VertFest 2008 Sees Modest Growth
62 skiers vie for prizes and support NW Avy Center

By Craig Dostie
March 4, 2008

The first pitch of the course, with positions already evident.

Crystal Mountain, WA – The second annual VertFest was a resounding success with 62 racers participating in a randonnée rally while hundreds of skiers checked out backcountry equipment from local retailers like Marmot Mountain in Bellevue, and manufacturers like Dynafit, Atomic, K2, Black Diamond, Fritschi, G3, Karhu, Scarpa, Rottefella, Garmont, Crispi, Osprey, MSR, and 7TM. The main sponsor and organizer of the event was Outdoor Research, along with host, Crystal Mountain Resort.

This has been a good year for snow in the northwest, but that was underscored on the day of the event as a fresh six inches of snow fell on the slopes of Crystal Mountain. This made for interesting race conditions, especially on the upper section of the course where the base layer was icy, making good grip on the main skin track truly challenging. Many skiers wised up and broke their own trail, allowing for a true backcountry experience where the path you take counts, and several positions were exchanged at this stage.

Two basic categories of racers participated in the event, professional and recreational, with sub-categories for women, telemark, and splitboarders. Recreational racers ran the course once, completing a 2600 vertical foot loop that went from the base (4,400’) to the top of Silver Queen (7,002’) peak, while the race division did a second lap up for a total of 4800 vertical feet, with a variation on the downhill leg that brought them through the Bar Pits.

Bene Bohm, putting the move on to win with a time of 1 hour, 45 min., 33.6 seconds. Smokin' He moves that fast ALL the time as some of us found out the next day in the backcountry. Photo by Derek Jensen

The winner of the Race Division was Benedict Bohm, from Germany, Dynafit’s internatioal sales manager with a time of 1:45:33.60. Salt Lake City’s Jared Inouye came in five minutes later and Miki Knizka seven minutes later still placed third. On the first lap Jared was a mere 9 seconds behind Bene, but the second lap revealed the difference a longer stride can make. In the women’s pro division Monika Johnson from Seattle won the women’s pro division with a time of 2:34:00, with Hillary Harrison from Crystal Mountain in second, and Lina Augaitis from Vancouver placing third.

In the recreational division, where the skiers only did one lap, Randy Iddings from Enumclaw, Washington (just down the road from Crystal) won with a time of 1:22:44.60, followed by Ben Neilson from Renton and then Daniel Tomko from Bellevue, Washington.

Unlike the first VertFest, the second incarnation was more of a local event. Nearly every racer in the rally was a local from Washington, or nearby Oregon and British Columbia. Only four came from further, one each from California, Colorado, Utah, and Germany. Missing were the regulars in the USSMA race series. They were all in Europe attending the international championship races. The result was several people placing overall higher than expected.

Related Links:

Report on VertFest 2007

SLC Samurai Blog on VertFest

VertFest '08 Race Results

Men - Race Division (2 laps, 4800')

Women - Race Division (2 laps, 4800')

Topping out on the K2 face, the steepest section of the course where booting was the fastest option. Photo by Kieth Karlick

Men - Open Division (1 lap, 2600')

Women - Open Division (1 lap, 2600')

Only a minute in to the race with the first pitch just ahead. Photo by Kieth Karlick

Tele Division (1 lap, 2600')

Splitboard Division (1 lap, 2600')

Alex Kutches, OR's sales manager, preping for the race on Three Way Peak, Crystal Backcountry. Photo by Craig Dostie, courtesty Olympus E-510

One of the little understood things about randonnee races is the why? Backcountry skiers who have never done it wonder why you would waste a perfectly good backcountry day skinning up a dedicated route with a bunch of other backcountry skiers. It seems to antithetical to the entire backcountry experience.

More race prep, er, backcountry turn earning. Photo by Craig Dostie courtesy Olympus E-510

Indeed, as you look at it, it is. Skinning up a slope in-bounds at a resort as fast as you can, just to see if you can beat everyone else is completely counter intuitive to earning your turns. There’s no solitude, fresh tracks, or even the opportunity to simply soak in winter’s beauty. Instead the emphasis is on speed and sweat. There’s hardly even any opportunity for creativity in the line you take since you must follow a specified course.

But there is a camaraderie that occurs that you don’t find in the backcountry. It’s sort of like the experience most folks have when they run a 10k race. Most people don’t run a 10k race because they expect to win. Rather, they participate for the simple fun of sharing their love of running, or in this case, backcountry skiing, with a bunch of other like-minded souls. By doing it with a large group, they are making a public statement to those who see the deed. It’s a fun way to taunt others to join in, and to make them wonder what they’re missing.

On a real backcountry trip, the camaraderie is enhanced by the conversations on the skin track up. There isn’t much extra breath available for conversation while randonnée racing. You’re busy concentrating on maximizing your stride and the grip of your skins, or perhaps maneuvering past the guy in front of you, or simply keeping your pace up so that you beat your own time. But there is a solidarity you share with everyone in the race. So while conversation is absent in the race, it positively overflows after. Strangers and competitors become friends and brethren. You share the experience as you recount how you dealt with various sections of the course, laughing at yourself and each other, and congratulating each other too. You have the same sweet sense of satisfaction that you have after a great day earning turns, but you have it as a common bond with not just a handful of friends, but with a crowd of ‘em. You also know that you planted a seed with the lift crowd that the slopes they dream of skiing beyond the ropes are there for the taking, and you showed them how to do it.

There is another practical reason. All the proceeds from this event go to supporting the Northwest Avalanche Center who provide important avalanche forecasts for the region. That alone makes this a worthwhile event to join in on.

Do I sound like I’m trying to talk you in to racing? You bet I am. For those who missed VertFest at Crystal, a second festival and rally is coming to Alpental, March 29, 2008.