the classic Jackson Hole skate marathon. The race was great. I got an excellent workout and best of all, I managed to finish the race in a clean style. One of the coolest things about this race is running in to neighbors and friends from Wilson and Jackson like county building inspector Rob Watsabaugh and Carpenter/Nordic master Lars Moller.

Here are the race specifics pasted from the Jackson Hole Ski Club website:

This locals' favorite gives outdoor enthusiasts throughout the Inter- West the opportunity to race in our beautiful valley while raising funds to support young athletes. The event, held over President's Day Weekend, annually draws over 250 athletes of all ages and abilities. The event consists of a 30K Moose Chase, 15 K Half Moose Chase, 5K Mini Moose Chase, New this year- 3K Mini Moose Chase and for our youngest competitors, a 1/2 K Mini-est Moose Chase. More race information available here.


Date: February 18th, 2012
Time: 10am
Location: Trail Creek Nordic Center - Wilson, Wyoming

The course was very difficult with only a short few level/flat stretches. The majority of the course was either up-hill or downhill. The uphills were real lung burners and the downhills were in some cases downright terrifying. I am not much of a Nordic skier--this was my first time on skate skis this winter! I had a great time racing with Tim Cohn (formerly of Teton Mountaineering Staff Fame) ...turns out he is a closet Nordi skiier and strong!

I managed to do the first lap in 58 minutes, the second lap in 57 for a finishing time of 1:55.

I have no idea whether this is a good time or not but I was coughing after the race and my heart was ticking at race threshold for the whole two hour effort.

Edit: I've since learned that the winner of the race finished at 1:29 putting me off the back of some very fast Nordie racers by 23%. Good enough for me!! Ha...

I'm not convinced that skating is the best conditioning for skimo racing and I think in the future I will try to get more proficient with the classic technique. Gemma Arro Ribot was up for the classic race and she is very fast in the skimo races. I have had the opportunity to see her use perfect skimo technique in a few races and her stride is exactly that of a skilled classic skiier. 

A really fun racing atmosphere

Dave Gieck, ex badass biathlon athlete (US team...) was very kind to lend me a fast pair of Madshus skis, a pair of boots and poles too. I used some violet HF Swix wax (no Cera powder for me) and it was noticeably better than the wax of some of the people I was racing around. Big thanks to Dave.

Kind of a junky topo... a better one on the JHSC website.



Gemma Arro Ribot: Catalonian skimo race expert and sometimes classic racer.
Logic would dictate that someone who has trained with Killian Jornet would
have learned a great deal about proper up-hill racing technique...