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OUTSIDE
East Oregonian
Saturday, January 7, 2017
Ski mountaineering growing in popularity
By CHADD CRIPE
Idaho Statesman
MCCALL, Idaho —
Backcountry skiing is an
integral part of Idaho’s
winter recreation scene.
Ski mountaineering is a
new sport trying to create
a foothold in the state. But
essentially, they’re the same
activity with different tools.
“It’s basically back-
country skiing, just with
more speed,” said Nick
Francis, the outgoing presi-
dent of the U.S. Ski Moun-
taineering Association.
The USSMA made its
Idaho debut this past Friday
and Saturday at Brundage
Mountain Resort. The top
performers in Friday’s
vertical race (1,700 feet of
climbing in nearly 1.5 miles)
and Saturday’s individual
race (about 13 miles and
5,800 feet of elevation
change during fi ve ascents
and fi ve descents) qualifi ed
to represent the U.S. at the
world championships in
Italy.
Sprinkled among the elite
athletes were a handful of
Idahoans eager to learn more
about the sport.
“This is my fi rst time, so
I guess this was getting into
ski mountaineering,” said
Dessie Weigel, a 22-year-old
Whitman College student
from Boise. “I got my heart
rate into the red zone 5
minutes in, (I) felt like I was
going to throw up about 8
minutes in and then by 10
minutes I was just tasting
blood, and that pretty much
sustained me for the 45
minutes.”
By staging the Northwest
Passage Ski Mountaineering
Race at Brundage, the
USSMA hopes to fi nd more
adventurous athletes like
Weigel. Ski mountaineering
has grown from “a handful
to several hundred” racers in
Utah and Colorado over the
past fi ve years, Francis said.
Most Western states were
represented in the Brundage
races, and the Northeast has
a strong pocket of racers, too.
“We’ve been trying to get
into Idaho for a long time,”
said Francis, who is based
in Salt Lake City and also
races. “There’s a lot of racers
in Utah and Montana and
Wyoming, and a lot of us ski
here, so it just make sense to
have a race here. We would
love to see more Idaho
racers, and a big part of that
is just getting races here. It’s
much easier to get involved
in the sport when there’s a
local race scene.”
Said fi rst-time racer Matt
Ganz of McCall: “This
kind of ski culture has been
around as long as people
have been skiing here.”
Ski
mountaineering
involves skiing up and
down mountains, usually on
groomed runs, with transi-
tions in between to change
gear setups. For most uphill
sections, racers attach skins
to the bottom of their skis
to provide better traction.
SKI REPORT
Spout Springs
Tollgate, Ore.
CLOSED FOR SEASON
Anthony Lakes
North Powder, Ore.
New snow: 4”
Base depth: 46”
Conditions: Clear and
chilly. Bundle up.
Ski Bluewood
Dayton, Wash.
New snow: 6”
Base depth: 50”
Conditions: Cold and
sunny. Machine packed
corduroy, powder in
trees.
Ski Fergi
Kyle Green/Idaho Statesman via AP
In this Dec. 16 photo, ski mountaineering racers make their way up the 45th Parallel run during the Northwest
Passage Ski Mountaineering Vertical Race at Brundage Ski resort in McCall, Idaho. The vertical race featured a
sprint to the top of the mountain that included 530 meters of elevation gain.
Brundage ski instructor
Kori Richards usually skis
on a setup that is 105 milli-
meters under foot, which
works better in powder. She
raced Saturday on borrowed
“skinny” skis. She entered
because several friends
were visiting to compete,
including Janelle Smiley of
Jackson, Wyo. — the winner
of the women’s vertical and
individual races.
“We came out the day
before and took some runs,
and they are hilarious,” Rich-
ards said of mountaineering
skis. “They ski all right on
the groomers, but as soon
as you get off-piste ... you
just have to forget all the ski
instructor technique.”
Richards, who moved to
McCall from Jackson to take
part in a University of Idaho
master’s program, trained for
the race by skinning around
the Brundage property before
the lifts opened to the public.
Brundage has skiers in the
parking lot every morning
when there’s enough snow
to ski but not enough for the
resort to open. The uphill
skiers keep coming during
the season, skinning up early
in the morning before the
lifts start running.
Mt. Hood Meadows
Government Camp, Ore.
New snow: 2”
Base depth: 78”
Conditions: Groom is
wind-blown hardpack.
Off piste is tracked
powder with wind
transport.
for the skinning as for the
skiing.”
John Gaston, a 29-year-old
from Aspen, Colo., switched
from downhill skiing to ski
mountaineering about fi ve
years ago, just as the sport
began its rise in Colorado.
He wasn’t into cross-country
skiing or endurance sports
before that.
He was surprised by how
quickly he became hooked.
He won Friday’s vertical race
in 23 minutes, 32.92 seconds
to earn his third straight trip
to worlds.
“(Ski
mountaineering)
has been around Europe for
a long time, and Americans
are catching on,” he said.
“It’s just a fun way to get
out in the mountains in the
winter, another mode of
transport. And for those
who maybe aren’t as patient
— standing in lift lines gets
old after a while — this is
a pretty fun alternative.”
Kyle Green/Idaho Statesman via AP
Aki mountaineering racers make their way up the 45th
Parallel run at Brundage Ski resort in McCall, Idaho.
They remove the skins for
the downhill portions. For
some steep sections, racers
put their skis on their backs
and hike in their boots.
The sport and its equip-
ment developed from troop
movements through the
Alps during the world wars,
Francis said.
“We call them skins
because historically they
were animal skins,” he said.
“It’s just a thick, rubber
membrane with fi bers that
are directional so they glide
going forward and catch and
hold when you step onto
them and step up.”
The skis are short and
narrow compared to what
most people use for down-
hill or backcountry travel.
The racing minimums are
160 centimeters in length
for men, 150 centimeters
in length for women and
65 millimeters wide under
foot, so that’s what all the
elite racers use to minimize
weight. Racing in traditional
backcountry skis would be
like running in hiking boots,
Francis said.
Kyle Green/Idaho Statesman via AP
Ski mountaineering racers make their way up the 45th Parallel run at Brundage Ski
resort in McCall, Idaho.
COMMENTARY
What could be more fun than snow caves?
By PAT WRAY
Corvallis Gazette-Times
I
“It seems like a really
healthy sport,” Richards
said. “You get the aerobic
workout, but then it’s gentle
on your body on the way
down where something like
hiking isn’t. It is fun. You get
exercise, and then you get
the reward of skiing.”
Ben Hipple of McCall
skins up Brundage and the
Little Ski Hill several times
a year.
“It’s real peaceful, and
you get to see a real nice
sunrise,” he said. “It’s more
fun. You see a lot more
scenery. And the powder is
better.”
Weigel, who has competed
in Nordic skiing and is on the
Whitman club cycling team,
goes backcountry skiing in
the Wallowa Mountains of
Oregon. She has developed
an appreciation for the climb.
“When I started back-
country skiing, I thought that
skinning was that miserable
part you have to do in order
to ski some fun powder,”
she said. “And the fi rst time
I did it I was like, ‘Wow, I
love skinning.’ I was smiling
the whole way up my fi rst
time backcountry skiing,
and I realized I wanted to go
out and do it again as much
Joseph, Ore.
New snow: None
Base depth: 25”
Conditions: Open week-
ends, windswept snow.
t’s been a big snow year, great for
skiing, snowshoeing and sledding …
and snow camping. It’s kind of fun
rolling out a sleeping bag on the bare
ground beneath a big spruce tree with
snow all around, but if you want the
full snow camping experience, plus all
the protection that goes
with it, you should dig a
snow cave.
Snow caves can be
lifesavers, as thousands
of people have learned
in dangerous conditions.
But they also provide
an enjoyable and
educational way
to spend a night in
absolute quiet and more
warmth than you would
think. And trying snow
caves a time or two will
make you confi dent in
your ability to survive
an unplanned night in
the mountains.
First, the equipment.
You’ll want a short-handled shovel,
warm, waterproof clothing, a closed-
cell sleeping pad, a sleeping bag with
a waterproof bivvy sack, headlamp, a
candle and a lighter. The sleeping bag
is optional but without it you’ll stay just
on the wrong side of warm.
You don’t need to dig your cave far
away from a road but you’ll want to
avoid places where avalanches or slides
might occur or other people might
travel.
Your ideal spot will be on the
downwind side of a small hill where
snow has collected in a deep drift.
It should be fairly solid; powdery
snow will be hard to dig and will not
dependably maintain its shape once
dug. If necessary, you
can pack it down with
snow shoes.
Start by digging into
the hill, then make a
turn and dig upward to
enlarge your sleeping
quarters. The turn
will keep wind from
entering your cave and
the upward cant will
allow cold air to fl ow
down and away from
you. Do your digging in
a minimum of clothing,
with just a waterproof
layer. After the cave is
dug you can change into
your dry, warm clothing
to enter your bed.
As you dig out the
sleeping chamber you’ll want to shove
the snow down toward the opening
with your feet, where your partner can
pull it out and discard it away from
the hole. Trying to dig a snow cave by
yourself is diffi cult and sleeping in one
alone is not recommended. Cave-ins
Snow caves
can be
lifesavers, but
they can also
provide a
way to spend
a night in
more warmth
than you
would think.
are possible and much easier to escape
with two people.
Enlarge the sleeping chamber just
enough to hold you and your partner(s).
Then dig a trench between you to lead
the coldest air down and away from
you. The trench doesn’t have to be deep
but if you neglect it the coldest air will
pool all around you.
Next smooth the walls and ceiling of
the sleeping area; rough spots provide
a pathway for condensation to collect
into drops and fall on you, generally in
your ear.
Make a fl at spot for your candle. The
candle will get you close to 60 degrees
but you should put it out when you
go to sleep. Also, use a branch or ski
pole to put a ventilation hole through
the side of your cave. You can keep it
plugged with a snowball on the inside
unless the air inside becomes stale.
Now you are ready to move in.
Bring the shovel in with you — just in
case. Relax and enjoy the quiet and the
dark. You may never have experienced
quiet and dark like you will in a snow
cave. Claustrophobia can be an issue,
but it’s not like you and your partner
will be alone. With luck you’ll be able
to watch ice worms travel across the
ceiling of your cave all night.
Seriously. Ice worms. Little black
things. Sometimes you can hear them
sing.
■
Pat Wray is outdoors columnist for
the Gazette-Times in Corvallis.
New bill brings outdoor
industry into GDP
Portland
(AP)
—
Oregon’s
outdoor
industry is an economic
powerhouse, with 496
businesses,
141,000
jobs and $12.8 billion in
consumer spending.
Surprisingly, all that
economic activity here and
in other states doesn’t get
factored into the country’s
Gross Domestic Product,
the ultimate gauge for the
size of an economy and
how it’s performing.
Outdoor
industry
leaders say their sector’s
exclusion from GDP
calculations gives them
short shrift in infl uencing
government policies for
public lands and other
recreation issues.
But that should change
with the fi nal passage this
month of the Recreation’s
Economic Contributions
Act by Congress, which
was signed into law by
President Obama.
The bill was supported
by local industry leaders,
and was a priority for
the Outdoor Industry
Association, a leading
trade group.
“Sound data points
will help put the outdoor
industry on par with other
sectors of the economy,”
says Kirsten Blackburn,
corporate communications
and advocacy manager at
Keen footwear in Portland.
It also helps drive
sustainability, she says.
For Keen, that means
“protecting the areas
where their consumers
live and play, through
both
conservation
advocacy efforts and
responsible
supply
chain
management,”
including product-related
sustainability initiatives.
The bill directs federal
agencies
to
provide
economic metrics and
other statistics to assess
and analyze the outdoor
recreation economy and its
effect on the overall U.S.
economy. The bill applies
to the Bureau of Economic
Analysis, a unit of the U.S.
Department of Commerce
that sets the GDP, as well
as the U.S. Department of
Labor and other agencies.
GDP represents the
monetary value of all
the fi nished goods and
services produced within
a country’s borders in a
specifi c time period.