Alpental Randonnee Rally on March 18th and more

I'd love to hear more reports. I was registered, but things came up and I wasn't able to make it. I was crushed and disappointed I couldn't be there

I know Monika Johnson won the women's race division in about 2 hours.  Way to go Monika!

Nice work Monika!

~ thank you 2 hours even. my first event like this. The gentleman who won did it in 1:23 ! Can you tell he's on the pro circuit? from Slovania.



Yes, a big thank you to all the sponsors and people to support this event.
Thank you to the alpental patrol for kicking great steps in the boot sections, securing the ladder quite well for all hundred of us, and all the other course physicalities.

It was still spitting a bit of rain at the start. some fog, some sun, off and on a light mist. I never choose to ski in the rain. must say the light drizz actually was nice to cool you down. And it stopped raining at the finish. Some like me got off course coming down from Piss Pass. stayed too high vs. de-skinning sooner. First lap , i.e. longer and steeper, lap felt much harder than the second. Some steeper places were slippery from the wet snow.

Had a terrific spring ski afterward on the lifts with new friends from Bend, and a seattle/alpy local from the event, Molly, Kevin and Scott.

yes, lots of really nice schwag prizes. seemed like it was had mostly by taller guys who could jump and reach the fastest. would be nice for some of the others who didn't place (so not for me) and didn't jump fast if perhaps part of the schwag was given via names in a hat.


Nice to see more women than I expected. The connotations of "Rec" and "Race" i think deter folks from doing the 2 lap "race" category. I like to think of it more as the "Long" and the "Short" Course. If you're up there already, might as well do the 2 different laps to check things out. and you get a longer work-out which isn't bad

Great race.  Monika was a rocket and the winner of the men's race division finished in 1:23, only five minutes behind me with 1800 feet of additional climbing... Nuts!

Super course and a great attitude from everyone, with tons and tons of shwag and some really fantastic prize packages for the winners.  If I'm not mistaken, Monika won a backpack, probe, shovel, an OR puffy and a pair of Dynafit Ti Race bindings... Nice!

Quads were on fire trying to sprint down Nash and Snakedance after the mad rush to the top...  can't wait for the next one.  This was my first race, so I was a little nervous about doing race vs. rec, but next time I'll be going for the second lap, since I'm not going to win in EITHER category

This race was lots of fun.  2 weeks ago at Crystal's Vertfest was my first race experience, now this made for number 2.  Conditions were soft and wet and made skinning interesting.  I found myself attempting a too-aggressive line for my skinny euro-noodle ski/skin combo.  It was raining a bit during the race; just enough to make me chose the hardshell.  The ascent route followed Armstrong Express for the most part, but crossing to the south side of the stream, then up Debbi's Inspiration.  Half-way up I was regretting the hardshell decision, as I could feel sweat rolling up and down my arms/sleeves with each pole plant.  From there the route ducked behind Chair 2, and stayed in view of the chair the entire time.  Along this section of the ascent were 2 separate bootpacks, both very short and steep, and one requiring a ladder climb.  This really spiced things up and was a welcome break from skinning.  At the top the sun was peaking through and made for a nice reward while making the transition.  After the transition, it was down Upper International, then across Snakedance traverse.  On Nash it was cloudy/whiteout and I lost the route makers mid way down.  I trended skiers left, toward the knob there and found a blue gate.  Racers were bombing straight down Nash making better time by missing this gate.  Fortunately, it was unmanned, and of little consequence.  I hit the gate and continued left and hit the markers for the other ascent route (for the race division's second lap) and knew I had gone too far.  By this time the clouds thinned enough to see the blue gate at Snakedance traverse.  From there down, it was smooth sailing.  The bumps on Snakedance were surprisingly soft, and snow was fast.  Below that, once on Sessel, the speed kicked into high gear as the fast groomers ushered the way to the finish line (for the Rec division).  This was the turn around point for the Race division, who then made their way back up Sessel, Lower Nash, then traversed toward Piss Pass. Top 3 finsishers in the race division were the same as at Vertfest.
The all-inbounds course wasn’t revealed until very late in the game.  Not that big a deal, but it affected my pack choice.  The Life-Link website and all info available stated there would be no bootpack, so I went with a smaller backpack to save weight, but it didn't accommodate the ski carry very well, and floppy skis were banging my head and calves on the bootpacks. 
To me, the course didn't seem as long as the one at Crystal, but harder in the beginning with a more abrupt start before I had a chance to get warmed up.  I didn't feel as good during this race as, but I think that was from  only 3 hours pf sleep and I didn't eat breakfast due to an upset stomach, so I ran out of steam much sooner.  Despite all that, it was a great opportunity and real blast to be apart of such a fun event.
Skifish is the schwag master! He (and most others) came away with heaps of great stuff.  I want to echo the thanks that have been given to Martin, Alpental, Life-Link, OR, Marmot, Mtn Hardwear, Buff Headwear, and many others!