[NE Rando Race Series]

NE Rando Race Series on October 12, 2022 at 12:30 pm · in reply to: Vertical/ Sprint Races #71502

Scheduling is indeed a challenge. Coming from an alpine race coaching background, I’m used to two full days of racing: SL one day, GS the other. That obviously doesn’t work with skimo! (I’m aware of at least two prior attempts at successive Individual races on Saturday + Sunday, but I think all those have ended.) All four Vertical races I’ve competed in out West started once the lifts were shut down for the day, requiring a headlamp at the end of the Vertical race, followed by a dawn patrol start the following morning for the Individual race, which meant a turnaround time of only about twelve hours from getting off snow following the Vertical race to starting to warm up on snow for the Individual race! A Basin Vertical last year was supposed to be Friday evening, but it was cancelled at the last hour – literally – because weather conditions were *exactly* as forecast, so ended up being a Sat evening + Sun morning combo yet again. This year, since I first replied in this thread, I noticed that A Basin is planned as a more reasonable Fri evening + Sun morning combo, with one of the new Frisco Sprint races in between on Sat. I see that Santa Fe though is planning a combo of Fri Vertical followed by Sat Individual. My plan out here is to package a Vertical race and a Relay race in a single day on the first Saturday in December, then two weekends later have a Sprint race day. We’re lucky to have venues with perfect terrain configurations for those races and availability at that time of year. Races I’m putting on after New Year’s will be Individual format only.

[NE Rando Race Series]

NE Rando Race Series on October 6, 2022 at 4:32 pm · in reply to: Vertical/ Sprint Races #71369

Curious where you plan to participate in these races?
So few of them anywhere in North America!
I’ve organized a couple Vertical races previously in New England, and am organizing another this coming season, plus Eastern North America’s first-ever ISMF/Olympic-format Sprint race and also Relay race.
As for training, having participated in (IIRC) four Vertical races out West and two Sprint races:
– Vertical race is mainly characterized by its missing elements and hence sole focus on skinning. The duration is obviously shorter, but not so short that it really feels like it has different fitness demands. More like you just want a longer warm-up, and then your only ascent is treated like your final ascent of a standard Individual race.
– Sprint race is totally different. All the usual elements, plus gates of course. (Tip from former NCAA alpine race coach: initiate the turn *above* the gate, not *at* the gate! Might feel slower, but is way faster.) Totally intense, with no opportunities to make up lost time on mistakes. And the duration is so different that it feels like a different sport from a fitness perspective.

[NE Rando Race Series]

NE Rando Race Series on May 4, 2022 at 9:37 am · in reply to: Buckle setup to prevent blisters #66547

Whoops, just realized that I never responded to the question about Leukotape. Anyway, the stuff is outstanding for blister prevention. But not for use in the field once blusters have formed. (I no longer know what to do for blisters in the field, since they no longer form!)

[NE Rando Race Series]

NE Rando Race Series on February 24, 2022 at 1:07 pm · in reply to: How do I get faster at skinning? #63613

A guide once told me that the optimum skintrack angle is 12.5 degrees.
I never asked about the seemingly spurious precision, although that made his yelling out to me of “twelve-and-a-half degrees!” all the more entertaining whenever I set the skintrack a bit too steeply.
Either way, that’s very close to Scott’s 14 degrees.
And when I’ve mapped out skintracks for my skimo races, the segments in that range always feel just right.

[NE Rando Race Series]

NE Rando Race Series on January 16, 2022 at 4:43 pm · in reply to: Buckle setup to prevent blisters #62214

Leukotape is just magical for this purpose:

Apply the night before for maximum stickum.
Then leave on for days at a time.
(Yes, with showering in between too!)

[NE Rando Race Series]

NE Rando Race Series on January 15, 2022 at 9:36 am · in reply to: Improvement for acclimated athlete going from 13’k to 4’k elevation? #62163

Heh, poor man’s altitude training, I’ll have to remember that line!

[NE Rando Race Series]

NE Rando Race Series on January 13, 2022 at 9:08 am · in reply to: Improvement for acclimated athlete going from 13’k to 4’k elevation? #62068

So I updated my calcs to assess how much faster the A-Basin winner would have been at Stratton, also factoring in the reduced efficiency of the Stratton route.
My conclusion was that, alas, the A-Basin female winner is faster than our Stratton female winner.
As a test, I ran the calculations in reverse for myself, and almost perfectly predicted my actual A-Basin result based on my Stratton result.

[NE Rando Race Series]

NE Rando Race Series on December 21, 2021 at 1:27 pm · in reply to: How do I get faster at skinning? #61041

I think the role of leg strength varies enormously depending on the route. For low-angle skinning on groomers, eh, feels like you’re always just spinning. Make the pitch steeper and/or including trail breaking and/or including kickturns, yep, now leg strength is key. Plus any sort of hiking or climbing puts a premium on leg strength.
And for the down, easy groomers or perfect power, once again, eh. But long difficult descents, oh yes, strength is hugely important!

[NE Rando Race Series]

NE Rando Race Series on December 21, 2021 at 1:23 pm · in reply to: Heart rate monitor and avalanche beacons #61038

I wrote that Beacon Reviews piece.
In summary, all sorts of devices can interfering with your searching beacon as a rescuer. However, even just a relatively small amount of spacing solves that problem. So keep your beacon a bit away from your body (i.e., not right up against your chest), and you’ll be fine.
As for interfering with your transmitting beacon as a victim, the only failure I’ve been able to induce was packing a bunch of energy gel packets around a beacon — which was a very disturbing result! (The company eventually confirmed that the packets included an innner metal foil layer.) So for an HRM, I wouldn’t worry about it … although would be easy to test to confirm.

[NE Rando Race Series]

NE Rando Race Series on December 21, 2021 at 1:20 pm · in reply to: height/size and ski touring #61036

“We both have avi bags, so she is carrying a lot more weight for her size than me on her back, but she can get away with a lighter setup skis/bindings/boots than me.”
How different are your boot-binding-ski setups? If she’s in an entirely different class of gear weight than you, then that can make a huge difference.
As for the optimal body size for skimo, one of the fastest racers out East is such a tall strong guy that he qualifies for Clydesdale in running races (even though he of course is anything but fat).

[NE Rando Race Series]

NE Rando Race Series on December 21, 2021 at 1:15 pm · in reply to: Hydration During Skimo Races #61035

“unlike running races, aid stations in skimo races do not appear to be a Thing.”
Correct, you’re on your own!
And no stashing hydration supplies (or anything else) at the transition between laps, since otherwise we’d have all sorts of strategizing that really isn’t part of the sport.

[NE Rando Race Series]

NE Rando Race Series on December 21, 2021 at 1:14 pm · in reply to: Hydration During Skimo Races #61034

The 600ml version of this has been perfect for me:
https://skimo.co/ski-trab-race-bottle
Maybe during some warmer races I might be getting a bit dehydrated at the end, but I suspect that’s offset by not carrying around excessive water at the beginning of the race.
I also try to make sure I’m sufficiently hydrated *before* the race, which is easy to overlook with all the other last-minute preparations.