Winter Teva Mountain Games – Baby got back
Amongst the fur, Italian ski wear and designer sunglasses, a different breed of men and women visited Vail, Colorado this weekend for the inaugural Winter Teva Mountain Games skimo race. These individuals clad in the brightest, lightest and tightest spandex one-pieces took on Golden Peak’s course to Blue Sky Basin and back with over 8,000 vert and 20 mile long course.
Hailing from Aspen, Adam Frisch was testing a new aerodynamic butt lifter design. Fully stuffed and a completely empty pack was his secret to success. Specs coming soon.
Racers and ski patrollers both agreed that the course would be challenging enough to keep both the pro nordic racers and seasoned skimo racers equally drained. A small addition of fresh snow Friday evening made Saturday’s race that much more enjoyable.
Golden Peak, the site of Teva Town. Complete with slalom skimo and bike gates, telemark big air next to snow bike freestyle, ice climbing events and even a few Teva branded ice luges thrown in for good measure come nightfall.
All the usual suspects were present including supermom Sari Anderson, who was there to defend her title as Teva’s Ultimate Mountain Challenge winner, summer and winter. She went head to head with past Olympians and pro nordic nerds to take first in the women’s elite class.
A staged photo by the many photogs featuring Sari Anderson and Janelle Smiley, women's 1st and 2nd in the elite class, in a hi5 moment.
Colorado's power couple, Ted and Christy Mahon, were there laughing skin troubles away.
On to the results:
Men's advanced podium featured Kent McBride of Jackson, WY taking first followed by Mark Roebke of Avon and Todd Smith of Breckenridge respectfully.
Women's advanced podium featured Eva Hagen of Breckenridge finishing first followed by McKenna Douglas of Edwards and Meredith Edwards of Wilson Wyoming rounding out the top.
Finishing in a time of 4:04:07 and running to grab a beer, J Marshall Thomson, not pictured, of the Crested Butte mafia took home $1000 with a first place finish in the elite field. Bryan Wickenhauser and Brian Smith also of Crested Butte took second and third. Scott Simmons of Durango and Luke Nelson of Pocatello rounded out the podium.
The first place finisher of the race and this winter's Ultimate Mountain Challenge winner, Sari Anderson, took the $1000 check and added that to her $2k winnings of the weekend while standing on the elite podium with second place finisher Janelle Smiley and Stevie Kremer of Crested Butte respectfully. Rounding out the podium was Rebecca Dussault of Gunnison and Jen Gersbach of Durango.
After the athletes 8,000+ vert slog up and back to Blue Sky Basin they were invited in true Teva fashion to an 80's ski suit party in Vail's Village. Complete with enough Kru Vodka and PBR for an army.
Let it Snow!
Comments
14 Responses to “Winter Teva Mountain Games – Baby got back”
Got something to say? Please do so.
Isn’t butt padding strictly prohibited in rando racer contracts? Or perhaps that guy is looking for a sponsor (grin)?
The race report I received from the sole east coast representative sounded far more difficult than anything I thought Vail could ever deliver!
I also noticed that a U.S. Ski Team nordic racer tweeted “toughest thing i’ve ever done” (and she has previously trained so hard that she developed compartment syndrome).
Power of Four stepped it up. Vail and Aspen have always been in competition for various bragging rights… not surprised they put on a real rando race instead of a little fake one.
Awesome. I was hoping to be in attendance but alas, next year.
Holy “chunk-in-the-trunk” Adam!
Way to capture the less serious side of things there, Joe. I will say, this new course might be a little lighter in the stats than Aspen’s Power of Four, but it’s still pretty stout, and with some impressively challenging skiing.
Don’t be misled by fast finish times, the long course basically circumnavigates Vail’s entire ski area boundary.
They put on a great event.
Was there a Masochist’s Division for K2 obSETHeds with Barons on them?
I probably could have survived the rec race course, but up to Blue Sky would have killed me.
Ted, sounded stout enough to me! I’m scared to even watch these things…
All, sorry about the ugly Breckenridge ad at upper right, is filler, will replace soon with something less obnoxious.
Mtnrunner2, there were some Dukes out there!
Ted, great meeting you finally! Vail Resorts and Teva staff had things dialed.
Great event overall with lots of excitement around every corner.
For every one who isn’t up for an 8,000 vertical foot marathon, or anyone who enjoys a great sprint and a party for a good cause, The DoJoe in Nederland is a much mellower option. Only about 800 up and a challenging down. Costumes are encouraged, and all proceeds promote avalanche safety and awareness. See dojoe.org for more details
Adam here; I forgot to take off my proto-type 2013 SkiMo race suit prior to the Paparazzi nabbed me. It certinly ain’t pretty, but amazing access to 3 pairs of skins, 1,500 calories of food/gels + 2 water bottles. Everything stays handy and warm! It did cost me big time on the GS course—
Adam, LOL! But seriously, it is indeed cool to see some of the clothing and such that’s coming from skimo racing needs…
Adam, Gotcha! My mind was racing for a title and then bam! It came to me “Baby got back” for sure.
Was an awesome race, just glad SkiMo coverage is making it into Wildsnow. Race suits are not pretty, at least when their carrying capacity is maxed out, but darn functional—keeps skins/food/water from freezing and no time to fuss around with backpack. Sunlight 12 hours, Power of 4 here in Aspen, then the big daddy Grand Traverse—-busy few weeks ahead.