Feb 15, 2014, Vertfest Alpental Race Report

Turnout was good for Vertfest this year, with a race starting under grey skies that quickly started puking snow.

Personal race report, race stats, and more photos here:

mountainlessons.com/skiing/subaru-vertfest-alpental

Hey CK - nice race write up. Too bad you had issues w/ skins. You weren't the only one - I climbed past another guy just above ch2 w/ skin issues. I remember you at the Gala run - about 400' above the base area. You sure had a fast split up top - I think you're right about being on pace to get 6th or 7th - great job!

This has been a strange winter - my kids and I have been in surf mode until a few weeks ago. I had yet to tour at all before the race and decided to race at the last minute because my son Per was keen. Despite the lack of training, transition practice and skiing in relatively heavy Mastale RS and 15 yr old K2 summits I was able to eke out 12th at 1:47:05. Looking back at last years race times and comparing w/ Dave B and Brandon K it looks like I gave up between 5 and 8 mins. I thought I would be quite a bit further back and makes me question my future gear choices for this race.

I use the same start MO as you - run  the first 300' or so and then give up spots reluctantly from there. I'm the 8th skier back in your blog photo. After that I probably gave up 8 or 9 more spots and then started gaining them back on the climbs and descents. It would be nice to hear from some of the more successful racers if it is in fact overall better to start a bit slower.

Skins - I use ascension skins w/ tail hooks. For sure they are slower w/ less glide but I have never had a skin blowout during a race. Given the aplental course is so steep I wonder how much the extra glide helps - the obvious places where a little glide would have come in handy is between Ch1 and Ch2, The Valley of the Nines and up on knoll 0. My skins gave me no issues and I actually felt last year was quite a bit icier for traction. Other courses which have areas of longer gradual ascent may make the mohair skins stand out.

JK