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| Plum Race 145 |
Showing posts with label Race. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Race. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Gear - Plum Race 145 Bindings
Monday, October 1, 2012
Race - 2012 Rubble Creek Classic
Sarah and I went to Squamish on Saturday night and stayed with my former roommate Nick. Sunday morning we got up exceptionally early and headed off in the dark to the Garibaldi Lake Trailhead North of Squamish. We met our friend Ed there at 6:30 and continued on to the Chekamus Lake Trailhead near Whistler.
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Friday, September 14, 2012
Race - Semi-Alcoholic Traverse
Three weeks ago, Stano and I set out to do the Semi-Alcoholic Traverse. This is a high alpine ridge run from Brandywine Mountain to Cypress Mountain. Aparently the proper Alcoholic Traverse finishes at Brew rather than Cypress Mountain but we decided Cypress was a better finish on a more logical route and with a better scramble at the end. We made it up Brandywine in good time but turned around as the weather deteriorated.Nick and I set out again to do it this week on a perfect crisp day. The hardest part of the traverse is arranging the cars, as you start and finish in two different places - both very far up logging roads. Having heard of epics involving mountain bikes and hitchhiking, we opted to each drive a car and do the shuttle.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Race - Whistler 5 Peaks Trail Race
Sarah and I both attended the 2012 5 Peaks race in Whistler this weekend (actually on Blackcomb Mtn. due to snow conditions across the valley). The enduro category is the longer and more competitive distance at 10 km with 750 meters of elevation gain. Even after missing our alarm, we made it up to Whistler Village on time and caught the gondola up.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Race - Joffre Enchainment in a Day
Nick and I had the day off and set our sights in climbing each of the three peaks that circle the Matier Glacier on the Duffy Lake Road in less than 12 hours; a mission partially inspired by the Ceriese Creek -> Joffre Lake Traverse by Stano F in this spring.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Race - Spearhead Traverse
May 12 2012 - Spearhead Traverse
Distance: 33 km
Vertical Ascent: 1755m
Vertical Descent: 3267m (Including Singing Pass)
Time: 4 Hrs 35 Min
Calories: 3577
Over the last week a good freeze-thaw cycle has built up good conditions in the alpine with good stability. Things were looking perfect for a fast attempt on the Spearhead on Saturday right up until Friday when the freezing levels went even higher and the overnight lows were above zero. I headed out despite the high temps. I had a leisurely start from Squamish, even sleeping in a bit and caught the first chair up to the top of the 7th Heaven lift. I traversed out of the ski area and stopped at the backcountry access gate on Blackcomb Glacier.
I repacked my bag and started my watch. On the third climb - up to the Pattison Col - I had a little setback, dropping my ski. Luckily it only went partway down the glacier and got hung up. By the climb up the Iago glacier, I was getting pretty tired. My drink was too concentrated so I was eating snow to dilute it (and help stay cool).
The ski out singing pass was pretty horrible. Sticky slush forced me to double-pole the majority of the downhill and all the creeks are melted out. I had to take my skis off at each one. Finally, the snow line ended before whistler so I spent the last 15 or 20 min running down the trail.
Solo traverse gear.
Gear:
I packed slightly on the heavy side given the good conditions but going solo always gets me to bring more. I would probably go with a lighter weight shell jacket, one pair of skins and one less pair of gloves. There was no need for the GPS for navagation but I wanted to record a track of the traverse. If it were any cooler/crustier I would want ski crampons.
Nutrition:
I ate 4 GU Gels and 2 GU Chomps for a total of 760 kcal. In my .5L waterbottle, I had an electrolyte tablet which I drank all of. In my 2L hydration pack, I mixed in energy drink but overconcentrated it. I couldn't drink it as quickly as I would have liked and when I did, I got stomach cramps.
Route:
I skied the "short Spearhead" timed from the backcountry access gate on Blackcomb Mountain, around the traverse, and down the Singing Pass Trail to Whistler Village. I followed the route marked in the John Baldwin Map and took the lefthand variations around Decker and Pattison Mtns.
A few time checkpoints: Tremor-Shudder Col - 1hr 25min. Top of Iago Glacier - 2hr 18min. Fissile-Whirlwind Col - 3:15. (Next time I would like to see this closer to 1:15, 2:00, and 2:50.)
Google Earth image of my route (in purple) starting at the top of the chairlifts on Blackcomb Mountain (on the left) and finishing down the Singing Pass trail into Whistler Village. Distance and elevation profile of the traverse.
Heart rate graph and elevation profile from Sunnto t6 HRM.
I started strong but faded. I definitely need to work on my pacing and keep from getting too excited early in the race. I went out way to hard and paid for it by the end.
Climb - Time (min) - Meters Elevation - Average HR - Climb Speed (m/min)
| 1 | 7.3 | 146 | 185 | 20.0 |
| 2 | 11.75 | 141 | 184 | 12.0 |
| 3 | 21.5 | 288 | 182 | 13.4 |
| 4 | 26.88 | 342 | 175 | 12.7 |
| 5 | 10.11 | 93 | 168 | 9.2 |
| 6 | 18.12 | 249 | 173 | 13.7 |
| 7 | 23.6 | 264 | 167 | 11.2 |
| 8 | 9.6 | 63 | 166 | 6.6 |
| 9 | 6.51 | 54 | 169 | 8.3 |
All in all it was a good effort. I know in cooler, faster, conditions with race skis and being able to ski the entire Singing Pass, I can cut a significant amount of time.
My GPS track is below. Open it in Google Earth to fly around the Spearhead Range.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Race - Ken Jones Classic
March 24th was the Ken Jones Classic Ski Mountaineering Race. Nick and I drove from Vancouver to Golden on Friday and stayed at the Rondo Motel
We managed to do the entire drive during daylight and I had enough time to go for a walk around Golden to stretch out my legs before the sun went down. Nick had an upset stomach on the drive up and was feeling pretty under the weather by the time we got there. Assuming he had eaten something that didn't agree with him, he spent the afternoon napping.
With the time zone change, we woke up at 4am and headed out for Lake Louise. The drive was quick and we got registered for the race. It was a chilly -12 C at the start and the sun had not yet hit that side of the mountain. It was tough to decide what to wear in order to stay warm for the first part of the race but not overheat when the sun came out.
The first climb was on the groomed ski runs and I found it to be a bit steep in order to keep the pace. I fell in with Peter Knight who I knew to be near my speed. We were sitting in second and third when Andrew McNab overtook us.
(Photos From Ski Lake Louise)
There was a solid chase group of national team members just behind us.
(Photo From Ski Lake Louise)
Higher up the climb, we came to a section of proper skin track. Ian Gale passed us and the three of us skied together for most of the rest of the race. The first three descents were sufficiently technical on chopped up snow that I was able to make up time on the racers around me with my big skis. On the last climb I was a few seconds behind Peter, sitting in 5th place. I hoped that the last descent would give me a chance to overtake him but it proved to be an easier one. I was unable to make up any time and finished 5th as the first non-national team member for the second race in a row. Nick finished in the middle of the pack after suffering through the race feeling pretty sick.
The course had four climbs and four descents with a net elevation loss and one bootpack section.
Climb # - Ascent (meters) - Avg HR - Rate of Ascent (m/min)
1 - 611 - 181 - 17.02
2 - 217 - 176 - 15.36
3a (skinning) - 189 - 173 - 15.66
3b (booting) - 82 - 173 - 16.63
4 - 541 - 166 - 13.38
Similar to the Dogtooth Dash, I started out significantly harder and faded on the later climbs. I think a little pacing here would go a long way to allowing me to finish stronger.
When I compare my heart rate and climbing speeds for the last two races in this graph, it appears that I was climbing more efficiently in the most recent race. The lines indicate my speed at any given heart rate and in the most recent race, the line is higher. This shows that at the same heart rate, I am climbing faster. In a controlled environment, this could be explained entirely by increased fitness and efficiency. Because it is in the field though, there could be confounders. Snow conditions would be a big one. Depending on how well the skins grip the snow would seriously effect my efficiency. Other factors such as heat and hydration could play a role. I suspect these are minimal however and I think that the biggest difference is fitness and being more familiar with the style of racing.
After the race, we hung out at the resort, waiting for the awards ceremony. We hit the road and made it back to Squamish by 1am.
A few other thoughts on the race: My skis are significantly heavier than the rest of the group. Next year, an upgrade to race skis will help make up important seconds. My transitions are still pretty quick. As long as I stay calm and pay attention to what I am doing I can keep up with the fast guys. My new CAMP Rapid 260 Race Backpack worked great. The ski attachment system works fine and the tool box is a great water bottle holder. My clothing choices were a little better but I still was sweating pretty bad in the sun. A proper race suit would be great and make carrrying skins easier. A slightly shorter race, I found myself keeping a bit of energy in reserve when I should have finshed stronger. With a downhill finish, the true finish line is the top of the last climb. I took three Hammer Gel packets and finished almost 750ml of Hammer HEED. This is around 370 calories total during the race, which does not seem like very much considering it cost me around 2000 calories. The gels are a bit tough to eat cold - they get to be a very slimy consitency. It would also be nice to have one bottle with energy drink and another with plain water to wash things down.
We managed to do the entire drive during daylight and I had enough time to go for a walk around Golden to stretch out my legs before the sun went down. Nick had an upset stomach on the drive up and was feeling pretty under the weather by the time we got there. Assuming he had eaten something that didn't agree with him, he spent the afternoon napping.
With the time zone change, we woke up at 4am and headed out for Lake Louise. The drive was quick and we got registered for the race. It was a chilly -12 C at the start and the sun had not yet hit that side of the mountain. It was tough to decide what to wear in order to stay warm for the first part of the race but not overheat when the sun came out.
The first climb was on the groomed ski runs and I found it to be a bit steep in order to keep the pace. I fell in with Peter Knight who I knew to be near my speed. We were sitting in second and third when Andrew McNab overtook us.
(Photos From Ski Lake Louise)
There was a solid chase group of national team members just behind us.
(Photo From Ski Lake Louise)
Higher up the climb, we came to a section of proper skin track. Ian Gale passed us and the three of us skied together for most of the rest of the race. The first three descents were sufficiently technical on chopped up snow that I was able to make up time on the racers around me with my big skis. On the last climb I was a few seconds behind Peter, sitting in 5th place. I hoped that the last descent would give me a chance to overtake him but it proved to be an easier one. I was unable to make up any time and finished 5th as the first non-national team member for the second race in a row. Nick finished in the middle of the pack after suffering through the race feeling pretty sick.
The course had four climbs and four descents with a net elevation loss and one bootpack section.
Climb # - Ascent (meters) - Avg HR - Rate of Ascent (m/min)
1 - 611 - 181 - 17.02
2 - 217 - 176 - 15.36
3a (skinning) - 189 - 173 - 15.66
3b (booting) - 82 - 173 - 16.63
4 - 541 - 166 - 13.38
Similar to the Dogtooth Dash, I started out significantly harder and faded on the later climbs. I think a little pacing here would go a long way to allowing me to finish stronger.
When I compare my heart rate and climbing speeds for the last two races in this graph, it appears that I was climbing more efficiently in the most recent race. The lines indicate my speed at any given heart rate and in the most recent race, the line is higher. This shows that at the same heart rate, I am climbing faster. In a controlled environment, this could be explained entirely by increased fitness and efficiency. Because it is in the field though, there could be confounders. Snow conditions would be a big one. Depending on how well the skins grip the snow would seriously effect my efficiency. Other factors such as heat and hydration could play a role. I suspect these are minimal however and I think that the biggest difference is fitness and being more familiar with the style of racing.
After the race, we hung out at the resort, waiting for the awards ceremony. We hit the road and made it back to Squamish by 1am.
A few other thoughts on the race: My skis are significantly heavier than the rest of the group. Next year, an upgrade to race skis will help make up important seconds. My transitions are still pretty quick. As long as I stay calm and pay attention to what I am doing I can keep up with the fast guys. My new CAMP Rapid 260 Race Backpack worked great. The ski attachment system works fine and the tool box is a great water bottle holder. My clothing choices were a little better but I still was sweating pretty bad in the sun. A proper race suit would be great and make carrrying skins easier. A slightly shorter race, I found myself keeping a bit of energy in reserve when I should have finshed stronger. With a downhill finish, the true finish line is the top of the last climb. I took three Hammer Gel packets and finished almost 750ml of Hammer HEED. This is around 370 calories total during the race, which does not seem like very much considering it cost me around 2000 calories. The gels are a bit tough to eat cold - they get to be a very slimy consitency. It would also be nice to have one bottle with energy drink and another with plain water to wash things down.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Race - Canadian Ski Mountaineering National Championships - 2012 Dogtooth Dash
After an excellent trip to the Rockies with Sarah, this weekend was the Canadian Skimo Championships in Golden B.C. Dad and I drove up Friday with a stop for a ski in Rogers Pass and then met Nick and Paul in Golden for the race. Golden is a fun town and Kicking Horse is a pretty cool resort. Very well suited to holding a race like this
Saturday was a 15km race with 6000ft of vertical climbing. We were a bit unsure of ourselves in our first race ever but managed to figure things out pretty quickly.
Nick and I started off in a good position and were sitting in the top 5 but by the third (and biggest) climb of the day, the group of four that we were racing with started to pull away. We held contact with them hoping they would lose some steam but by the last climb, another big one, they stepped up the pace a bit as we started to fade. Nick broke a pole but still managed to give me a run for my money. We ended up in 6th and 7th place and only 6 minutes off the podium (in a 2:30 long race) and were the first two non-national team finishers.
Looking at my heart rate profile, it is clear that I started too hard. It seems like it would be tough to hold back early in the race when people are jockying for position but looking at the average HR for each climb I think it is much more reasonable to stay in the 173-179 bpm range and try to pick up the pace later in the race.
My tranisitons were fast even with the big skis and I didnt have any skin trouble during the race. My big skis were great on the downhills but a lighter pair of race skis will go a long way on the uphills. The homemade ski carrying pack worked but was not as efficient as a proper skimo pack. I was dressed way to warm and next time will dress more as if I am competing in a nordic ski race rather than a day of downhill skiing. With all these factors resolved and at least one race under my belt, I am confident I can shave a significant amount of time.
Average heart rate, average ascent rate, and total ascent for each climb:
Climb 1 - 185 bpm - 16.5 m/min - 107 m
Climb 2 - 185 bpm - 16.3 m/min - 119 m
Climb 3 - 179 bpm - 14.6 m/min - 518 m
Climb 4 - 175 bpm - 14.0 m/min - 343 m
Climb 5 - 172 bpm - 13.6 m/min - 214 m
Climb 6 - 171 bpm - 11.7 m/min - 289 m
Sunday was a team relay of 4 x 8-minute laps. I did lap 1, 3, and 4 and Dad did lap 2. We managed not to finish last. We packed up after the relay and managed to make it back to Squamish by 10:00pm with another 1500 km of driving for the weekend.
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