Audi Power of 4 is the biggest, highest altitude and probably most difficult skimo contest in North America. About 11,600 feet of vertical gain over 25 miles — including summiting the Aspen Highland Bowl at 12,382 ft (3,774 meters). Horrendous skiing downhills, mostly black diamond and double black, a section of off-resort bushwhacking where the meaning of helmets is defined, and running on foot to connect Buttermilk resort with Highlands. This year’s route even had some downhill boot packing to create an altered state of reality in the racer’s psyche.
We can talk about the time winners all day long. But well known alpinist Hayden Kennedy came in with the sartorial splendor award. He and partner Anders Nordblom were the only “streakers” at the finish, and rocked the race on full touring gear in just over 9 hours. (Hayden’s full streak missed the finish and instead rocked straight into the Aspen gondola line, I heard howls of desire emanating from the Prada clad vixens of glisse…) Yes Virginia those are the WildSnow test DPS Tour 1 Wailer 99s mounted with Dynafit Radical 3.0 fully gold plated bindings, we had no idea Hayden had snagged them for the day till we heard it on the grapevine. This ski is now a skimo race board as well as a powder lapper? The progression continues. Or something like that.
We were there spectating (a challenge itself), overall winning team was John Gaston & Max Taam at 5:33 (according to race website), with second place team William Laird and Jon Brown about 20 minutes behind! Third placers, Rory Kelly & Pete Swenson finished a minute later. (Some question about results, we will check). That’s an amazing 1st-2nd spread that shows how far Gaston and Taam have come in their skills — and how powerful their motors are. The pair have just returned from Europe where they did well in the World Ski Mountaineering Championships. Racing in Europe apparently keeps you going fast. Ditto for the gals, with the team of Stevie Kremer and Lindsay Plant coming in looking rested but having done the work for a first place time of 6:05. All results here.
This past week’s bloggination:
A Moment’s Pause — Fallen Writers, Bloggers
Ruminations — Ski Touring Climbing Skins
From the Source — Marker’s Take on Kingpin, & New Volkl VTA Skis
Tristan — WildSnow Reader Rides
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.