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Hi Racers
Canadian Snowshoe Championships Have Arrived!
What a season we have had! Great snow, fantastic support and strong participation it only seems fitting that we should end it with CNSC. With the big race taking place this Saturday March 8 I can only imagine how some of the top runners are feeling as this date draws near. How often do you get a shot at being recognized as a National Champion? I know for many of you this prestigious title might be out of reach. Well, not to worry because the category winners still need to be decided and what an exciting level of competition we have had across the board.
The Cypress course is going to be in great shape with 15 cm of new snow adding to it's already huge base. This course is known to suit the real runners in the field as it offers up a little more rolling terrain in comparison to the other venues. It's an exciting course to run with fast rolling single track making up a big portion of the loop. I have added one groomed section near the Upper Warming Hut, this is a key element of a good course as passing has become important with the top racers being so close. While we are on the topic of top racers, as course designer I always welcome feedback from all the racers, it is the best way to continue to offer the best race possible. With the Nationals course we have taken a long hard look at understanding the flow of racers around this tight single track loop. Something that can not happen is 5km racers having an impact on the 10k racers so we have separated the two events giving each its own start time.
Top 3 Contention For Mens And Womens Triple Crown
- Who Will Be Crowned King And Queen Of The Local Mountains?
Stefan Jakobson - 50 points
Colin Dignum - 48 points
Andrew Clarke - 46 points
Jason Terauchi-Loutitt - 46 points
Cheryl Beatty - 50 points
Katrina Driver - 47 points
Lina Augaitis - 46 points
The Peak Of Vancouver Does Not Disappoint!
The Grouse Mountain venue definitely rounds out the Triple Crown making the North Shore Yeti Snowshoe Series the best in Canada if not North America. The Skyride up Grouse Mountain is always an enjoyable experience especially when you have a challenging snowshoe event to look forward to. The weather was good to us the day before delivering a nice little amount of fresh snow. We thought that maybe hard pack conditions would prevail but it softened up for the 176 snowshoe participants that stood on the line, snowshoes on and base layer ready for sweat.
And sweat it was after a short loop of Blue Grouse Lake the course went back country up and over Dam Mountain which is the single longest, hardest, steepest climb on the circuit. At the time competitors were probably saying, "I hate this Dam Mountain" but once they had conquered the massive 800ft climb I think everyone had a sense of Victory. The Grouse course is unique from our other venues as we can usually offer up a 5km loop that is completed once or twice not so easy with this terrain as this Yeti was offering up a 6km and 8.75km loop. Course designer Dave Howells spent 4.5 hours on the end of a shovel blowing in a sweet section of single track up the face. Once again The Yeti is determined to bring the best possible course to you the snowshoer.
It became very evident that things are heating in the this cool environment of snowshoe racing. Both the men's and women's category is more competitive than ever before. It is also going to be a tight race for best team with Team Atlas Canada taking its first Victory, sharing this with North Shore Athletics and Helly Hansen. This promises to be a close race for the final Yeti on Cypress.
Thank you to all the volunteers for your time, as always it is much appreciated. Thank you to the Grouse staff, it was great working with you on this first year event, we are already looking forward to many more. And last but certainly not least, thank you to all the snowshoe participants that came out to make this such a successful event. We look forward to seeing you all at the Canadian National Snowshoe Championships at Cypress Mountain on Saturday March 8, 2008.
If your not shoe'n, what are you do'n?
By: Dave Howells
If anyone has any questions please direct them to info@theyeti.ca.
Thanks and we'll see all of you on Saturday at Cypress Mountain
Marc Campbell
Race Director
The Yeti Snowshoe Series
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