Why in the world would you race uphill when you could ride the chair?
That’s the question I got on the chairlift as I rode up to get a few practice runs on tele skis before the 2013 Ram’s Head Randonee at Mt. Hood Meadows. I wasn’t quite sure how to answer. It’s probably one of those “if you have to ask, you’ll never know” deals. I love to go fast and I love to compete, and I love the idea of starting up a new winter sport on Mount Hood.
I was totally unprepared for an uphill/downhill race. I hadn’t made telemark turns or skinned up to earn my turns in years. But I was stoked. I’m never prepared for the triathlons I do either, and they always end up being a blast. Once you get past the whole getting-kicked-in-the-head-while-flailing-in-freezing-cold-water stage anyhow.
Plus I never got to compete in downhill racing when I was kid, and I always wanted to. Here was my big chance, sort of. My plan was to rip down Stadium in a free-heel, skinny-skis tuck to the finish line. Just point ’em down and hold on for dear life. That was the plan – for the last 30 seconds of the race. To earn that I would have to climb up, ski down, climb up again, ski down again and then climb up one more time.
Randonee up-and-down races are popular in Europe, and there is a whole world of specialized gear for competitors. But here in Oregon the sport is still fairly unknown. The Ram’s Head Randonee at Meadows in April 2013 was the first race of its kind at Meadows, and it came into existence only after much prodding and promotion from Guy Trombley and the backcountry experts who work at the Mountain Shop in Portland. They were at the base of Meadows with gear packages and skins ready to go for anyone interested in giving the sport a try. Portland Mountain Rescue was there too, along with the Northwest Avalanche Center. Anyone who is into backcountry skiing on Mount Hood is aware of the importance of those organizations.
It was a pretty motley crew gathered at the start line: Nordic and Alpine skiers on a variety of boards, snowboarders in boots, telemarkers with skins, skate skiers without skins, and one lunatic whose plan was to sprint up and down in sneakers and shorts while carrying a hockey stick.
I opted to climb without skins for the first section, to make it easier to drop into the first downhill. That was exhausting, but it worked. I was near the front of the pack. Then came the second climb, up Stadium in slushy snow, past the steep rocks under the chair. I tried it without skins, then with skins, then took my skis off and booted up while climbers in better shape pounded past. The downhill shot from there was fun, but it ended way too soon. And then you had to climb again.
By this point the top competitor, a beast of a biathlete named Sam Cordell, was already finished in an insanely fast 22:06:61. So had the other top athletes. The rest of us were sweating it out in the sun, trudging up the slush for that final glorious pitch. I was breathing so hard when I reached the top that I could barely stand up to pull off my skins.
But there it was in front of me: a straight shot down a wide-open slope with a pretty good pitch to it. Junior racers run slalom on Stadium and they rip it pretty fast. Fortunately, the only gates I had to worry about were the ones at the finish line. I got into my tuck and held on for dear life. My one telemark turn was at the finish line.
After the race the Mountain Shop and Meadows hosted a nice gathering on the sun deck. The barbecue and beer hit the spot, and they gave away some nice fat powder skis, alpine touring bindings and other stuff. But the best thing was hanging out on the deck with a crew of people who love being on the mountain and don’t mind putting in a little extra effort to figure out a new way to enjoy it.
Here’s a shot of Jen Trude of sponsor Everbody’s Brewing and Meadows Nordic Race Director Dale Peters tossing out gifts to competitors on the deck:
Here are the full results from the 2013 Ram’s Head Randonee:
CLASS : Junior
Pl Bib Class Team Name Result
1 17 Junio Ethan Grayum 15:11.11 (1)
CLASS : Junior Mom
Pl Bib Class Team Name Result
1 120 Junio Linette Grayum 15:22.11 (1)
CLASS : Men’s Masters (50 & Older)
Pl Bib Class Team Name Result
1 141 Men’s Dieter Hoffmann 32:36.22 (1)
2 146 Men’s Guy Trombley 33:34.35 (2)
3 10 Men’s James Lamb 38:45.46 (3)
4 110 Men’s Richard Rizk 1:11:40 (4)
5 128 Men’s Don Skei 1:38:14 (5)
6 92 Men’s Vik Doleis 2:11:19 (6)
7 130 Men’s Paul Mayhew DNF
CLASS : Men’s Open
Pl Bib Class Team Name Result
1 134 Men’s Sam Cordell 22:06.61 (1)
2 142 Men’s Paul Klein 24:37.77 (2)
3 80 Men’s Ryan Dubina 25:35.60 (3)
4 122 Men’s Patrick McCormick 26:33.11 (4)
5 7 Men’s Mike Schuller 28:45.46 (5)
6 97 Men’s Luis Valls 29:15.61 (6)
7 91 Men’s Adam Schumaker 29:57.66 (7)
8 137 Men’s Alex Macdonald 30:17.59 (8)
9 143 Men’s Gabe Grayum 30:21.25 (9)
10 139 Men’s Pierce Hodges 30:49.62 (10)
11 87 Men’s Dave Clarke 30:50.22 (11)
12 96 Men’s Mark Morford 31:34.16 (12)
13 125 Men’s Evan Chenoweth 31:52.21 (13)
14 144 Men’s John Loseth 32:21.20 (14)
15 88 Men’s Rocky Henderson 32:58.96 (15)
16 81 Men’s Wes Wenzel 33:28.22 (16)
17 135 Men’s Brett Cournoyer 33:47.85 (17)
18 5 Men’s Paul Cardosi 35:00.34 (18)
19 136 Men’s Ben Jacklet 35:48.89 (19)
20 113 Men’s Michael Anderson 37:38.39 (20)
21 140 Men’s David Novak 38:30.42 (21)
22 145 Men’s Paul MacCammond 39:01.24 (22)
23 149 Men’s Wei Chiang 44:53.43 (23)
24 8 Men’s RommelDeLeon 1:12:19 (24)
25 6 Men’s Bruce Querbach 2:05:28 (25)
CLASS : Women’s Masters (50 & Older)
Pl Bib Class Team Name Result
1 21 Women Connie Macomber 34:56.15 (1)
2 131 Women Violet Anderson 39:33.24 (2)
3 129 Women Katie Foehl 1:01:50 (3)
4 127 Women Linda Williams 1:03:26 (4)
5 133 Women Laura Whitehorn 1:15:22 (5)
CLASS : Women’s Open
Pl Bib Class Team Name Result
1 138 Women Juliette Oldfield 30:59.59 (1)
2 111 Women Chelsey Brown 34:13.76 (2)
3 13 Women Kirsten Isakson 36:40.74 (3)
4 115 Women Laurel Manville 38:02.37 (4)
5 95 Women Patty Smaldone 38:49.55 (5)
6 148 Women Jill Chickering 39:08.26 (6)
7 9 Women Melanie R. Nelson 57:31.87 (7)
8 147 Women Erin Cushing 1:01:05 (8)
The Mountain Shop and Mt. Hood Meadows have scheduled another Ram’s Head Randonee for this season. It will be heldm Saturday, May 3, 2014 at Meadows.
Who’s in?
Last modified: November 1, 2013
