Whitewater Wonder

We have wanted to visit Nelson, B.C. for quite some time, but it is typically dumping snow at home and we never want to leave good snow. So, this year was the perfect year to go, with no snow at home.

Whitewater Ski Resort is pretty awesome. With just three, slow, two-seater lifts, it has a nice ma-&-pa ski area feeling. Despite having just those three lifts, there were no lines. The lodge was crowded at lunchtime with rosy-cheeked kids and families enjoying some excellent food.

[Our camping view for the week, in the parking lot of Whitewater]

Whitewater is part of what is called "The Powder Highway"; this year, it wasn't exactly powder, but there was white stuff covering the whole hill, and that's better than our hill, so we were pleased.

Kye and I spent some time one day on the rope tow, while Brandon did a little 'touring' for exercise. At one point, Kye decided it was super fun to go backwards, calling himself 'Tow Mater' (the best backwards driver in Carburetor County, for those unaware). 

[Tow Mater]

The next day, Kye said he was ready for the chairlift, so we enjoyed a few lift runs in the sunshine as a family. Pretty awesome experience.

[His legs didn't reach the edge of the seat.]

[Heather's view: is that blue jacket attached to a person?!?]

Little guy straight-lined the whole ski run unless we forced a turn (manually grabbing his binding). He said, "I'm Lightning McQueen. I want to go FAST!" 

[An evening skin, after lifts closed.]

We spent a day wandering around the town of Nelson, getting groceries and propane. Then, we drove to Ainsworth Hot Springs and set up camp nearby. We enjoyed an evening soak and shower. It's a cool spot, with a warm family pool and some hotter caves.

 [The nice Kootenay Lake campground near Ainsworth]

After cleaning up a bit, we headed back to Whitewater. Brandon got up early and headed out (with plenty of time, phew) to do the Coldsmoke Randonee Race . He felt strong and good during the race, finishing in 3rd place.

[B is far left front with orange pack, 

hidden next to dude in blue skinsuit...the start.]

1st- Philipp Schaedler (center); 2nd place- Ben Parsons (right); 3rd place- Brandon Kern (left)

And one last run for little man, after the race and before we hit the road to head home.

 Somehow he managed to sneak out his sleepy sheep.

Bachelor Bust

The past two years, Brandon has made a quick 'Batchelor' trip to Mt. Bachelor to do their randonnee race, enjoying a race in bluebird conditions and some time to himself on that long ride. This year, with the lack of snow, we decided to join him, so we made the trek down to Bend on Friday night after work.

Due to high winds, we opted not to stay in the Mt. Bachelor parking lot and instead stayed down in town. For some reason, Brandon has an issue arriving on time to this race. The past two years, he was stuck in traffic and unsure if he'd make it to the race (after 7 hours of driving). This time, we simply didn't allow enough time for the morning tasks and drive. Once there, Brandon sprinted from the truck to the start line and made it there literally just in time. He was already gassed before the race had even started.  The snow conditions were less than ideal as well, with thick cascade cement. When the race was finished, Brandon had finished in 6th place.

Our friends Seth and Holly joined for the trip, so I got to watch their son in the lodge with K while they all raced. Both finished strongly, with Holly taking 3rd in the womens' category.

[The boys were pretty happy playing trucks on the table.]

[The boys spent a little time skiing on the bunny hill.]

After the race festivities, we headed back down to Bend and enjoyed dinner with Seth, Holly, and Eli.  The next morning, we had breakfast at Sparrow Bakery, which might be worth a 7-hour drive in and of itself. Then, the loooooong drive home, with many pitstops at parks for little guy.

VertFest 2014

Every year, we 'look forward' to the VertFest race at Alpental with a mixture of excitement and dread. This year was no different, with even a bit more of the dread maybe. Just prior to the race, our household had been on a nonstop illness spree for over a month. Not much training occurred. And neither of us were 100% recovered in energy and lung capacity. However, this is the only randonee race nearby so we couldn't miss it.

Heather reluctantly signed up for the 'elite' category, the 2-lap version which she has never done. We haven't gotten much skinning or long distances in this year due to lack of snow, so she was concerned about her endurance. I took a look at the guys signed up for the elite category and knew I had some heavy competition.

Heather's race went pretty well, not without its mishaps, but she ended in 2nd place behind good friend and partner Holly Davis. It was an interesting race from start to finish for them, with much rallying in position between the top four girls throughout the race, both on the up- and downhills.  Heather and two other girls in the top 5 had skin issues during the race, which slowed things considerably.

My race was the usual fast start, trying to hang on as long as I can with the lead guys.  Right away, two Dynafit-sponsored athletes took off with one up-and-coming fast guy in tow and me straggling behind.  I maintained the fourth spot for most of the first lap going back and forth with trail-running legend and new skimo racer Max King.  Max passed me on the first descent, and I pulled into the second transition just as he was leaving, Stano Faban pulled in just as I was leaving.  The second lap I caught Max who was having binding issues, then soon after Stano started to make up ground on me, we all arrived pretty close together at the last transition.  The final descent Max and Stano left me and I coasted into the number 6 spot for the finish, happy to be done and coughing like crazy.

 Not sure why I'm smiling here with the way I felt (Sammet photo)

 Heather (yellow boots) and Holly Davis on the first lap (Sammet photo)

 Max King chasing me on the first booter (Hagedorn photo)

 Second lap with Stano chasing me (Hagedorn photo)

 Alpy patroller Jan Kordell (Hagedorn photo)

 Hyak neighbor Kevin gettin' after it (Hagedorn photo)

Heather lap two (Hagedorn photo)

Womens elite podium shot ski (Heather on right) 

Mt Bachelor Vertfest

Heather and I had planned on camping at Mt. Bachelor the week after Alpental Vertfest, with one or both of us racing in Bachelor's Vertfest. With it dumping snow at home, Heather decided to stay home with Kye and so I opted for a one day turn-and-burn drive to Bachelor for the race.

Alpental's race was particularly difficult due to illness, for Bachelor I felt better but not 100%.  My race day started at 3 am when I left for Bachelor from the pass for a one-day trip.  With all the recent snow and the bluebird conditions, Mt Bachelor was very busy, which I discovered on the drive from Bend.  I barely made it to the race, pulling into the parking lot at 9:40 for a 10 am race wearing street clothes.  The next 20 minutes consisted of me frantically gathering my gear, running to check in/get my bib, partially changing in the bathroom, then fully dressing in the middle of the lodge (i.e. squeezing into skin suit) putting skins on skis, wax on skins, helmet, goggles, gloves, poles, forgot the hat and sunglasses in the car (crap!), choking down a GU, drinking a couple swigs of H2o, running to the start line, confirming the course hadn't changed since last year, and lining up with 5 minutes to spare!  Needless to say, this is not a preferred method of starting a race.

At the start line there were 4 or 5 guys in skin-suits, and a few others in light gear.  Right next to me was Aaron Talbot, who reintroduced himself, we'd met last year at the race and he raced at Alpy this year.  Aaron placed 3rd last year at Bachelor, and recently bought a really light racing setup.  Aaron has been training quite a bit this year and had a disappointing showing at Alpental Vertfest due to a skin blowout.  Missing from this year's race was Jason Moyer (last years winner) and Max King (fourth at Alpy Vertfest, Bend local, and Ultra Running Legend).  

The start was fast as they always are, and I pushed the pace to see if anyone was going to hang; to my dismay and discomfort, three or four guys hung on a lot longer than I expected.  After the second transition the race was pretty much between me and Aaron, with him just behind me on the ups and charging past me on the descents.  On the last climb I knew I needed to try and distance myself a bit, but to Aaron's credit and my lungs' lack of cooperation, I couldn't get much more than a 20' gap on him.  On the last descent, Aaron took the lead and I couldn't catch him, so 2nd place for the 2nd year at Bachelor for me.  The surprising thing about the race is how much time I took off from last year, almost 20 minutes!  The course was exactly the same, and I wasn't feeling 100%, so that is baffling.  

After the race, I bought a discounted ticket and rode lifts for a few hours on the upper mountain, finding really nice packed powder conditions.  Then I grabbed a beer and a brat and hung out for the awards, which were very generous.  Then back in the car to hit the road and back home by 9.  All in all, it was a great day!  I hope to maybe get a bigger contingent from Washington to go down there next year, as their turnout for the race was only 50 people.  They put on a good race and it's a cool mountain, not to mention the close proximity to a very cool hangout town in Bend!

Final booter at Bachelor (Becker photo)

Patrol Race Revival

Way back in the 1930s, there was a race that ran an 18-mile route between two Mountaineers lodges, from the original Snoqualmie lodge that was located at Lodge Lake to Meany Lodge at Stampede pass. The race ran for 12 years but was discontinued during World War II. For about 10 years, the idea has been tossed around amongst Mountaineers to revive the old race, and this year it finally happened.

The plan was for twelve 3-person teams to race from Summit West (the original start was at Lodge Lake about 30 minutes further along the modern route) roughly following the Pacific Crest Trail, to Windy Pass, along the flanks of Silver and Tinkham peaks, across Mirror Lake, over Baldy and Stampede pass, finishing at Meany Lodge near Stampede Pass. Teams could stay for dinner and lodging at the lodge. It sounded pretty adventurous and cool so Heather and I signed up.

Lowell (one of my teammates) and I got out for a scouting trip a couple weeks before the race. 

Lowell near Lodge Lake...

note that there is NO snow!

Lowell, skating across smooth Mirror Lake with Tinkham Peak in the background

Pretty firm conditions, could have ice skated!

Conditions on the scouting trip were pretty treacherous, here ski edges can't even penetrate the hard ice (photo: Lowell Skoog)

Me skinning along the Cascade Crest near Baldy Pass (photo: Lowell Skoog)

Heather and her team ended up bailing due to illness, childcare issues, and various concerns about the unknown (avalanche conditions, getting lost, etc.). Seth, Lowell, and I were set to go. But then, unfortunately, Seth blew out his knee ski racing on the night before the race. We were now a 2-person team so we couldn't race officially but we decided to participate anyway.  Conditions couldn't have been more perfect for the day. Temps were pretty cold but travel was good.  Despite getting slightly detoured in route finding in a few places Lowell and I managed to finish in 5 hrs and 39 minutes, with a approximate 30 min deduction for the Lodge Lake traditional start we would be around 5 hrs, still 23 minutes shy of the course record set in 1941!  Can't figure out how those old timers moved so fast back then, with far inferior gear!  At Meany lodge we were greeted with hot soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, thanks Meany for the hospitality!

Lowell and I at the start

For some more history about the race, check out Lowell's excellent in-depth article.

VertFest 2013

We have looked forward to the VertFest race since winter began. Every year, though, as race day approaches, we start to dread it. The week before the race, Heather started getting sick but fought it off hard, as she didn't want to spend her week off sick. The night before the race, however, she was feeling pretty crummy. I just started to get the bug the day before, luckily it didn't really hit me hard until the day after Vertfest.

We awoke Saturday morning, race day, to sheets of rain coming down outside. Heather, in her congested, head-pounding state, took one look outside and opted out of the race. Since we already had a sitter lined up for Kye, she decided to stay home and sleep a bit.

Arriving at Alpental, I found out that the Traslins were nowhere to be seen. "Hmmm, I might have a chance to do pretty good this year," I thought, but then I noticed Jason Dorais walking around the base area and my next thought was "Crap, no one stands a chance!"  Just a little info on Jason, he is the current Grand Teton Ski speed record holder, as well as second place finisher at US Nationals this year, so he is very fast.  I also noticed a few skin suits as well as light gear on some people.  Then there were the always fast locals; Seth Davis, Jan Kordel and Dave Brown (lives in Bend now).  It was looking to be a competitive day, lot's of pain.

When the gun went off I sprinted to the front with Jason and a guy from Canada named Eric, Seth was on my heels.  Within minutes Jason started to comfortably and quickly distance himself.  The second place guy also started to gap.  Not wanting to push too soon and not knowing how fast this Eric guy was, I let him get a little distance.  Then about 1/4 of the way up the first climb I looked back and saw a guy with Seth in big, baggy clothes, and what I thought was a fairly heavy ski setup.  This really messed with my head, I thought; "I suck, I'm on this light gear in tight clothes and I am getting caught by this guy in heavy gear, I should just quit skimo racing altogether".  Well luckily when this guy caught me I realized that he was not on heavy gear, but, in fact, on really light gear, just baggy clothes.  Thank goodness, ok, ego restored a little.  Turns out this baggy clothes guy is a bike racing buddy of Seth's that recently picked up skimo racing.  So, for the first ascent Seth, Alan (baggy clothes) and I all traded postition fighting for third.

 The first descent actually went pretty well for me, for once I kept Seth pretty close, and put a little time on Alan.  The second and last lap was more of the same, me, Seth and Alan together with Eric just within sight.  Towards the top of the second lap Alan began to pull hard as I hung on, Seth began slowing a bit.  I started to think about a plan to edge out Alan on the last descent.  Then Alan started to put a little bit of a gap on me, just before the snakedance area, but, unfortunately for him he took a wrong turn towards snake dance.  Alan was quickly out of sight so no chance to set him back on course, though soon the course volunteers directed him back the right direction.  I took advantage of this situation and started to push a little knowing this would give me a little breathing room.  At the last transition Alan pulled in right behind me, a quick transition got me out in front of him, all I had to do was ski clean and a podium spot was secure.  Right off the bat, I hit a rut and crashed!  I gathered myself quickly, not looking back and skied the rest of the descent clean to finish in third place.

I was glad to have a fairly clean race, gear worked good, my downhill skiing has improved a lot, thanks to weekly training chasing Seth around.  Really would like to do another race before the end of the season to see how much faster and efficient I can be.

 Kevin Curd & I at the starting line (photo Francine Curd)

And we're off...
behind me Kevin ad to the right is David Stonich,
and Holly Davis is next to him 

(photo Francine Curd)

Busy...

Life has been a bit busy around the Kern household lately. Heather returned to full-time work the first of January, so I have managed, with trades and an awesome job to have most week days off to be Mr. Mom at home with Kye. Watching Kye has been a lesson in patience and letting go of expectations of skiing as much as I have in the past.  Although Kye has been out in his Chariot and in a pack numerous times skiing with me, I just can't ski the same stuff I would without him.  I don't have too much to complain about, as hanging with my little guy and watching him grow and learn is quite amazing, and I wouldn't trade this time for anything.  As far as what we have been up to, here is a quick (sort of) summary:

Kye enjoying the warmth of Grand Junction Nordic Hut

Kye has not only learned to grab his pigs, but also stick his tongue out!

I managed to put together a very informal randonee race series up here at the pass in hopes of finding more ski partners to train with.  The first official night race had a disappointing turnout, only one person showed up, so Lowell and I did a couple laps and enjoyed our cake awards.

Lowell on the booter section of the course

Heather had a 3-day weekend and we had plans to go to Mt. Bachelor in Oregon to ski and for me to compete in the Vertfest Randonee race.  One week prior, we got a phone call with the bad news that my Grandfather had fallen and broken his femur bone near his hip.  We were quite worried about Grandpa. Heather and I decided to cancel our Bachelor trip and go see Grandpa instead.  Then, after a couple of days Grandpa started to show signs of improvement. So, we decided to wait until February break to see Grandpa, so we could have more time with him.

At this point, it was too late to pull together a full family trip to Bachelor, so I decided to drive down to Bend in a quick turn-and-burn (leaving at 3am) to participate in the Vertfest race.  Crazy, I know, but, actually, I had a great time.  I got down there with an hour to spare, and got to see the Mt. Bachelor ski area for the first time.

The race went pretty good. I didn't have time to look at the course at all, and this would prove to cost me the race.  Normally, I am not the fastest guy at a race, so I don't have to worry too much about getting lost.  Well, this time when the gun went off, I sprinted the first 200 feet or so and only had one guy in race garb fairly close.  By the time I got to the first transition I had probably a good 15 or 20 second head start on the second place guy.  So, on the first descent, I was skiing along, and skiing along, and then I started to wonder if I had missed the transition.  I slowed to look for markers and the second place guy went whizzing by, dang it!  I quickly gathered myself and sped to the transition, arriving 30 seconds or so behind. With a fast transition and some quick skinning, I regained the lead and led the second ascent.  On the next up-to-down transition, I had a bad transition, and Jason (the other race dude) had a good transition, so I fell behind a good bit.  The last uphill I managed to reel Jason within striking distance, yet I just didn't quite reach him for the next to last transition. Again, a bad transition for me and a good transition for Jason equaled a second place finish for me.  I was a little disappointed because I felt that I really could, and should have won this race.  But, that is also what I really like about Skimo racing, always looking for ways to improve and become more efficient.  I walked away with a really nice pair of $600 skis for my efforts, raced home to make it to bed by 9:30.

Feeling the elevation at Bachelor at the second to last transition (Tapper Photo)

When Heather and I got up on Sunday, we planned out the rest of the weekend; one day relaxing at home and taking turns skiing, then the other day we would go on a climbing gym and movie date while Grandma Ellie babysat.  Unfortunately, we found out that Grandpa had taken a turn for the worse.  So, last-minute, we loaded up the car and made a dash to Montana.  Once in Montana we were glad to see Grandpa, but also sad to see him under the circumstances.  Grandpa really seemed to enjoy Kye, he kept on complementing him.  It was also good to see Grandma, Aunt Kathy, Aunt Sharon, Uncle Huey and Aunt Nyla, and sister Sheena.  We stayed a couple of days, visiting Grandpa as much as he could handle, and catching up with the relatives.  Lots of prayers going out to Grandpa, he is a special guy, and we love him very much.

Kye meets Great Grandma Long 

It was really touching to see Grandpa with Kye. He really liked him, smooched his cheeks even!

Nana T, B, Great Gpa Long, Kye, H, and Great Gma Long

Some random cute pics of Kye:

Kye is eating real food 2x a day now, and really loves it.  We call him our little bird because he opens his mouth like a little hungry bird when we don't feed him fast enough!

Tummy Time

Skin-suits and Such

It started innocently enough...we signed up for the 'rec' category of the VertFest randonnee race a few years back to support a local event, the guy that hosts the event, and to have a little painful fun. We didn't take ourselves too seriously. We heckled the guys in the front in the skin-suits and fast race gear. Of course, we signed up the next year and the year after that too. We were still 'just having fun'.

Then, one day, Brandon bought a pair of used race skis. I was worried, but I told myself it was all okay, that Brandon wasn't going to get too serious about this racing stuff. Pretty soon, Brandon was saying he needed a skin-suit too. I knew then that it was all over so I tried to contain the damage. I said we can't let ski training and racing completely take over our lives. "Uh-huh, I agree," he said. The next day, and months to follow, Brandon started following an official training regiment. Hmmm...

Well, I knew that I wasn't going to get into this randonnee racing stuff myself. Last year, we travelled to the U.S. Ski Mountaineering Championships in Jackson Hole, where Brandon did the race and I again competed in the 'rec' category. Even though it was a horrible race for me, I still felt the pull to actually race. Still, I reminded myself that I'm just in it to have fun, etc.

Last week, these showed up at our door:

Brandon, ever the sucker for a good deal, HAD to buy these for me b/c they were on sale. Oh dear, now I own race skis. Does this mean I have to compete in the race category? Do I have to train too? Must I wear a super cool skin-suit? Just who am I becoming?!? Begin the heckling now...

VertFest 2012

VertFest was looking to be an icefest one week out, but then the forecast got better and better.  On the morning of the race, we found over a foot of fresh greeting us at our house!  It continued to puke the rest of the day, adding another foot plus by the end of the day.  About 160 people were at Alpental, getting ready to race. It seems that VertFest just keeps growing every year, which is awesome to see.  

I noticed many light ski set-ups outside the lodge, including a pair of La Sportiva carbon RSR skis (very light, very expensive), so I knew that there were some fast people there to race.  Among the competition were the always dominant Traslin brothers from Canada, pro bike racer Andrew Pinfold (also Canada), Brad LaRochelle (past US national team rando racer), Brian Harder (fast rando racer from Jackson) and local fast dudes Seth Davis, David Brown, and Lowell Skoog.

[They're off!]

[With so much snow, it was a funnel to a single skin track.]

[Brandon out front]

Due to all the fresh, deep snow, the strategy of the day would be to avoid too much trail-breaking and ski down fast.  However, since I am not a great downhill skier, I decided that my only chance to compete was to try to get some kind of uphill gap.  So, I ended up out front most of the time as the slow pace of following was driving me nuts, and nobody else wanted to waste their energy.  The uphill portion of the race went well. I didn't have any skin issues for the first time in a race.  I also didn't really feel gassed at any point, even with being dumb enough to break trail most of the time, so some actual race-specific training paid off.  

[B rounding Chair 2 with La Rochelle & Pinfold following]

[Andy Traslin chasing]

The first descent started out good. I was holding second place until I found some deep snow to get stuck in, then repeated that five more times (including one near suffocation incident), and I managed to pull into the second lap transition about two minutes behind the rest of the lead group.  

A quick transition put me out in front of Mike Traslin, and within a couple minutes I regained the lead group.  Again, I took over trailbreaking, and at the top of the second lap, there were 7 of us all ripping skins at the same time.  

The last downhill was a full-on race for the Traslins and Seth Davis, with Seth just beating out Andy for the win and Mike Traslin in third.  My goal on the last lap was to slow down, and thus not crash, and hopefully not lose two minutes digging out.  

I ended up in seventh place, which is not a great finish but, until I get better at the downhill portion, I think this is how it will go.    

Heather did not compete this year since she wasn't feeling well. Instead, she snapped pictures, skied some pow and managed to help out at the Snake Dance gate.  Our friend Melissa did great with a 2nd place finish in the Womens Rec. race, very close to the winner Holly Davis.

[Melissa cruising on her way to 2nd, even with the heavy ski/binding set-up.]