Our good friend Brad managed to get us all in (me, Amber and Lora) the Ken Jones Classic ski mountaineering race at Lake Louise. After the Dogtooth Dash in Golden, Amber and I were already completely sold on Canadian skimo races. I mean, maybe it's because Canada has a socialist tradition what with providing health care and all, but there's always good free swag at their races. The Ken Jones classic was no exception. Also, the volunteers were amazing and the course, while hard, was pretty fun and a huge challenge.
Canada has an actual national skimo team, and they wear fast looking red outfits. The "C Team" is hoping to have racing outfits soon. We are told they are very practical and if we do separate tops and pants we can also use them for cycling. It makes sense that the "C Team" also have a cycling team - at least if it means wearing spandex outfits ironically.
As you can see, it was a beautiful day. I really couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. It was really cold in the morning but warmed up enough to soften the snow but not enough to make it too soft. There was a boot-pack section where you carry your skis and walk up the snowy mountain and I was worried that it would be slushy and the steps would not exist and I would end up floundering and/or falling to the bottom of the mountain, but this never happened and it was all just great. I did pretty decently on all the uphills and improved my kick-turns with each switchback. I was pleased with my uphill performance even though I was slow and probably awkward looking.
Having learned lessons from the Dogtooth Dash, I went into this race with no fear or apprehension. This was also a victory. The first downhill is called the "F Chute" and actually had a warning sign. I skied up to the edge to peer down and couldn't see the run only rocks. We had been told if we weren't awesome skiers that we could go around it on an easy cat track. I chose the "conservative" route since my official rule is that I don't ski anything where I can't see the run. I don't even feel bad about this because this run was definitely 100% beyond my ability level. I looked up at the bottom and thought *maybe* on fresh legs I could at least make it down safely, but then again I'm not so sure...
The second downhill was a steep-ish gully and while I think I could normally ski it I chose to side-step and side-slip most of the way down. I was sort of embarrassed and this approach put me pretty far behind everyone else but I made it down without falling -- I didn't want to be trying to get my skis back on during a race on a steep slope. I was too tired for that.
I skied the third descent a little better, though not much, and made it to the last checkpoint with someone still behind me. Pretty amazing. The remainder of the "Enduro" course was a ski out to the base. I got to the place where the Elite and Enduro courses split but couldn't figure out where I was supposed to go. I think the flags had already been pulled and I literally didn't see a place I could ski. So, being tired and functionally $*&%! at that point, I hopped on a chair lift and rode to the top and skied to the bottom and went to my truck and figured the finish was actually where there were no more flags and I was just so slow no one was there still. This was all totally illogical but I was really tired and disoriented. In hindsight this was a great lesson on the dangers of trying to think when tired. Bad decision making happens easily and logic goes out the window. Anyhow, I am officially a DNF. Bummer. All I missed was the last 10-15 minutes of easy cat track. Oh well it doesn't matter but I'm pretty embarrassed.
The good thing is that in C-Team tradition, I won a great prize in the drawing. Oh yeah. One of the people who went looking for me with Amber (again, embarrassing) drew my name for the "best prize" and remarked that "the troublemaker!" won the drill. How could that happen? Oh yeah. It's the C TEAM!!!
And, I got to hang out with my wonderful Banff friends. Best part of all.
8 comments:
Even if you are a troublemaker, winning a drill is pretty great. You seem to be winning all the great prizes this year. Didn't you win an expensive jacket at the last race you did, too?
Hey, at least you did it. I would have sat in the snow and cried. Nice drill.
That all seems all so new and complicated to me, so I'll focus on few parts: you survived, you got a freebie, you hung out with friends. Success!
Yeah Karen I won an Arc'teryx jacket at the last one.
Thanks Mary. I mostly just felt really disoriented.
Olga it is sort of complicated but I agree - success. Thanks!
An amazing part of the world and amazing pictures once again. Nice spot prize too. I hope you're handy with the DIY. ;-)
We have similar atmospheric clarity over here (very unusual) but temperatures are into the 20s C. Records are being broken.
Yeah Nick the weather is pretty amazing. Thanks for the comment!
Oh my gosh that scenery is drop-dead gorgeous!! Sooo glad you survived :) and to boot, won an awesome power drill. Can't wait to see what you make with it!! :)
So much awesomeness in this post. I can see myself getting lost and making the exact same decision at the end of the race. And the fact that the Canadians gave you a power tool ... rad.
Glad you got to hang out with Keith and Leslie.
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