Rando Race from Snoqualmie Pass to Stampede Pass

I posted a report about the trail-setting trip that Nigel and I did on Wednesday, Feb 5:

www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboardi...ex.php?topic=30652.0

We broke a key section of the route, from Windy Pass to Tinkham Pass along the Crest Trail.  This is the most alpine section of the route.  More trail breaking is planned before Saturday, but I won't be involved in that.

I want to post some comments and advice about the cold, based on what we experienced on Wednesday.  I believe it is supposed to be somewhat warmer on Saturday, but it may be windier than we experienced, so the net result may be about the same.

Don't underestimate the cold out there right now. With the easterly breeze blowing it's seriously cold when you're near the ridgeline of the Cascade Crest. Key exposed locations along the Patrol Route are Windy Pass, Tinhkam Pass, Baldy Pass, and the divide south of Stampede Pass.  If you're not familiar with these spots, refer to my route description here:

alpenglow.org/skiing/patrol-race-2004/patrol-route.html

Hands

I frost-nipped several fingertips yesterday. I think it happened while dealing with my skins.  I'm seriously thinking of bringing my enormous OR expedition mitts on Saturday. I had an old pair of Helly Hansen shell mittens yesterday (which are really quite warm) but they were marginal.  Having a long cuff that you don't have to futz with helps a lot.  I don't normally have much trouble with my hands, but yesterday was marginal.

Skins

Skin management is critical when it's cold and windy. I'll be carrying two pairs of skins on Saturday, one optimized for gliding, the other for climbing.  My gliding skins were losing their stick when I got to Windy Pass so I switched to my climbing skins for the Crest Trail.  But the skins had been in my pack and they were so cold that I think I frostnipped my fingers separating them and applying them to my skis.  If you have two pairs of skins, consider carrying one pair in your jacket at all times so that it is warm and ready to swap.

Water

My poor-man's hydration system failed completely yesterday.  The drinking tube (which I had enclosed in a neoprene sleeve) froze solid within a half-hour of the start.  Nigel had a drinking tube integrated into the shoulder strap of his pack and it did much better.  I'm probably going to carry a simple water bag in my pack (no drinking tubes) filled with warm-to-hot water at the start.

Batteries

I was skiing with a GPS clipped to my shoulder strap for navigation.  The batteries in the GPS had been charged a couple weeks ago and stored, unused since then.  They quickly went dead. I switched to my backup batteries which I fully charged the night before the trip and they did okay.  If you have rehargeable batteries, make sure they are all freshly charged.  Cell phones too.

Neck gaiter (face mask)

I don't always bring a neck gaiter but I did yesterday.  Very glad I did. I was glad to be able to cover my nose when I was in the wind. I'll have it along on Saturday for sure.  Great for preventing frostbite.

Hard shells

My legs were doing okay in soft shell pants, but I had lightweight hard shell pants in my pack and I'll carry them again on Saturday. I wore a light hard shell windshirt all day yesterday, even over my down parka.

Goggles

The forecast calls for "breezy" weather on Saturday.  This could produce blowing snow at some of the more wind exposed locations.  (See list above.) I was just using sunglasses yesterday but I'm planning to bring goggles as well on Saturday. 

If you go prepared, the cold is very manageable, and not all that bad.  Don't depend on moving fast to keep warm.  If that strategy fails, it could fail very badly.

Stay warm and ski fast!

Looks fun. Wish I could join this year, hope you are able to sustain it in future years.

I wonder: if you kept your GPS (or any battery-op items) closer to your core, would it work? I've noticed on v. cold days when I take my camera from my pack it can be nonfunctional, but after some time in my pocket it revitalizes.

Hypothesis is that too-cold batteries have not lost their charge, rather are just too dormant to share it...

Just a quick note on yesterday's race. First of all thanks Nigel for stepping up and getting this thing going, hopefully the first of many years to come! Also a big thanks to all the different people that volunteered to set track throughout the course (Lowell, Nigel, Silas, Randy, I'm sure many others too). Another big thanks to the volunteers that stood out in the cold at the checkpoints. Lastly, thanks to the mountaineers and everyone at Meany. It sure was nice arriving at Meany cold and hungry and being served a large bowl of homemade split pea soup and grilled cheese sandwiches with hot coffee and hot chocolate! Couldn't have asked for better conditions for the first resurrected Patrol Race!

I'd say by all accounts, the race was generally a very big success.  We had nearly perfect conditions, fantastic people helping out and everybody returned safely.  While Wolf Bauer's team record time of 4:37 (1936) remains firmly unbroken, a big congratulations is due to Cody Lorie, Jed Yeiser and Nick Middleton who overcame car trouble, which almost prevented them from getting to the start, and logged the winning time of 7:09!  I'll try to get some more fun photos posted to the facebook page soon.

Huge thanks to the Meany Lodge crew, Chris and Ben of Pro Guide Services, Erik and Troy of CBSP, my folks Monte and Ellen, Silas, Randy, Lowell, my wife Sarah and many many others who made this thing possible.  And a big thanks to the teams who tolerated and were good natured about all the little hiccups along the way.

Full Results Here:
Cody Lourie  7:09
Jed Yeiser
Luke Shy

Jason Hummel  7:29
Kyle Miller
Oliver Lazenby

Doug Bardsley  8:11
Brian Finerow
Roy Peterson

Colin Johnson  9:15
Adam Frey
Steve Moenaert

Bruce Jahnke  9:18
Patrick Stanton
Bill Brooks

Jason Kuo 9:56
Rob Stephenson
Gavin Woody

Andy Dappen  9:57
Tom Janisch
Jamie Tackman

Anne Brink  DNF
Jamshid Khajavi
Eileen Jackson

Kaleva Liikane  DNF
Grady Steere
Steve Cooke

Jay Brazier  DNF
Scott Henderson
Ryan Megenity

Lowell Skoog DNS (5:39)
Brandon Kern

Cody Lourie 7:09
Jed Yeiser
Nick Middleton

Nigel, thanks for putting on a great race!

Just wanted to clarify that our team consisted of myself, Jed Yeiser and Luke Shy who was a last minuet substitution for Nick Middleton who unfortunately couldn't make the race. Thanks for stepping in Luke!

Looking forward to giving it a shot again next year!

Cody

I just made some corrections to names - Luke Shy was on the winning team (sorry Luke). Bill Brookes was on Team Alpentrol.

I wanted to give a huge thanks as well to BCA who donated over $2000 in prizes and to K2 for all the support, and to The Summit for working with us on parking and letting us walk up their hill in the wee hours of the morning. Delorme Maps also made some donations but unfortunately they came in late. I guess that means we already have a start on the prize packs for next year.

The crew at Meany Lodge never fails to go above and beyond on being able to make things happen as well so I cannot give them enough credit on all fronts. For those that stayed and rode the powder via the rope tow on Sunday - I hope you had as much fun (not racing) as I did:)

Let it snow!
Nigel