My brother is in town this week. Today we headed up Rabbit Creek valley for some touring and low-angle turns in the new snow. Perfect conditions: a very firm, smooth base with a few inches of cold, dry powder on top. We had the entire valley to ourselves. Skiing on extra blue on April 15th.
I have no idea why he would ever want to go back to San Diego.
The turnout for the Arctic Orienteering Club’s annual Mountain O event is usually low (45 people this year, only 8 on the long course). I think this is because people don’t really understand the Mountain O. Orienteering itself confuses a lot of people. Mix in some mountains as well, and people figure it best to avoid the whole thing. But in my opinion, the Mountain O is the most fun race of the summer. It’s basically a big treasure hunt in the mountains. Plus, it only costs $6. You can’t beat that exercise/price ratio! Anyone who loves to run or hike in the mountains should give it a try. There are usually short and long course options, to fit your fitness, navigation, and motivation levels.
As I sat at home last night feeling battered, bruised and exhausted from this year’s event, I started thinking that this little-known event can hold its own when compared to some of the most infamous mountain running races in Alaska.
Crow Pass Crossing: 24 miles, 3890′ elevation gain,
Powerline Pass race: 13 miles, ~4000′ elevation gain,
Matanuska Peak Challenge: 14 miles, 9000′ elevation gain
2009 Mountain O Long Course: 16.8 miles (mostly off-trail), 5600′ elevation gain
More than anything, I was just trying to justify the fact that the race had left me pretty wasted.
The start and finish were at the Glen Alps trailhead of Chugach State Park. You know its going to be a big day when, twenty-five minutes into the race, you are standing on top of Flattop and you’ve only covered 1/10th of the race distance and found two of the 19 controls. I ran most of the way with Ian Moore, who is both a faster runner and a better navigator. There were a bunch of controls early on that were “tricky” at best, and “misplaced” at worst. One by one, we’d all get to the spot where the control should be, then wander until someone stumbled on it. That allowed me to stay within sight of Ian while we completed most of the climbing. Then we ran together for a couple hours after that. Ian and I have both been battling ankle injuries recently, so we ran a bit gingerly on our feet in the rocky terrain, wondering how long our legs would hold.
After three hours of racing, we had traversed the Flattop Ridge to Ptarmigan Pass, descended into Rabbit Creek valley, started up the base of McHugh Ridge, then crossed back through Ptarmigan Pass to Powerline valley. As Ian and I crossed Powerline valley, we took slightly different routes. I was sure we’d reconnect in a matter of seconds, like we had many times before. But all of a sudden, I was alone. I never saw Ian again. I suspected that he had ankle problems and dropped back. But I also knew Ian’s skills as an orienteer, and it was completely possible that he was ahead of me and I simply couldn’t see him. As I approached the finish at Glen Alps, it would not have surprised me a bit to see Ian standing there, already done. But, as I suspected, he had experienced a shooting pain through his leg and then dialed it back after that. My legs, for their part, were sore but feeling as good as I could have hoped for at the finish.
I completed the course in four hours. Times on the long course varied up to six and a half hours, possibly even longer for those who didn’t finish. A long day for everyone! Congrats to Lindsey for being the only woman to complete the long course (3rd place overall) and Jen for winning the short course.
2009 Mountain Orienteering Results
All the participants deserve congratulations for surviving a challenging course that was made even more difficult by fog and tricky controls. But it was still a lot of fun. Come join us next year!
No doubt you’ve heard about the biggest sporting event of the year, which kicked off on August 8, 2008 (8/8/8). Apparently the organizing committee of this spectacular event, which was created to bring together the world’s best athletes in competition and celebration, chose the date 8/8/8 because eight is a special number that brings good luck. It’s sure to be a momentous occasion watched by billions around the globe.
I am talking, of course, about the World Championships of the World Summer Slalom, Extreme and Big Air XC Skiing Championships, the first ever on-snow xc skiing competition in Anchorage in August! You were thinking of some other event? Nope, this is bigger.
You know how extreme skiers have Powder 8 competitions? Well, this is the summer equivalent. The chance to ski some eights on 8/8/08 comes around once every millennium, so we had to take advantage. The event was Tim Kelley’s brainchild. He rounded up Benji, Tim M, Ian and I and we hiked up the Rabbit Creek trail to a nice snowpatch just before the lake. After the opening ceremony pyrotechnics, consisting of thunder, lightning, hail, and rain, the skies cleared a bit and the games began! Check out the photos below. I only had my cell phone camera, so my pictures aren’t very good.
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Check Tim’s website for better photos and results from the big event.
P.S. I just realized that 3 of the 5 photo sets in my Summer ‘08 album are ski trips. Its been that kind of summer.
P.P.S. Tim also posted a video of the event, which you can view by clicking on the link to his website. It’s quite funny, in an embarrassing kind of way. We look like a bunch of old geezers feebly trying to ‘go big’ like the kids do. Which, my wife reminded me, is a pretty accurate description. Oh well, at least the music rocks.
I was up near Rabbit Lake this past weekend, and I happened to notice that the creek was still covered in snow in some places. Rabbit Creek is really cool because the first few miles of it are in a U-shaped gully. When the conditions are right, it makes a sweet halfpipe. Was it possible that with our cold summer, the halfpipe could still exist in late July? I had to find out.
Tuesday evening, I ran up the trail about forty minutes and endured plenty of snickers when other hikers caught sight of my skis. But when I dropped down to the creek, I was the one laughing. I was amazed to find the creek completely covered in a solid layer of snow for as far as I could see in both directions! The halfpipe lives!
I quickly put on my skis and skied uphill to the end of the snowfield. Then I turned downhill and ripped up the pipe. It took me about 5 minutes to ski from top to bottom, so I’d guess that the snowfield was somewhere between one kilometer and one mile long.
Incredibly, the skiing was not terrible. It was extremely slow because of the embedded dirt, but it was relatively smooth and solid. Check out the photos.
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These days I don’t have as much time for big adventures, so I have to ration them. But that doesn’t mean I’m not getting outside. I’ve been doing more runs in the mountains right near home. Here’s a great one I just did: up the Falls Creek trail to South Suicide peak, then drop down the ridge behind McHugh Lake, then run out the Rabbit Lake trail. Its amazing that all of this is less than 20 minutes from home!
i have an REI and iTunes gift cards for sale… will sell both for $45, or $20 each
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