Saturday Telemark Race

Whitefish Mountain Resort played host to a US Telemark Ski Association sanctioned race on February 26th and opened it up to racers of all levels by including Citizen and Novice categories. It was going to be a Sprint Classic race which entailed giant slalom turns through gates down through Ptarmigan Bowl on Big Mountain as well as a jump (more of a bump on the run, kind of disappointing) and a skate finish. You were docked points if you didn’t have a perfect tele-turn through each gate, if you didn’t go 30 feet on the jump, or if you didn’t land in a telemark stance when landing the jump. Sound exciting? We thought so. Psyched from our fun on Thursday nights, Dad and I decided to participate.

Dad poling for all he's worth to the finish line.

Two cold, tired, and hungry racers. Why did I get lucky number 13?

Depending on how you look at it, that particular Saturday wasn’t a very good day for a ski race. It was freezing, the wind was blowing, and visibility was very poor. On the other hand, the snow conditions were good (read not icy) albeit slow because of the low temperatures. And nobody came out and did the race: if I remember correctly there were only 16 total participants, male and female, elite racers and novices alike. This itself worked in our favor. I finished first in the Citizen class and Dad finished third! Plus there was plenty of door prizes and schwag to go around. Needless to say, we made out like bandits…

I’ve probably said this before, but I love the atmosphere of a race. Regardless of how you expect to finish compared to everyone else it’s a blast. All you can do is go out there and give’er your all, sell out, and see where you end up. Rubbing elbows with pros at any level is super cool and everyone is always so encouraging. I love the feeling of wrapping up a race and wanting more, stoked about training hard or practicing your skills to become better at your sport.