The BSF Skimo Team had seven athletes and two coaches compete in various events at the Shedhorn Skimo Race at Big Sky, MT, on March 1.
The newest event, the Ramshorn, was a hit with 5 athletes competing including Lucy Ostrowski, age 14, Anthony Warren, age 13, James Madsen, age 14, Ingrid Brown, age 14, and Esther Grimes, age 12. The kids all finished the event with 3,500 ft of climbing and two descents, including a triple black diamond down Headwaters. Lucy won the overall female category in 1:49:16 with Ingrid in 3rd place in 2:18:26! On the men’s side Anthony and James worked together to come access the finish line together in 6th and 7th place respectively overall with times 2:01:27 separated by only hundredths of a second! In a feat that made spectators cry, Esther Grimes, age 12 and the youngest competitor in the entire event, finished the Ramshorn in 5 hours and 9 minutes! This being everyone's first true skimo race ever, the team crushed the uphills and downhills and had a blast!
In the Pronghorn event, 4,500ft of vertical, Owen Dinkins put down a fantastic race! He won his age group and got 6th overall in a time of 2:17:54! This race required use of crampons on the upper section of Lone Peak and skiing the very firm Big Couloir! Coach Michela also competed, coming in 2nd overall with a time of 2:06 just in time to cheer on the Ramshorn finishers!
The Shedhorn event is well known around the country as one of the most technical Skimo races in the U.S. with over 8,000 ft of climbing, a descent down the Big Couloir and a lot of technical skinning. Drake Fricke, age 18, in his third skimo race ever, completed the event in 8th place overall in a time of 4:25:01! At one point Drake had to self arrest after slipping in the skin track but made up time with his fast descents! Coach Charlie won the event overall with a new course record of 3:28:53!
The team looks forward to next weekends event, the Montana State Championships, at Teton Pass Resort!
