It was a fantastic winter’s day in PLPP for the Kananaskis Ski Marathon.
Gian and Ivana completed their first ever Cookie Race today. Feb 26, 2011
I’ve always considered Peter Lougheed Provincial Park the best place to XC ski anywhere on the face of the earth, and that was reinforced today.
A happy cookie racer waves his poles in the air as he crosses the finish line. Feb 26, 2011
Interesting trails for all abilities of skiers, in the magnificent setting of our majestic Rocky Mountains, where, as Sheila noted, the skiing is free. You could not find better snow conditions than we had today. The tracksetting, as always here, was superb.
The crowd at Pocaterra Hut cheers on as another skier nears the finish line. Feb 26, 2011
The day started out on the cool side with a race time temperature of -18, but warmed up quickly and was -8 by noon. Perfect temperatures for easy waxing.
Overall winner Graham Nishikawa crosses the finish line with Gord Jewett close behind. Feb 26, 2011
I’m happy to report that I beat Graham Nishikawa by 20 minutes…problem is, he skied the 42K and I only did the 24K. Graham was the overall winner with Gord Jewett a few seconds behind him. Graham stopped the clock at 2:10:20. Congratulations!
How would you feel if you just skied 42K in 2 hours? Gord Jewett(#37) and Graham Nishikawa(#67) were the first two across the finish line. Feb 26, 2011
Cheryl was thrilled with the conditions and the race. Her grip wax was perfect(VR40 covered with one thin layer of VR30)and stayed on for the whole race. Still had lots of grip going up Packers. It’s always a relief to reach the top of that final hill on Packers, knowing you have 7K of fast and fabulous downhill remaining.
Cheryl at the finish of the Cookie Race. Feb 26, 2011
Cheryl did the 24K in exactly 2 hours. After being humbled by my friend Peter in every race for the past five years, I can finally gloat a little bit. Not too much, though, because I was still 30 minutes behind the winner in our age group. Too many cookies, maybe. They were delicious.
I enjoyed meeting all the blog readers who came up and said hello today. It’s gratifying to hear from readers such as Gian and Ivana(see photo at top of this post), who moved here this year from Houston. This is their first year of skiing and were thankful for all the helpful advice from SkiHere.ca, including all the comments from readers. They’ve used this blog as their guide on where to ski.
The full results are now posted on Zone 4.
Next Sunday, March 6, it’s the Lake Louise loppet. Check the Calgary Ski Club’s website for more info calgaryskiclub.org/
Jeremy sent this email:
Hi Bob,
That’s me with my poles in the air at the cookie race. Thanks for my 15 minutes of internet fame! I always knew that hamming it up over the finish line would pay off. If only it wasn’t for those 42k guys right behind me to steal my thunder.
Great blog by the way. It’s been really helpful this year to get the latest up to date trail info. Your efforts are very much appreciated!
Jeremy
Hey Bob, it was great to finally meet you.
This was my first XC race and what a great experience. Although next race I’d like to try some high performance skis. 🙂
I see you did very well with your present pair of skis, but I predict you’ll have a sleek pair of racing skis for next year’s race. The need for speed…. -Bob