summit snapshots...: Christmas Eve Hyak Vert 120 Rando Rally

12.24.2011

Christmas Eve Hyak Vert 120 Rando Rally

Recently I was inspired by a group of skiers out of Utah, that were tired of traveling to ski race, so they started their own little underground rando race circuit. I sent out an email to some friends with an idea to start something similar around Washington. The email spread courtesy of Greg Louie and, before I knew it, we had a race set for Christmas Eve morning with a vert format. The vert format is basically a set course with a given amount of time to complete as many laps as possible. In our case, the course would be the Hyak ski hill, with each lap being close to 1000 vertical feet.

When the alarm clock went off this morning it was difficult to roll out of bed, especially since we were greeted with 34-degree temps and rain. When I walked over to Hyak at 7:30, there were only a couple people there, and it crossed my mind to bail. Then more and more people started to roll in, so it was on. By race start time we had 16 participants!

The conditions were pretty crumby, with off-and-on rain, fog, and 3-4" of glop. Skiing was challenging for sure, but after it was all over, it was worth it. We had a great time, there was suffering, but it sure was nice to start off the Holiday weekend with some good exercise. Hopefully another race will be on the schedule soon. Big thanks for everyone that made it out, and to my family members that came out to help with keeping time and bringing over some hot cider and pumpkin pie for after the race.

Approximate results below:

Seth Davis - 6 laps 2 hrs 2-3 min?

Brandon Kern - 6 laps 2 hrs 5 min

John Mauro - 5 laps

Greg Louie - 4.5 laps

Crispin Prahl - 4.5 laps

Heather Kern - 4 laps

Holly Walker - 4 laps

Kevin Curd - 3 laps

John Stimberis -3 laps

Melissa Chapman - 3 laps

Francine Curd - 2 laps

Elissa Eng - 2 + laps ?