RANDO RALLY FINALS: Swensen wins at Jackson
With the technical terrain of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort playing host to the North American championships and final stop of this year’s Mountain Hardware Life-Link/Dynafit Ski Mountaineering Race Series Saturday, more than 90 randonnee rally racers tested their mental, physical and aerobic skills on the hardest course in the seven-race series.
Riddled with two steep, calf-cramping bootpacks, numerous long climbs and descents through variable snow conditions, Peter Swensen of Boulder, Colo., motored along the course to capture the win in the men’s race division and overall series crown with a time of 2 hours, 1 minute, 45 seconds. Close on Swensens’ tails in the 36-racer field was Jackson resident Cary Smith, who nabbed second in the event and overall with a time of 2:04:03. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort ski patroller Chris Kroger, who claimed the series crown last year, took third in the race and overall, posting a 2:06:31.Ethan Passant of Crested Butte, Colo., took fourth in 2:08:02 and Jackson’s Steve Romeo secured the fifth spot in 2:09:54. Swensen ended the season with 102 points, while Smith tallied 75 and Kroger 69.
As members of the U.S. Ski Mountaineering Team, which recently competed in Italy at the world championships, Swensen, Smith, Kroger and Romeo possessed a keen knowledge of each others racing skills which added a measure of intensity to the day.
“I knew everyone was going to be fast and gunning for a big race,” Smith said. “With the amount of competition here, I had a feeling someone was going to cork one off.”
With hard and firm course conditions greeting participants for the early morning start, it was only a matter of time before the hot March sun softened things considerably. Dubbed the Americas Cup, the race was the only one in the United States Ski Mountaineering Association-sanctioned race series that was mandatory to attend to be eligible for the overall title. Traversing the resort’s boundaries from north to south, skiers in the race division covered a total vertical gain of 6,185 feet, while recreational division racers accumulated 3,150 feet on a shorter, abbreviated course that excluded the bootpacks.
Starting with a long, sustained climb to the summit of Apres Vous Mountain, Kroger and Passant shared the lead for a few moments before Kroger broke away. But, Kroger’s lead didn’t last for long.
“As soon as I hit the first steep uphill [to the summit], I started to slip,” Kroger said. Looking to shave a few ounces from his equipment, Kroger made the start-time decision to use shorter, older skins in hopes of moving faster a choice that plagued him throughout the race. “I had to make my own ‘tour’ because I couldn’t stay on the set skin track. It definitely messed with my mental strategy having to zigzag when people were passing me and straight-lining the climb. It was certainly frustrating, but it was my decision Pete and Cary definitely deserved it.”