Race up and over four ski mountains near here in Colorado. Vertical 12,000+ (3,650+ meters) and 26+ miles (42+ kilometers). Actual backcountry skiing as well as plenty of in-resort action for spectators (thanks to Aspen Skiing Company). They pulled it off this past weekend and kudos to everyone involved — especially winning team of Bryan Wickenhauser & Brian Smith.
Myself and my wife opted for two full days of backcountry skiing and didn’t spectate the event as I wasn’t into frantically racing around the valley trying to figure out where the competitors might be (next year that’ll be easy now that race times are known). But I wanted to get a blog post going with some good linkage to help promote this ski-mo race. It really is quite something that we hope will grow to be huge.
Here be the linkage:
Aspen Times newspaper Power of Four coverage.
Aspen Skiing Company event page.
I’d also like to give a shout-out to Pete Swenson of COSMIC for having the vision to make this happen, as well as Aspen Expeditions for their contributions.
For results and other things:
Competitor Sari Anderson’s POV. “Starting up Midnight Mine Road, I knew Jason felt horrible and was barely persevering…”
Ann Driggers acount of her DNF in Power of Four, good read. “Yes, it would seriously hurt…”
Ted Mahon’s story. “Despite the sore feet and added challenge of having to finish on a broken ski…”
Brian Harder’s report (second place, men). “One of the hardest physical tests many of us have faced on skis.”
Yes indeed, in our opinion here at WildSnow HQ, Power of Four is easily the best ski mo race in North America. Start planning for next year!
Power of Four Ski Mountaineering Race, March 5, 2011, Final Results
Men
1 6.13.07 1.58.45 58 Brian Smith Bryan Wickenhauser MALE
2 6.31.03 2.06.41 39 Jared Inouye Brian Harder MALE
3 6.31.55 2.02.27 46 Max Taam Chris Kroger MALE
4 6.32.19 2.09.08 52 jan koles jon brown MALE
5 6.43.07 2.08.53 31 Pierre Wille Brian Johnson MALE
6 6.47.01 2.07.46 21 Michael Hagen Mike Schilling MALE
7 7.13.23 2.09.18 28 Jake Jones Pat O’Neill MALE
8 7.24.06 2.16.05 62 Mark Beardsley Brian Edmiston MALE
9 7.33.05 2.13.05 45 Nathan Brown Dave Gieck MALE
10 7.41.06 2.24.18 51 alan peterson teague holmes MALE
11 7.56.10 2.26.57 10 Harlan Nimmo Tyler Newton MALE
12 7.57.43 2.36.57 16 Charlie Nuttelman Max Nuttelman MALE
13 8.12.11 2.24.40 18 John VanNostrand Jr Aaron Taylor
14 8.22.04 2.33.00 9 Andy Jacobsen Nick Devore MALE
15 8.43.40 2.42.44 14 Esteban Lipsher Ram Mikulas MALE
16 8.46.06 2.33.00 34 Chris Lane Lorenzo Semple MALE
17 8.49.33 2.44.05 48 Jon Lowe Scott Radek MALE
18 9.16.25 2.57.43 47 Brad LaRochelle Nikki ArCieri MALE
19 9.28.00 2.52.16 15 David Phillips Adam Frisch MALE
20 9.32.30 2.34.03 13 Anton Sponar Jordan White MALE
21 9.34.59 2.45.47 2 Jeremy Rietmann Doug Newton MALE
22 9.39.10 2.48.13 49 Steve Miller Scott Waylett MALE
23 9.39.44 2.58.48 33 Dave Songayllo Mike Spayd MALE
24 9.49.03 3.07.02 41 Chris Klug Jon Gibans MALE
25 10.18.50 3.07.24 20 Ephi Gildor Jordan Agamie MALE
26 10.33.40 3.08.07 37 Dave Gray Karl Walker MALE
27 10.35.42 2.52.37 35 David Palazzo Tom Hraha MALE
28 7.45.41 2.16.45 5 Jamie Kilcoyne Ray Hellinger MALE
29 8.59.23 2.54.36 24 Travis Moore Brad Yule MALE
30 DNF 2.59.31 60 William Smith Jay Hunt MALE
31 DNF 2.59.35 3 George Trantow David Borchers MALE
32 DNF 3.12.47 36 Scott Downen John Warner MALE
33 DNF 3.12.47 56 Santiago Valerga Ari Alder MALE
34 DNF 3.13.27 4 Joe Vandal Anthony Nance MALE
35 DNF 3.21.38 55 Steve Skadron Shanna Hutchinson MALE
36 DNF 3.36.34 38 Dan Brewster Dave Bower MALE
37 DNF 3.40.51 54 Alan Feder Johannes Felter MALE
38 DNF 3.57.16 6 Jeff Vandal John Mount MALE
39 DNF 3.58.13 57 Craig Downie Steve Wraith MALE
40 DNF 4.09.52 67 Cameron McIntyre Aly Erdman MALE
41 DNF 4.10.34 73 Kyle Taylor Ben Wygant MALE
42 DNF 4.10.40 29 walter hooker artur plonka MALE
43 DNF 4.14.47 1 Mike McHargue Jon Turner MALE
44 DNF 4.19.38 71 Robert Chase Matt Heisler MALE
45 DNF 4.48.56 44 Mike Gettinger Bryan McShane MALE
46 DNF 4.58.15 72 Eric Stahl Dick Hampleman MALE
47 DNF 5.19.09 74 Bob Nix Kevin O’Hagan MALE
48 DNF DNF 40 Mick Lavy Jason Segal MALE
49 DNF DNF 53 Dawes Wilson Stephen White MALE
50 DNF DNF 61 Todd Kennedy Steve Rane MALE
Women
1 7.58.09 2.30.59 42 Jari Kirkland Eva Hagen FEMALE
2 8.32.41 2.42.23 22 Anda Rojs Smalls Colleen Ihnken FEMALE
3 7.42.50 2.27.59 23 Lyndsay Meyer Jessica Phillips FEMALE
Mixed
1 6.46.45 2.12.00 50 monique merrill mike kloser MIXED
2 7.00.42 2.18.50 63 Stevie Kremer Marshall Thomson MIXED
3 8.05.30 2.32.50 17 christy mahon ted mahon MIXED
4 8.29.52 2.43.40 11 Dawes Wilson Billy Mattison MIXED
5 9.11.08 2.52.50 7 Lissa Ballinger Dan Goddard MIXED
6 9.33.20 3.03.13 27 Ben Kadlec Sara Kadlec MIXED
7 10.15.15 3.09.48 32 will frischkorn coral ferguson MIXED
8 DNF 3.28.43 26 Joan Giddings Jeff Giddings MIXED
9 DNF 3.42.34 12 Ann Driggers Scott McCurdy MIXED
10 DNF 3.50.09 65 Mary Harlan Art Burrows MIXED
11 DNF 4.30.06 8 Charlie Vandal Veronica Whitney MIXED
12 DNF 4.36.04 66 Ali Phillips Katy Frisch MIXED
13 DNF 4.46.49 76 Meredith Hanrahan Jessie Levin MIXED
14 DNF 5.12.13 43 Jason Elliott Katie Brooks MIXED
15 DNF 5.23.00 59 Lionel Bony Agnes Sauvage MIXED
16 7.23.15 2.09.08 30 Jason McGowin Sari Anderson MIXED
17 10.08.58 3.15.19 64 Tim Assar Anne Saint Clair MIXED
Vets
1 8.59.23 2.34.13 25 Neal Beidleman Tim Grogan VETS
2 8.13.27 2.27.07 19 Andre Wille Scott Yule VETS
3 DNF 5.01.49 69 Martin Suthren James Knowlton VETS
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.
