Rando Races at ski areas. Why?

[trogdortheburninator]

I have absolutely zero desire to do a rando race but also have absolutely zero issue with people wanting to. Lots of friends have done them and said it was a blast.

But can you idiots please stop calling it skimo? Ski mountaineering is climbing up mountains then skiing down them. This inbounds ski running thing is rarely that. Rando racing would be fine.

Also all skiing is stupid, you're strapping big ass wooden planks to your feet and sliding down snow ferchristsakes.

Dont think of skimo-racing as short for ski mountaineering, just think of it as its own term. Sadly rando racing never caught on and ski mountaineering racing did. Dont expect it to change any time soon. The national and international federations have ski mountaineering in their names, and it will be titled ski mountaineering in the olympics. True that its usually inaccurate, false that its never accurate. I dont say I'm going ski mountaineering when I skin up a groomer (i usually use the super sexy terms like uphilling or skinning). I will call it skimo training though (be that for skimo racing or actual ski mountaineering).

The skills from skimo racing hands down cross over to actual ski mountaineering extremely well. Frankly, when it comes to pulling off significant ski mountaineering goals with your definition of climbing up then skiing down mountains, skiiing is rarely the crux; rather, fitness and efficiency will be a bigger limitation to lofty goals if they are not present. Then adding in basic mountaineering skills/systems/knowledge. Most skiers could become good enough to slide down something like the grand teton on skis with just a few smaller objectives under their belt (might want the requisite mountaineering skills too, but those can be faked/guided). Very few skiers would have the fitness for something like the teton trifecta. In the grand scheme of authenticity of mountain sports that were converted to competition I'd put skimo somewhere in the middle echelon. Way more authentic than gym climbing competition to rock climbing or world cup ice climbing to ice climbing/alpinism, less true to the form than FWT is to big mountain freeskiing or trail running is to trail-run racing. Note that in every one of these competitive variants, IME, the average participants are able to perform in the original activities at a much higher level than the average non-competitive participant.

As suggested by muted, the downside is still that being good at stuff makes it way harder to center your chakra. #namaste

[muted]

Holy stereotypical boulder douchebag. Case closed.

[trogdortheburninator]

Holy stereotypical boulder douchebag. Case closed.

I'm sure you are trying to say something profound, but all I can think of when I read your posts is:

[bobz]

Agree with Dantheman, Dark-star, Ive-seen-diamonds, and others. “Because it’s fun, that’s why” seems more than good enough for me.

Haven’t skimo’ed or rando-raced, personally. I did do the Elk Mountain Traverse one year, and had a great time (though, echoing Dan, it was humbling). I have a bit more experience in ultrarunning, which was as much a cult social scene as anything else.

Also, I remember planning and attempting a speed-hike of the John Muir Trail (didn’t complete it; shin-splints under inconvenient circumstances), and listening to various people tell me “that doesn’t seem like the right way to experience the wilderness”. In fact, having experienced the wilderness in a multitude of different ways, I can report that trailrunning was a perfectly fine way to experience wilderness (until it wasn’t anyway).

[muted]

I'm sure you are trying to say something profound, but all I can think of when I read your posts is:

I give you two points for having a sense of humour. You have potential. And maybe you are just trolling me in a very good way.

But of course you have no clue what I'm talking about. Me trog, me no know about thoughts. And anyone who puts down the big bad skimo racer must be slow, right? I'm just jealous, that's the only explanation on why I'm not impressed by you, is the impression I'm getting from ya. Trog ski uphill fast, see trog ski! Bask in Instagram photos of trog! See trog signature!

Just having some fun here, i don't want to hurt trog, but the fact you are from Boulder where fellow trogs are king and tell trog he is a great trog is just too fucking good to not bullshit with you. Trog on.

[BFD]

I have a question for those that participate? Do you call yourself a randoist and is there something called randoism. Some guy in Anchorage likes to talk about himself in those terms. Are those real terms?

[trogdortheburninator]

I have never heard these terms. Rando racer, skimo racer, randork are all acceptable.

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

............but the fact you are from Boulder........

most people i meet "from Boulder" are from somewhere else......

[bobz]

Reflecting on this further, I completely understand people "getting" some kinds of racing and not others. Even when I was into the ultra scene, I never quite got the appeal of, say, the Badwater event, even as some of my running friends were doing it. I can't say I've ever had the slightest interest in the whole obstacle race genre, either. And, it's fair to say that most of my ultra buds had zero interest in the kinds of roll-your-own endurance treks that I found more interesting (both the ones I did, and stuff I enjoyed reading about). Still, I see no reason to actively disdain other people's harmless fun.

[gpcharles]

I dont say I'm going ski mountaineering when I skin up a groomer (i usually use the super sexy terms like uphilling or skinning). I will call it skimo training though (be that for skimo racing or actual ski mountaineering).

kind of a non sequitur in this interesting thread, but i recently started just calling it hiking for a run before the lifts open, and now everyone knows what i do without a unwelcome but unavoidable 5 minute explanation of how it works and what the fun part is.

[SB]

Rano races and Tom Jones concerts are pretty similar?

[Buster Highmen]

Still, I see no reason to actively disdain other people's harmless fun.

Are you some kind of communist decrying the ways of TGR?

[trogdortheburninator]

I give you two points for having a sense of humour. You have potential. And maybe you are just trolling me in a very good way.

But of course you have no clue what I'm talking about. Me trog, me no know about thoughts. And anyone who puts down the big bad skimo racer must be slow, right? I'm just jealous, that's the only explanation on why I'm not impressed by you, is the impression I'm getting from ya. Trog ski uphill fast, see trog ski! Bask in Instagram photos of trog! See trog signature!

Just having some fun here, i don't want to hurt trog, but the fact you are from Boulder where fellow trogs are king and tell trog he is a great trog is just too fucking good to not bullshit with you. Trog on.

Mostly trolling. I do bag on obstacle racing and crossfit, so I'm probably just as judgmental as you, just not about skiing.

[Buster Highmen]

Clearly, Rando Races at Ski Areas support the new Push For Dignity In Parking.

What with societys decay into immoral parking spots, dysfunctional parking behaviors and inaccurate Parking technologies and data, what better way to initiate a move in a more positive and fresh tarmac mode?

It's well known that open air Toronto is a function of available functional and dignified parking spots. Without these, Canada could fail to continue to be what it is. Similarly for Poughkipsie, enemas and green things in general.

Soon, a new rapport will grow out of that cheesy Farfisa organ sound from the 60s like the Troggs or Al Cooper and weld our corpus dismemberus into a more well ordered parking garage, integrating over the whole of Rando Races At Ski Areas.

[muted]

Mostly trolling. I do bag on obstacle racing and crossfit, so I'm probably just as judgmental as you, just not about skiing.

Ha. And for the record, all I said (I think) was rando was "a bit weird". I don't really care.

I was definitely ripping on speedclimbing/hiking up peaks though.

[trogdortheburninator]

Ha. And for the record, all I said (I think) was rando was "a bit weird". I don't really care.

I was definitely ripping on speedclimbing/hiking up peaks though.

Sure, if we read your quote literally that is what you said, but we'd all rather put additional words into your mouth.

So, the more fundamental question: At what speed does a climber/skier/runner stop being in the moment? If Ueli can climb the eiger in 2 hrs, then is he climbing for the "right reasons" when he goes out for a casual 5 hr romp, even though the average elite climber might still take 2-3x that long and multiday efforts are still fairly common. How does a honnold 2 hr nose ascent compare to the more pedestrian NIAD efforts? Speed and alpinism are inextricably linked. If hard aerobic effort disqualifies the purity of the ascent, that rules out a huge number of ascents by even the most zen-like of climbers. If you head out for a grade V-VI climb without bivy gear, you are racing the clock just the same as if you set out in running shorts with a stop watch and an eye on your PR. There is clearly a difference between chasing a grade or a time versus going out for a casual hike in the mountains. I'd argue that the spectrum in between falls in shades of grey rather than black and white.

[emgeekay]

Here's an article from last winter that goes into some of both the ridiculousness and the fun of the sport. http://utahadvjournal.com/index.php/...ountry-collide

[SB]

maybe its moar like performance art?

[alto]

Of all of the Russians who like to machine gun caribou from a helicopter, you'll find some who are bankers and some who are doctors; some who are doing it to fit in and some who are mad at their fathers; some who love the challenge of marksmanship from an aircraft and some who have a deep fear of even-toed ungulates.

[narc]

I guess if XC skiing is too tame and not masochistic enough why not?

[kootenayskier]

I tried skimo racing a couple of times, just to try it out and using my regular gear (no Lycra). Perhaps when I was younger and my competitive drive stronger I might have got into it, but pushing myself to the limit of sustainable physical and mental stress for an extended period was unpleasant, and seemed self focused (best to be on a controlled course when you're entirely in your own head). Touring bellow the no-sweating/nasal-breathing threshold, as is usual, brings feelings of joy and presence, and enhances the awareness of my surroundings. These events provide nothing that I need.

[Shredhead]

Power of Four Race was yesterday in Aspen. 24 miles with 10,000 vertical feet of climbing with 7" of new.
I watched several ski the last pitch in Bingo, which is a legitimate expert run. I was impressed.

[trogdortheburninator]

Power of Four Race was yesterday in Aspen. 24 miles with 10,000 vertical feet of climbing with 7" of new.
I watched several ski the last pitch in Bingo, which is a legitimate expert run. I was impressed.

Fun race, with pretty nice conditions this year. Many of the skimo racers are very good skiers. Some others are still very much learning to ski, but have a lot of fitness. On Bingo, the extra thing to keep in mind is that racers already have 11+k of ascent and 10k of descent on their legs. If somebody is skiing pretty well at that point, they probably know what they are doing. Some years Bingo is harder than highlands bowl. This year, I found highlands bowl with the deeper snow to be the harder ski on race-stix. Quad burn was pushing 11 on highlands for sure, probably only an 8 or so on Bingo. Skiing off snowmass and buttermilk was mostly type 1 fun powder skiing on comparatively fresh legs.