Noel Oien

Most have already heard now, but a good friend Noel Oien was found dead after a climbing accident on Thursday in APNP. Here's a story that was in The Press for those who haven't read it.

Noel was really active with in the ski mountaineering race scene here in NZ and will be greatly missed!

Below are a few photos that I found of Noel last night. These are all of skiing. I know that skiing was just a small part of Noel's life, but it was the part that I was most involved in and one of the ways I will remember him the most.

Pre race, Temple 2007

Booting up Upper Leap In, Temple race 07

Noel on Lyell Peak with Avalanche Peak (right) and Rolleston (left), spring '07

Noel testing out a new "Speed Stance", Temple '08

Turoa race, '07. Despite the white out, Noel finished 3rd at this race!!

SCARPA CraigieBURNER

SCARPA CraigieBurner was held in great snow condtions this past Saturday. Its was the most competive race so far this winter. Full report and result scan be seen at http://www.craigieburner.blogspot.com/

Black Diamond Ohau Back Country Blast

The Back Country Blast took place this past weekend at Ohau Snow Fieild. Sunny skies and a good cover of snow made a nice change from last years white out and thin snow cover that was encountered.

It was great to see some new face's and thanks to Duncan for organising, the Southern Approach crew and Mike's team at Ohau for a great weekend.

The Start

A full race report and results can been seen at http://www.bdblast.blogspot.com/

Ohau This Weekend!!

The Oahu BD Blast ski mountaineering race is on this weekend and is shaping up to b ea good one!
Last year this race was the biggest competitors wise and is looking to be the same this year. Word on the street is there is quite the crew from the southern lakes heading up, the usual crew from the Canterbury area will no doubt be there and a team of young French ski mountaineer's just arrived in the country this past weekend!
Details at www.bdblast.blogspot.com
Look forward to seeing you there!

Rainbow this Weekend!

The Rainbow Randonnee Race is this weekend!

It should be a great event, Rainbow Ski Aera, in the Nelson Lakes, is a magic little spot. There is amazing ski touring from the ski area, so after the race prize giving at 1330 I am sure there will be a crew out touring.
The race is the 2nd race of the 2008 SkiMoNZ series and will be about 700-800m of vertical. Maybe more is we have good weather and lots of helpers to be on the course.

Hopefully we will see you this weekend, if not for the race, for the ski touring afterward!

Cheeseman Race Training Clinic 2nd August

Race training clinic taking place this weekend at Cheeseman. It will be a pretty casual affair, here's a rough time table-
0900-0930 meet up at the Cheeseman day lodge
0930-1000 Talk about the days plan and have a look at gear.
1030-1230 Work on transitions and techniques.
1230-1330 Lunch
1330-1530 Small tour, practicing what was learnt in am.
1630 Very short relay race. Teams of 2 or 3.

Bring all the stuff you normally would when ski touring. The relay race maybe in the dark, so make sure you remember a head touch!

If you want to stay at Snow Line Lodge DBB call to book- 03 318 8794 ex720

Hopefully we will get out for a ski tour on the Sunday also, but the whole weekend is weather dependent.

Looking forward to seeing here on Saturday.

Transtions

Noel and I went up to Temple Basin on Sunday and made these small transition videos.
Skins Off
Skins On

This will be the kind of thing we will cover at the Cheeseman race clinic this weekend. I hope we will see you there as every one (esp me!) can learn something new or how to improve on exciting skills.

Here's Noel working on a new, faster stride............

Speed Up-Post Race

After the Porters/Dynafit Speed Up Race yesterday Jane, Noel and I went for a ski out back of Porters, making the most of the great conditions currently in the Craigieburns.

Jane and I skinning above "Uli's Role"

Jane skiing the top of "Crystal Valley"

Noel and Jane skinning out of Crystal

Jane making turns on the western side of the Craigieburn Range.

All up we did about 1000m of vert.

Looking forward to seeing you all at Cheeseman this weekend for the Ski Mountaineering Race training clinic!

Men In Tights.......

I just came across this story on PisteHors.com and wanted to share it with the first race of the 2008 season only weeks away. Enjoy!

"It is a big thing in Europe. Rubbing embrocation on your legs, wearing a skimpy lycra suit and climbing up your local mountain to ski back down on gear so flimsy that you wouldn’t let your kids learn on it. It is the antithesis of freeride and now even snowboarders are getting in on the scene.
The concept. You race over mountain terrain using ski touring gear – either lightweight skis or snowboards and snowshoes. Checkpoints are established at key locations and you might even get a mug of tea and a piece of cake. It is not just brute uphill speed that separates the winners from also rans. In general the uphill is not that technical but you will need to make conversion turns on the fly. Efficiency is the key, competitors can fix and remove climbing skins and ski crampons without removing their skis.
Equipment is super lightweight. Trick Dynafit bindings (weighing just 700 grammes) are heavily modified to save a few more grammes. Dynafit has launched a featherweight Titanium version of their binding this year to respond to this specialized market. Boots and skis weigh in at the 2kg mark whereas a typical touring ski is more like 2.8kg (pair) and boots 3.5kg. Over 1500 meters of climbing you might make 9000 steps, saving the equivalent of lifting 25 tonnes! The flipside is limited downhill performance. Although events are usually staged close to ski resorts for logistical reasons most of the course will be off piste and the flimsy equipment might have to cope with windpack, crust, crud and powder. A 1500 meter course will be covered in less than two hours with climbing speeds in excess of 1000 meters per hour. Something to aspire to on your next tour.
Apart from the obvious competitors will carry the usual avalanche safety gear of beacon, shovel and probe although organizers will do their utmost to ensure the course is safe. Helmets and sometimes crampons are required."

Early Morning Training

Been getting out skinning the last few mornings and evenings at Cheeseman, making the most of the great snow cover and conditions!
Check out the valley floor, that's Flock Hill covered in snow.

Been a while since we've updated the SkiMoNZ blog, so here's the latest-

-SkiMoNZ.com- Our flash new web site is now up and running, check it out- http://www.skimonz.com/
-Ski Mountaineering New Zealand Inc! Yeah, we're just like a real club now and your invited to join. To be honest, we're still working out the details, but if you are keen to join or want to help out fire us a e-mail at nzinfo@skimo.org
-Rainbow Rando Race 9th August. Open male and female divisions, around 700m vertical climbing and series points are up for grabs- rainbowrando.blogspot.com
- Taranaki Rando Race 16th August. Open male and female divisions, around 700m vertical climbing and series points are up for grabs- nakirando.blogspot.com
-Porters/Dynafit Speed Up. Details are online for the first race of the 2008 SkiMoNZ race series. portersspeedup.blogspot.com
-Amazing early season conditions!

Cheeseman 3rd July, fresh tracks all day!

First tracks for 2008 experience on coronet peak

Just got the following from Gary who manged to get some turns in this past weekend. Good to hear Gary wasn't the only one out. Sounds like at least one other person in the Southern lakes is training for the SkiMoNZ series.

"Following the recent dump from the southerly blast that hit the whole of NZ, looking up towards Coronet Peak from Queenstown on Friday afternoon, you could see there was a good covering of snow on the trails. Fortunately for us the field had tested the snow canons on the days leading up to the snow fall and a good base had formed in a matter of days.
Dragging all me gear out of the various hiding spots in my house, I finally got myself in shape for heading up the hill. It was a beautiful blue bird day and on arriving at the field carpark I was welcomed with views of kids and adults alike having a good time on the new snow. I quickly donned my F1's, clicked into my Dynafit bindings and started skinning up a 4 wheel drive track to access one of the main runs. This was easier said than done as there was a little negotiation required to get around the building site, which is to be the Main Station of Coronet Peak. You'll be pleased to hear it has a roof.
The snow was light and travel easy, as it turned out I wasn't the first to skin up and I followed freshly made tracks, noting areas of poor cover on the way up. The snow depth ranged from 25cm to 10cm in places, but looked skiable. At the top, the skins were ripped off, jacket put on, I savoured the view for a few minutes, but I was keen to get sliding, so quickly got going. The skiing where there was enough snow was good...., I would love to say "pow pow", but don't want to exaggerate the first sliding experience of the year. The snow conditions improved as I made my way down the hill and some good turns were had in 25 cm of new snow. I quick traverse above the 'building site' took me to the 4 wheel drive access track and I was able to ski to within 30 metres of my car. A good result.
It was great to get back on my ski's and I am looking forward to the season starting for real. Just got the Routeburn Challenge to get through this weekend.
Sorry I have no pictures of the adventure, but will make sure I bring the camera next time."

Got a early season story to tell? Send it in-nzinfo@skimo.org

More Spring Skiing

Back in NZ now and along with a few other super motivated folks, we're starting to put together this coming winters SkiMoNZ race series. I wanted to do a small post on my last ski before returning from France.
I meet up with Pierre, Eric and Manu around 0730, hoping to beat the heat. We started on the southern end of the Belledonnee and climber to the col du loup and then went up to the summit "l'antecime de la Grande Lance de domene". Eric near the top of l'antecime de la Grande Lance de domene

Then we climbed to la grande Lauziere

Manu harvesting some very nice Belledonne corn

l'antecime de la Grande Lance de domene and la grande Lauziere. Photo taken from summit Le Grand Colon.

Manu skis some steeps off the SE side of Le Grand Colon

All up about a 2300m vert day. Big thanks to Eric, Pierre and Manu for a great day skiing and to all those in France that made for a very memorable winter.

Spring Skiing

In my earlier post post I asked for people to write in with their favorite thing about ski mountaineering races. I got the ball rolling with the cow bells and how much I enjoy them during a race.

The other thing that I really enjoy about racing is how fit you are come spring time, which is perfect for cranking out big days of corn skiing in the sun! Before leaving for NZ tomorrow morning I managed 2 such trips.
On Friday I meet up with my racing partner Thomas and his mate, also Thomas. I couldn't remember all the name's of were we went or what we skied so Thomas sent me this

"We started at Prabert (1250M), climbed "couloir W du Pas du Pin" (2203m), skied "couloir E du Pas du Pin" (Start 45°, then 40° on 200m), crossed south-north the "Pic de la Belle Etoile" (2718m), climb pass of the "Vouterey" (2529m) and "Dent du Pra" (2623m) and come back by the "Combe du Venetier". "

All up about a 1900m morning. We were back for lunch and Thomas worked in the afternoon.

I remember my camera for once, but forgot to charge the batteries. Luckily a another group was behind us and snapped some shotsCouloir W du Pas du Pin

Couloir E du Pas du Pin with Thomas and my tracks
2718m peak Pic de la Belle Etoile and pass of the Vouterey (2529m) to the left.

Hopefully in the next day or so I will get a chance to post the 2300m trip I did the next day with some other French friends.

Times are a changing...........

So things are coming to an end here in France for the small kiwi ski mountaineering race team, as we will be heading home in the next week or so. The end of winter here means the New Zealand winter is near and before long the first race of the 2008 SkiMoNZ race series will be underway.
Things here on the SkiMoNZ blog will be changing up a little, with the blog going from "NZ ski mo team's updates" to "SkiMoNZ race series updates".
I'll try doing a few posts and updates on the per season events like when we confirm race dates and venues and maybe even some pre season training.
If you want to share your favorite thing about ski mountaineering racing please contact me and I can publish it here. Maybe you want to tell all the nice people why you are so excited to race this winter in NZ, maybe its some pre season training to help us all get motivated, or even just a ski touring/ski mountaineering trip you did (lots of photos please!).
E-mail your story/ideas to: nzinfo at skimo.org

I'll get things started with one of my favorite things about a ski mountaineering race, in Europe anyway. No, not the skin tight suits that every wears-Cow Bells! These things are great! Nothing lifts you like the sound of cow bells banging away as you are tired and are in need of a boost. What really impresses me is the size of the cow bells and the fact that people actually skin/ski around with them! Check out the photo below of Thomas and I at the Pierra Menta. Those bells are bigger than the guys head!

Thanks to Eric for the photos.

Fresh Tracks.......

I went up to Chamrousse yesterday and skied during the storm. It was pretty fun, its been ages since I have been out skiing when its dumping snow and after racing around last weekend with 300 other people it was nice to ski by myself. I stayed close to the ski area and skied lower angled slopes since I was by myself. I could still see tracks from the day before as it had only snow about 10-15cm.

Today we woke to blue skies so were out the door early for some more freshies. It snow all yesterday afternoon and those same slopes I skied yesterday were completely fulled in. We climber fast knowing that once the lifts of Chamrousse open skiers would be going out of bounds almost immediately to ski these lines.
Below is the proof we managed to beat the life lines.....



Pretty funny skiing shin deep powder on full race gear, Jane's skis are only 150cm long and 60mm under foot! The snow was super light and fluffy, so not difficult skiing.
After 2 laps on the easy to get to terrain we followed the "high way" out to one of the smaller peaks (over 2000m and I should know the name of it by now!) and managed to find some more great skiing on the way back to the car. We climbed about 1200m, which after last Saturday were the first climb of the Pierra Menta was 1200m, felt surprisingly easy.

Pierra Menta Photos

I told you the course was impressive! The above and below photos are from the 3rd day on the final climb, before the summit of the Grand Mount.

Not sure what day the above photo is from, but I am pretty sure is during the 3rd climb on the 2nd day. I believe that's Mt Blanc in the back ground with the cloud over the summit.

Like I said, 100's of (maybe over 1000!)spectators wait at the top of the Grand Mount, all going crazy!

The above 4 photos are from Jocelyn Chavy. There are more excellent photos by Jocelyn at alternativemedia.fr check them out if you have a chance!

Jane took this shot of me (and about 300 other racers!)not long after the start of the 3rd day, just after I was knocked down from a fellow racers pole catching the tip of my ski. Pretty common to see people taking a fall, breaking a pole or losing a skin with in the first 200m or so of the bigger races.

American racer Lyndsay Meyer wrote a good race report that's on Steve Romes blog TeteonAT, its worth a read to get a different take on things.

Pierra Menta 2008

The first thing I have to say about the Pierra Menta is thank god its over!

The second is I can't wait to do it again!
It was gruelling, a lot harder than both Jane and I expected, not that we ever thought it was going to be easy. I will try to recap each day as best I can, but there were times I was hurting so much, I think they have been erased from my memory.......

We arrived in Areches-Beaufort on Wednesday and were greeted with heavy rain! We checked our gear, attended the pre race meeting and moved into the house that was to be home for the next 4 days. It was pretty nice, with plenty of room for Thomas, Fabian, Jane and I. It over looked the start/finish area and was a stones throw away from Florent Pierra's home.

The view from our place, with the start and finish area in the valley floor

On the 1st day Thomas and I finished in 40th place, which wasn't bad out of the 164 teams. It was about a 2500m day. The 2nd ski was on rock hard, rain runnels, corrugated iron, which zapped all the strength out of my legs, but it wasn't until the 3rd ski were I really felt it. On the final climb the sun was out and it was really heating up, which just crushed me.

Jane and Fabian were happy with there race and finished 13th out of 21 women's teams.

The 2nd day was the biggest, about 2900meters of vertical! It was also really long, with a lot of flat ridge travel and long flat skinning sections. It also included a crazy down climb in the forest were there wasn't enough snow and a long skating section. It was really hot this day and a lot of teams had a tough day, like the Austrian/Swiss team that was 7th on the 1st day and blew up and finished 37th on the 2nd day! I was having a hard time as well, but Thomas was going strong. Surprisingly we passed a few teams on the skate and Thomas when out hard on the final climb, which was up a steep slope that had something like 80 kick turns on it! There was only 1 track broken so we were luck to have had a good position on this climb. The end was really flat and just went on and on, and the sun was at full blast. I was putting snow down my chest, back and under my helmet trying to cool off. I had also run out of water, so didn't think twice when I seen a friend with a big bottle of water. It was a hard day, but we were really happy when we found out we finished in 30th! This put us 37th over all.

Jane and Fabian were having a pretty rough day. At the top of one of the many boot pack sections on the long ridge Fabian lost her ski! It went flying off the ridge, but they were luck that a spectator when looking for it. It did take a good 30mins for the nice fellow to retrieve the ski, by which time Jane had gotten cold and found it hard to get going again. In the end they missed the cut off by about 5mins, which sadly meant there Pierra Menta was over.

The 3rd day was the famous Grand Mount day. Its amazing! the course is very impressive, with a huge climb up a arete that tops out on the Grand Mount, were a 100's of spectators are waiting for you, all going crazy! The noise on the Grand Mount is like nothing I have heard before, so many people, cow bells and horns in such a small place. The really impressive thing is that these people have all hike well over an hour to get to the top of the Grand Mount, some with BBQs! Most of the course this day is lined with people, but they were enough to pull me out of my slump, especially after I took a fall about 200m in to the race and landed really hard on the side of my butt. I was having cramping issues with my legs as it was, so this added to it. The 1st climb was 1200m. I don't think we have had a race in NZ that totals 1200m! On the final skin before the arete Thomas towed me which helped a great deal. In the end we finished 45th for the day and we in 40th over all.

Me on the 3rd day, thanks to Samuel for the photo!!

Getting out of bed for the final day was a struggle, but a later start, new snow and a shorted day all helped. Standing on the start line I wasn't really sure how long the race was as they had changed the course because of new snow, so I was pretty happy to find out at the bottom of the 2nd climb that it would be the last. I actually felt half good and when out hard on this climb, but it end the same as the rest and by the end I was cramping and moving slow. We finished the day in about 36th and that gave us a 39th position over all, not bad for our first Pierra Menta.

I hope to get some more photos up in the next few days. There are reports on skimo.org and results can be veiwed here.

La Croix de Chamrousse

I did the La Croix de Chamrousse today (Jane sat this one out). This was the 3rd and final race in the G3M series. Going into the race I was 3rd in the series and Jane 2nd. With the Pierra Menta starting on Thursday a lot of people gave this race a miss, but not the guy that was in 2nd place nor former Pierra Menta winner Pierre Gignoux.
The race started out with a short climb (not short by NZ standards....) before a short ski and then a long rolling skin in the trees. By the top of this 2nd climb Pierre was way out in front, leaving the rest of us to fight for the scraps. I was in 4 at this stage and feeling OK. The last part of the 3rd climb was booting along a ridge that was really fun. A flat ski to a col (were Jane cheered me on) and a short ski where I arrived before the 3rd place guy had left - still in the hunt! The next climb was up a steep slope with lots of kick turns and then we put on crampons at the summit to downclimb! Was kind of strange to downclimb, but snow was thin and it was pretty icy. I actually enjoyed this part and move into 3rd as another racer struggled with his skis and back pack. We arrived at the col where Jane was and then skied again. I then left this transition at the same time as the guy in 2nd! There was 3 of us now in a group fighting for 2nd and 3rd. We skinned in a group for a while (me in 2nd for a bit) and then did another boot pack. This area (boot packing) has let me down a lot this winter as I haven't done a lot of boot pack training, so it was no great surprise when the others pulled away from me. By the time I reached the summit my legs were hurting and they just hurt more on the ski with refrozen, breakable crust snow. The next skin started flat, then kick turns, then another boot pack. I was still fairly close to 3rd place, but the guy in 5th wasn't too far behind neither!
This boot pack was steep and up a nice chute. The ski was inbounds and on icy bumps, just not fun skiing. We had one more short climb before it was over, thankfully I had no one around and could relax a little. I finished 4th in the open category and 2nd in the senior men (Pierre and another guy are vets!). I also held on to my 3rd place in the G3M, which I didn't expect.Jane was totally stoked and really surprised when they called here name for 2nd in the G3M after not racing today. Over all a pretty good day for the NZ ski mo team! RESULTS
Thanks to Stephane for the video and photos!

Pierra Menta starts in 4 days!!

Probably the biggest race in France, if not any were, this 4 day, 10,000vertical meter (no, I did add a zero, its 10,000) race is the Tour de France of ski mountaineering racing. We are both really excited about this and also a little nervous.

I have put a link to the PM home page on the top of the side menu and skimo.org is hands down your best source for quick up dates, with results and photos added daily.

Nicolas' Take.......

So I know what a few of you are thinking "who is Nicolas?" Unfortunately he is not the long lost member of the NZ ski mountaineering race team, but the coach of the junior Swiss national team.
Hands down the best thing about racing is the places you go and the great people you meet. Nicolas is a great example. He wrote to me late last year after hearing about last winters Scarpa race series and wanted to offer his congratulations on a successful series. Since then I have e-mailed him often asking for advice on different things (mainly training, not that you could tell). It was great to finaly meet Nicolas, and his wife Severine, last week and really enjoyed his e-mail that he sent yesterday and wanted to share it as it gives a different perspective to the SMWC than that of Jane's and mine (it also means I have another day or 2 before "Grant's Take"). I have also included some photos of his.
Thanks Nicolas!

Hi Grant and Jane,

Yes was great to meet you guys, very nice people ! We love kiwis. Sorry I would have like to spent more time with you, but was very very busy with my team !!!! Same with my parents and Severine's : they came to watch the relay, but had only a few minutes to spent with them ! Severine had an incredible week, and that was just crazy and big for us that the girls won the relay. The feelings were so deep, I was crying ! And now the girls cut all my hairs, because I bet they wouldn’t beat the Italians !

Left is Marie Troillet and right French racer Leatitia Roux

And then the next day the silver medal, at just 1’50’’ of the Italians girls, what a race ! Severine was a bit disappointed to have to stop the last race, because of muscle problems (contracture au mollet), but is looking forward for the rest of the season.
Congratulation for your races, was great to have kiwis on the course. And will be nice to see you on the Pierra, another big-big-big experience !!! Do you know where you’ll be staying ? Sev should be racing with Gab Magnenat and myself with my colleague Gerard Bagnoud. We’re hoping for a top 25 ranking.
After this crazy week, I went to the Maya, team of 3, 300 teams (900 persons), crazy ! We finished at a strong 3rd placing, which was incredible !
Don’t hesitate if you want to use some of my words for your blog (great blog, just love it !).
All the best to you and Jane, looking forward to see you in the Pierra.

Nicolas

Jane's Take...

Jane wanted to do a small post to give some feed back from the SMWC. Probably nice for people to have another person's take on things...

First of all, a big thanks to everyone who wrote comments of support and encouragement. I have to admit even up to the last couple of weeks before the world champs, I wasn't entirely sure I would be attending, for a number of reasons. I am really glad, however, I decided to go. I was happy with all my results, but even happier with what I feel I have learnt from going to the world champs, competing and talking to fellow racers and coaches, for starters, doubling my training would help!
It would be really exciting to return in 2010 to the world champs in Andorra with a bigger, stronger NZ team. In the National Ranking NZ finished 21st out of 28, which is not a bad result for a two person team, however, there is no reason NZ could not do a lot better than this in the next world champs, it would be great for us to be able to enter the teams race and the relay next time. I think NZ has great potential in this sport being a little country with a lot of mountains and a lot of outdoors sporty types. I hope to see the sport grow in NZ this winter, hopefully with more races and more participation, so anyone who feels like organising some sort of race no matter how big or small (or competing in one, if you haven't already), go for it.
Jane

We might race in the La Croix de Chamrousse this Sunday, or we may just rest for the Pierra Menta which starts on the 13th! Will try and keep you updated

SMWC-Day 7

Apologies for not getting this final day of racing report up earlier folks, been pretty busy and tired recovering from the week.

An early start and grey skies were the scene for the final day of racing at the 2008 SMWC. The long race had been modified a little due to the warm temps during the week and the course was to be 2700m for men and 2300m for the woman. There were 2 starts, 0715 for the woman and slower males and 0830 for the top 30 (ended up being about 45) males. I think I could have raced in the late start, but after a shocking result on Sunday I could really request to be in the early race.

It was pretty nice when the gun off not to have 30 or so guys in front of me going at an inhuman speed and I was in the lead group going at a comfortable pace. I made a bit if a move towards the top of the 1st of 7 climbs and arrived in 3rd place. Next was a flat skate on sticky snow. No wax meant I was past by multiple people, but a quick transition seen me leave in 3 I think. The next 3 climbs all had boot pack section sat the end and the skiing was OK apart from the bad visibility and flat sections that seen me lose more time and places. At the bottom of the 5th climb there was a drink station, thanks to Patrick for getting me water! The climb was very long and flat (kinda boring?) and my mind started to wander a little knowing that while I was top 6 in this race, there were 45 other guys racing. It was about here that I started to get really wet from the rain, not that cold, but wet. I was glad to be at the top of the final climb, hoping the that finish was near, but the last ski was miserable! Deep, wet sticky snow and then a flat, wet, stick ski run were I was past by 2 races that had taken their time to wax their skis that night before. After getting my gear checked I had some food, got changed, waited for Jane to arrive and settled in for the main event. They were announcing over the speaker the top males, Giacomelli, Perrier, Troillet and Jornet were going at it!

Jane arrived just before Giudo Giacomelli crossed the line for the win. Fellow Italian Francesca Martinelli won the woman's race.

A great day for racing!! Perrier, Giacomelli going at it.
Photo: Gerard Berthoud/skimo.org

Jane was happy with her race as it was here biggest day skiing this year. She finished 4hr8min and in 22nd place. I did the 2700m in 3hr42mins and was 37th.

SMWC-Day 6

Start of the woman's Vert Race

Vertical race today, which equals to 950 vertical meters of suffering, for Jane at least. I gave this one a miss to rest a little more for the 3000m long race tomorrow.

The race was going to be held just out of Champery and be only 750m, but due to a lack of snow they moved it over the boarder into France, in the same location as the famous "Montée du Linga" or The Patrick Blanc Race. It was named after Patrick (one of the most outstanding racers ever) after he won the race multiple times and set the record of 36'10" in 2006. In last nights race briefing it was joked that if you break the record the race will bear your name, not every one in the room took this as a joke.........

The lady's started 40mins before the guys and I watch Jane make a good start to the race before cutting the huge life lines with Oriol from skimo.org and made my way to the finishing line.
The Italian ladies continued to dominated and easily took 1st and 2nd. Jane said the steep start hurt a good bit, but once on the flats she got a rhythm and managed to pass a few people. She finished 28th out of 45 and in 53'28". Not bad for 950m vert (Duncan, Gary hope your training). The winning time was about 43'30"!

Jane at the start of the Vert race

The men s race, like all the races was fierce, with 5 guys all in contention. In the end it was the unstoppable force that is Frenchmen Florent Perrie. Florent crushed the record, finishing in 35'04". It was very impressive to watch. The first 5 men all broke Patrick Blanc's record!

Florent "I just crusted Patrick Blanc's record" Perrier

Click HERE for results.

SMWC-Day 5

Today was a rest day, so we had a catch up on a few things before I went along to the ISMC General Assembly.

The big thing on the agenda was to vote on axing the ISMC and replace it with the ISMF (International Ski Mountaineering Federation). what does all this mean I hear you ask? Well I am not even gonna try and understand all the politics and what have you, but the basics are-"For the first time in his history, ski mountaineering has a real international federation with independent legal entity which will for sure help to develop the sport".

The really big news of the day (for me anyway) was immediately after the vote for the new ISMF, the New Zealand Alpine Club was admitted in to the ISMF!!! This is really nice, as before the NZAC was not part of the ISMC and I kind of felt like we were on the outside (officially anyway) of things.

This will really help to have the backing of the ISMF to help grow competitive ski mountaineering in NZ.

Click HERE for press release on skimo.org

SMWC-days 3 and 4

Been a little busy the last few days, no racing for Jane or I, but still lots going on. I will try and recap a little of whats been happening.
Day 3- Very leisurely start on Monday morning, with the rely race scheduled for 6pm that night. Over breakfast we talked with the ISMC technical directer, who told Jane she looked very strong at the top of the first climb in the individual race, but that her transitions were very bad! It was like music to my ears as I have been telling Jane she needs to work on them a little more. So after breakfast were went up the tram from Champery and did a little transition training.

After lunch it was nice to relax in our hotel room, which for the record has a pretty nice view!
We then took the tram again and watched the relay races. We stayed at the top and watched the skins off transitions. It was amazing how fast the top racers (male and female) were going and how fast they could remove there skins. Definitely got a few ideas and how I could improve things....

Day 4- The much anticipated teams race was held on Tuesday. Like the relay race, we couldn't race as there are only 2 of us. I was following Pierre, who come up from SMU, around. He was pretty excited about the race (as was I) and we got to see a lot of the race. It was pretty exciting with the French and Italian slugging it out until the final climb, with the French team pulling away for the win. The Italian woman were unstoppable and won easily.

Were are currently ranked 20th out of 28th nations, which it not bad as there are only 2 of us and I had such a bad race on Sunday. Today is a day off, so we are catching up a little. I have been working on my boot liners, trying to address an issue I have with my little toe.......
Hopefully cutting away some of the liner and adding some trusty duct tape with do the trick, as my next race is the 3000m long race on Friday.
Jane is fronting up for the vertical race tomorrow and then again on Fridays long race!

Remember to keep checking skimo.org and the official SMWC2008 web site for updates, results, photos and some really cool videos.
Thanks to those who have left comments on the posts or wrote us e-mails, we really appreciated it!!

SMWC Day 2- Individual Race

Was hard to believe that today was finally the day, the World Ski Mountaineering Individual Championships!

While Jane and I never for one moment expected to turn up and rock the boat here in Switzerland, we had set some goals for ourselves and hope that if we raced well we might be the first non-Europeans racers across the finish line. It sounds like a funny goal (and it is), but the sport is so well established here, there's no way a "outsider" can really expect to play with the big boys and girls, not yet any way.

The woman started 30mins before the guys, so it was nice to see the start of the race and cheer Jane on and she made a good start.

the course started on a steep ski run, that really hurt me at first, until it turned into a flatter treed area and then some kick turns, which I always enjoy. I was feeling good toward the top of the first climb, and felt great on the ski down. I actually passed some people! No really, I actually passed people on the ski, I was surprised too! My transition was good (no ski issues this week) and left before Cary and Brandon, 2 USA racers. Things we going well, but I did start to feel my self slow a bit, then came the boot pack and that's when I hit the wall in a big way. The rest of the race was a blur of pain. I have never felt so bad. In the final climb I came to a stand still around a dozen times! I'm not sure why, I ain't big on excuses, but maybe it was the late start, warm temps and not drinking enough? I finished a good 15mins slower than I think I should have been, just basing off what other guys I have raced against this winter. pretty disappointing, but there's always 2010......

Jane on the other hand had a good race, finishing in 25th place and just 3 mins behind Mona for the US. Nice job ladies!

The race was won by Frenchman Florent Perrier, while Italian Roberta Pedranzini achieved huge upset over Laetitia Roux from France in the womans race.

VIDEO and RESULTS You will have to scroll aways down to find me......

SMWC 2008-Day 1

Got in to Champery today, had a quick look over the course for tomorrow before checking in to our hotel and getting registered. Jane near the top of the 1st climb

The we had a race briefing and the opening ceremony. We got a NZ flag and little guy carried a sign with Nouvelle Zelande on it! Was pretty cool experience.

Was a good day, got to meet heaps of new people as well as see some old friends from all over the world.

Check back for a race report tomorrow night (or morning).

4 days to the 2008 SMWC!!

Only 4 days until the 2008 Ski Mountaineering World Champs!!

Pretty exciting here in the French HQ of the New Zealand ski mountaineering race team, with only days until we will be lining up against the best in the world. I think there will be 27 nations and over 300 racer's converging on Champery, Switzerland on the 23rd Feb for the opening ceremony and the short (1650m) individual race will be on the 24th.

To be honest we have hardly even had time to think about, with Jane starting a new job and me dealing with a nasty infection in my toe. If that wasn't enough I feel off my bike today just to keep things interesting......

After racing in the French vertical and individual champs I'm not stressing to much and have a pretty good idea of what to expect.

We did manage to get out for small work out this morning. It was cloudy for the first time it what seems like weeks, which made for some cool cloud formations....

Chamechaude

Vercors

I just got the new Dynafit race ski, the SR World Cup Limited Edition the Friday before the Croix de Chamechaude , so it was nice to get out on them again and to "break in" my skins some more.

I mounted them with Dynafit Ti toe pieces and XP50 heel bindings. I am using XP500 carbon fiber boots, which are pretty darn good. The New SR World Cup skis are really nice too. I was impressed when mounting them as I had to drill through a steal top sheet and then wood, no foam!