Team Nike, led by Vail’s Mike Kloser, defended its title as the winningest adventure racing team in history at the inaugural Thule Adventure Race in Monterey, Calif., on April 12-15.
The three-person team, including Idaho’s Michael Tobin and Breckenridge’s Monique Merrill, was in a rare position of chasing the leader after the race’s sea-kayaking leg through 7-foot swells in the Pacific Ocean. Team Nike quickly found its familiar lead in the biking section and held the top spot through the running race. Two weeks ago, Kloser and Vail athlete Steven White won the Elk Mountains Grand Traverse race from Crested Butte to Aspen.
Imperial Challenge in Breckenridge: Last weekend, one week after his win in California, Kloser was back on the podium. This time, however, he wasn’t on the top step. Vail Valley athlete Jay Henry endured fierce wind to win Breck’s 16th annual Imperial Challenge race, unseating five- time champion Kloser and 164 other racers. The storied race begins with a 6.3-mile bike ride before climbing and descending 3,000 vertical feet on snow. Henry set a race record of 1 hour, 22 minutes, 30 seconds, besting Kloser’s 2006 record by 25 seconds.
Colorado Springs athlete Mike Hagen took third for the second year in a row. Alma’s Colleen Ihnken won the women’s race. Kloser’s son, Christian, won the shorter citizens race.
Race series adds Buena Vista stop: The popular Adventure Xstream Adventure Race series has added an event in Buena Vista. The 12-event series, which attracts beginners and professional racers, is in its seventh year and offers sprint, 12-hour, 24-hour and multiday expedition races in Breck, Vail, Moab and Durango.
The May 12 race in Buena Vista will feature a 12-hour, 60-mile race and a 30-mile “sprint” race with whitewater kayaking, singletrack biking, orienteering and a Tyrolean traverse.
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SNOWBOARDING: Aspenite claims silver at FIS junior worlds
Aspen’s Jordan Karlinski, a 17-year-old snowboarder with racing and big air skills, took a big air silver medal this month at the FIS Snowboard Junior World Championships. The slight but strong boarder stomped several huge tricks, including smooth backside 540s and a backside 720 in the finals off the 50-foot kicker in Bad Gastein, Austria. Karlinski finished 15th in the juniors’ boardcross race.
SNOWSPORTS: U.S. team members turn on the jets in Alaska
Racers on the U.S. Ski and Snowboarding Team are no strangers to big speed on snow.
Case in point: U.S. Ski Teamer Scott Macartney and U.S. boarder Ryan McDonald both won at the 22nd annual Arctic Man this month in Summit Lake, Alaska.
The two Macs – both from Washington – wowed more than 10,000 spectators at the race, with speeds reaching 88 mph. The race, a rite of spring for Alaskans, starts with a downhill ski from 5,800 feet for 2 miles before racers pick up a tow rope behind a racing snowmobile and scream uphill for 2 miles, reaching speeds close to 90 mph and then a final 1,200 vertical-foot drop to the finish line.
Macartney finished in 4 minutes, 1.49 seconds, reaching a top speed of 88 mph for his second consecutive Arctic Man win and a course record. Fellow Olympian Marco Sullivan finished in 4 minutes, 3.46 seconds, and former Leadville local Eric Heil, who has won the race four times, set a speed record in the race, reaching 91 mph during the tow section. McDonald finished in 4 minutes, 40.05 seconds, reaching a top speed of 83 mph on his snowboard.
SKIING: Bar set for descents on famed Jackson Hole couloir at 214
Jackson Hole ski instructor Mark Eakin took advantage of a new lift at his home hill this season to set a record by skiing the infamous Corbet’s Couloir 214 times. One day this winter, the Virginia native skied the 500 vertical-foot couloir 32 times. Corbet’s is a dauntingly steep and narrow shot flanked by rock walls. The initial drop requires significant courage, and the first high-speed left turn demands even more skill. Most people ski it once, and that’s enough.
SKI JUMPING: Gelande jumpers fly high at Utah’s Snowbird
Montana gelande king Rolf Wilson soared 240 feet to win the North American Gelande Ski Jumping Championship this month at Snowbird in Utah. The distance set a record for Snowbird.
Unlike traditional nordic ski jumping, in which participants wear free-heel bindings, gelande jumpers use alpine equipment. Gelande’s world-record distance, set by Wilson two years ago at Steamboat’s Winter Carnival gelande competition, is 366 feet.
Colorado jumpers Bruce Stott, Pat Arnone and Brent Wilson finished in the top 12.
