Keeping up with fitness goals in the middle of winter is a perennial challenge, especially for lift-riding skiers.
Leave it to Crested Butte’s colorful locals to shake the winter doldrums with a trio of springtime fundraising events that blur the line between festive party on the snow and day-long endurance feat.
In Crested Butte, the distinction between party and workout is a matter of costume. But don’t let the ape suits, pink wigs and baby-blue tuxedos fool you: Crested Butte folk aren’t afraid to sweat while they frolic.
The family-friendly 7 Hours of the Banana, the raging Al Johnson Uphill/Downhill and the spring-celebrating Crested Butte Pole Pedal Paddle are leg-and-lung crushing endurance contests, especially for racers who try to hang with the ladies (or dudes) in the Red Lady dresses.
7 Hours of the Banana
The everyman contests begin March 1, with the sixth annual 7 Hours of the Banana. On a mountain known for intimidating steeps that sparked some of the nation’s first big mountain ski contests, the 7 Hours of the Banana taps Crested Butte’s longest double-black run, the Banana / Peel, as an endurance venue.
Racers try to log the most laps on the 2,020-foot run in seven hours. It’s a challenging run to complete top-to-bottom without a breather. Doing it 26 times in a row seems impossible. But that’s how many laps 9-year-old skier-cross champion Asher Wienberg logged last year. Pro skier Wendy Fisher holds the record at a boggling 34 laps.
And she’s one of the valley’s chargers who isn’t about to cede her crown. She’s developed a strategy that involves skiing at her pace — still nonstop, but not chasing anyone who may be skiing faster at certain times during the race. She also avoids the deeply dimpled choke in the gut of the steep chute, opting for the trees on the ridgeline. But the way to win the 7 Hours of the Banana is to ski the Banana, she said. A lot.
“You can’t ski other parts of the mountain and get the burn you get in the Banana chute,” said the 42-year-old, whose son Aksel skied 24 laps at last year’s race. He was 8 years old. His younger brother skied 13 laps.
The 7 Hours of the Banana raises money for both the and the . The 28-year-old Adaptive Sports Center offers outdoor adventures to people with disabilities and the foundation delivers scholarships to keep competitive young skiers and snowboarders racing. Banana racers who navigate the narrow, steep funnel of bumps as a team or solo earn pledged support with each lap.
Last year Fisher harvested $14,000 for the groups. Every year some of Crested Butte’s toughest fellows half-jokingly say they are gunning for her Banana title. So she cranks out more top-to-bottom runs on the Banana and spends more time in the gym. The more people who enlist, the more money for Crested Butte’s venerable ski organizations.
“But there’s only a handful of people really trying to do nonstop laps,” she said. “It definitely has a mixture of characters out there, from the serious like me to the fun and outgoing to the teams to the kids.”
Al Johnson Uphill/Downhill
The — named after the intrepid mailman who traversed between the many mining camps in the valley in the mid-1800’s — on March 22 climbs only 660 feet, but the descent down Crested Butte’s gnarliest lines is a sight to behold, especially as racers navigate the steeps with cumbersome costumes. There’s nothing like watching a mustachioed skier dressed like Justin Timberlake ripping a rock-choked chute while trying to keep that gift-wrapped box attached to his waist. Almost 200 locals “compete” in the Al Johnson Uphill — each raising money for the Crested Butte Avalanche Center — and many more gather to watch the finish. It’s actually more circus than race, with entrants spending the entire day in costume as they progress deeper into both the party and the area’s stoutest terrain.
That’s the thing about Crested Butte’s local-friendly contests: for every athlete aiming for a win, there are dozens of competitors fostering a celebration. There’s no crush of fat-free, Lycra-clad racers with lungs that reach into wrought-iron thighs. There are hordes of grinning locals sharing beers midrace and generally elevating silliness to professional levels.
“We are not intending to be a massive event with super-strong racers. This is about fun and celebrating the valley and the fact that it’s spring,” said Crested Butte Mayor Aaron Huckstep.
Pole Pedal Paddle
Huckstep helps put on , which divides competitors into “race” and “fun” categories. The majority of competitors opt for the latter.
The so-called “3P” — set for Sunday, April 26 — follows the snowpack down the valley. It’s a high country twist on the triathlon, but still requires some talent on skis, bike and boat.
The race starts with a climb up Crested Butte Mountain Resort, which closes April 5. It’s a healthy run, with competitors climbing nearly to the summit of the ski area before transitioning into downhill mode for a likely slushy descent. A 27-mile bike ride from Mt. Crested Butte down to Almont follows, where racers will slip into kayaks or rafts for a relatively mild whitewater paddle into Gunnison’s play park.
Last year, the race drew about 50 contestants, despite six inches of fresh snow on race day. And still, many of them wore costumes.
Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374, jblevins@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jasonblevins
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