On a frosty Saturday morning earlier this winter, a posse of skiers lined up at the base of Grand Targhee Resort in Wyoming. The 30 men and four women were mainly in their late 20s to early 40s and embodied the unstudied athleticism of someone who might just run up a mountain for fun.
Their dress ranged from one-piece spandex speed suits to duct-tape-patched ski pants. Everyone wore helmets and avalanche beacons, as well as small backpacks holding avalanche probes and shovels. Most were on Alpine-touring skis and bindings -- the heels release for climbs and lock down for descents -- though some used telemark gear.
At the word "go," the skiers surged up the hill, bindings clinking, skis -- with nylon climbing skins affixed for traction -- thudding on the packed powder.
Have these people never heard of chairlifts?
As the skiers ascended the mountain, enveloped in a thick fog, they paralleled the route of Targhee's Dreamcatcher quad. This was the first Grand Targhee Ski Mountaineering Classic, a race that would alternately test uphill climbing endurance and steep skiing skills, on an 13km course that yo-yoed up and down and in and out of the ski area boundary.
Ski-mountaineering races, also known as randonnee races (after the French term for ski touring), became popular in Europe during the 1990s. The first world championship, held in 2002 in France, drew racers from 22 countries. This winter more than 250 European races were scheduled.
Such rallies have been slower to catch on in North America, but momentum is building. One of the first races was held at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, eight years ago. Now the nonprofit US Ski Mountaineering Association sponsors a national series of 12 races; at least a half-dozen others are scheduled around the country.
The Grand Targhee race was the first for teams of two, a format common in Europe and one that captures the backcountry ethic of having a partner.
Before the race, Grant Helgeson and Jim Harris, both of Park City, Utah, scoped out their fellow competitors through the windows of Snorkel's Cafe. The two friends, who regularly ski the backcountry together, had decided to do the race "sort of on a lark," Harris said.
"We expect to be in the bottom tier," Helgeson said as they headed to the start.
"It'll be a learning experience," he said.
Part of the appeal of ski-mountaineering competition is that it's still a grass-roots movement and two avid skiers can decide on the spur of the moment to enter a race.
Even so, the caliber of athletes has improved, as skiers who are also competitive trail runners, bikers and triathletes use the races as a way to maintain their fitness in winter.
"When I first started, I could count on a top-five finish," said Steve Romeo, of Jackson, Wyoming, who started racing in 2000. "Now I'm battling for top 10."
"We're putting them into some pretty precarious situations," Andy Williams, head of special events at Grand Targhee, said of the racecourse he helped lay out.
Near the end, for instance, competitors had to negotiate a 40-degree chute, only 5m wide at its narrowest part.
About 30 minutes -- and 600 vertical meters -- after the start, teams began to emerge from the fog at the top of Fred's Mountain, one of Targhee's three peaks. This was the first of seven transition areas, where racers strip the skins from their skis and switch their bindings to descent mode -- or vice versa -- optimally in less than a minute. It's brief but significant -- like pit stops in stock car racing -- where time is lost or gained.
Helgeson and Harris were all smiles when they arrived. They shared some water, then moved onto the next leg, a 300m ski descent. Next they'd hike, or "bootpack," with their skis strapped to their packs.
When the first racers reached the Peaked Mountain summit at around the one-and-a-half-hour mark, it was a brisk 18 degrees. The Grand Teton, usually visible to the north, was hidden by the milky fog. There was talk of cold hands and frozen hydration-system tubes. But a reward lay ahead: 610m of virtually untracked powder in an area usually reserved for snowcat skiing. That kind of big-mountain skiing is what distinguishes ski-mountaineering races from other winter competitions, said Pete Swenson, a former pro mountain bike racer who won the national ski mountaineering title in 2006.
At the 2006 world championships in Italy, he recalled: "There were about 80 of us in the elite field, but just behind us were 400 raging citizen racers. I thought: `Man, we need to bring this here, we have so many good athletes.' This sport will be very popular in the US. You just have to get people to see it."
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their