ROAM race

Ready to rock on Saturday morning, almost got psyched out by some dude wearing the same skinsuit as me.

"Don't worry about him, he's old"

My usual rule is: “Someone is only fast if they are willing to rock a 1 piece lycra suit”, funny because the cycling tights worn by those who don’t want to rock the onezie usually end up being MORE revealing!

So anyways, I jumped off the line to get out of trouble and drag raced with Ian Gale to the 1st descent, not long after the start. He was quick to rip the skins and got a huge gap.



Course: I would say that the course was “cool”. It gave you a good tour of the resort and the descents were almost exclusively in the backcountry around the ski area. Lots of flat sections though, and a skins-on descent. The ridge descent was “interesting” weaving between trees and snow drifts. The 2 main descents would have been awesome if the snow didn’t have a wind crust on it! It was nice to get a big climb over with right away!

Gear: No gear issues today, the skis weren’t liking the wind crust too much, but I don’t think any race ski would!

Engine: Engine was pretty good. I like getting the big climb over with first thing, and I actually closed the gap a bit. I don’t think I pushed hard enough on the flats, but definitely opened up the throttle on the climbs.

Technique: Lost some time on changeovers and the descents. Climbing, I felt like I was doing pretty well.

TSN turning point: Top of the 1st descent. Ian ripped his skins way faster, creating the gap before the long flat descent that required some skating.

A much better race for me, only 8 mins behind Ian, as opposed to ~19mins at Scumshine. Finishing times were similar, but obviously he didn’t have anyone to battle with up front. The prizes were VERY generous: I came away with a set of Garmont Radiums in my size! Thanks to the event sponsors! Definitely planning on returning next year if my school schedule will allow!

While I was racing, the boys were hitting on Michelle, the bartender, who seemed very interested in how my race went, or so I am told.

Some event coverage from www.backcountryskiingcanada.com here and some results here