TR: The Grand Traverse (2019)

[The SnowShow]

What?! A TR on TGR?! Is this 2006?

Sounds delightfully painful and sadistic.

[plugboots]

fishscale ski would crush

You’ve open my eyes. I have some Fischer SBounds and some tech bindings laying around and I already have TLT5P’s. I’m gonna use them around the house for the rolling terrain.
Anyway, way to suffer.

[mcski]

I almost didn't bother, but holy crap great job! On the race and the story. I hope you're a professional writer because that was out fucking standing. Submit it to a magazine or something. That was a great read. Congratulations.

[Lexi-Bell]

Thanks for taking the time to write this up!!
Great read and congrats![emoji109]

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Rad.

I fear one day I may hate myself enough to try this race.

Next year? I might be nuts since kid # 2 is due in September, but I badly want to do this race. I need something to motivate me to stay fit and avoid garbage food while I'm sleeping like shit.

Edit to add the obvious omission: Congrats mallwalker! and thanks for sharing.

[natebob]

Great job and write up, thanks! Gear selection is certainly one of the cruxes of this event- so many variables and ways to look at it. I went with leather boots, 3-pins on waxable E-99's and 3/4 length skins. I like your idea of flexible bellow AT boots, tech toes on a fish scale ski. The original F1 is probably the only such AT boot that has a flexy enough bellows to behave like a Nordic boot and take advantage of the kick and glide a fish scale ski can produce. Thanks again for a great read!

[goldenboy]

Hahaha, that was a great read. Sounds like you should make a few laps around the local mall this summer in your AT boots for training

I may have considered doing the GT the first few years it existed, until I realized that it's indeed a walk with no skiing. So when people ask the wife and I if we're doing the GT, we always say "hell no, we like skiing!"

The gear selections those first few years were far more interesting- nordic, tele, AT, frame bindings, splitboards- you name it. I want to say that someone even completed it on day wreckers.

[MakersTeleMark]

Why not just do the Trooper Traverse and enjoy some real skiing?

[goldenboy]

Worthy read. I recently had an inkling of maybe considering doing it, and you've successfully quashed that desire, so thanks for that.

Do the bike race instead, it actually has the super long and super fun DH off of Star Pass. Much different fun/pain ratio.

[whipski]

skipped 99.9% of the words but liked the pics nostalgic for me

[MakersTeleMark]

skipped 99.9% of the words but liked the pics nostalgic for me

Fucking Millennials.

[galibier_numero_un]

Thanks for posting!

This is as much a public service announcement (don't do what I'm doing, kids) as an outstanding trip report!

I can't begin to imagine my ankle tendons after "only" 2 miles of that sidehill traverse. Sometimes, my humility prevails, but only rarely.

... Thom

[AKbruin]

I dig it. Thanks for the write up and well done!

[Shredhead]

Congrats!

Having done that race myself a few times I definitely consider it “type 2 fun”.

Re gear - I think there’s a reason most people are on very light or full on race AT setups these days. That stuff didn’t exist back when this race started but now it’s just best compromise for covering long distance, with short steep up and downs and variable conditions. Would have to be very specific conditions and/or a truly exceptional skier for full on nordic gear to make sense now. I used to ponder putting a tech binding on a metal edge nordic bc ski with fishscale but they actually weigh more than skimo race skis and I think mohair skins can be almost as fast and definitely more versatile.

Yes, I agree.
I’ve skied Aspen Mtn every year they’ve had the race. The skiers an SkiMo Gear, are killing it compared to the old Nordic days.
I remember guys on Nordic, hating life in Spar at 3:30. Now the the fast guys are finishing in around 7 hours and the Co Ed team was <8 hours this year.
It was 60f on Thursday before the race. The storm went north and only dropped 4” on top of death crust. It could have just as easily dropped 12” and totally changed the race.
I can see how guys might need a quiver, to be competitive.

[criscam]

nice write up and solid work! congrats!

[hafjell]

One of my favorite write-ups on the forums. Fantastic.

[MiddleOfNight]

Congratulations!! Great write up.

The most fun event you'll never do again.
Until you do it again

I've done it a few times on 3/4 metal edge scaled nordic gear, combi boot. Can't say I recommend it.

Great achievement man. Solid work.
Much MUCH harder than WRIAD.

[skaredshtles]

<snip>
Much MUCH harder than WRIAD.

Yeah - the difficulty wasn't my point... it just seems odd to go to *Moab* with a mountain bike and ride 100 miles of (arguably) shitty doubletrack in a day.

It's only slightly less dumb in 2-3 days, but at least doing it that way you're presumably drinking beer and smoking weed and enjoying a bit of camping. I feel this same way about the Kokopelli Trail from Loma -> Moab.

YMMV, as always.

[mall walker]

it just seems odd to go to *Moab* with a mountain bike and ride 100 miles of (arguably) shitty doubletrack in a day.

like bringing your touring kit to the Elks and skiing 37 miles of flat hiking trails and jeep roads...

[skaredshtles]

like bringing your touring kit to the Elks and skiing 37 miles of flat hiking trails and jeep roads...

Bingo.

Especially since, with touring kit, you could be... like... actually skiing.

[mikenator5000]

I raced in 2016 and 2017 and my take is; if you race the GT with the expectation of lots of or good quality skiing, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. If you race it thinking of it as an ultra-marathon where you wear skis and get some awesome scenery, the you'll probably think it's pretty awesome.

Great write up. Thanks for sharing!

[hafjell]

Bingo.

Especially since, with touring kit, you could be... like... actually skiing.

Where is the parking lot in this photo? At the lower, right end of the yellow line?

[skaredshtles]

Where is the parking lot in this photo? At the lower, right end of the yellow line?

[brutah]

Hell ya Mark! congrats once again, strong work, Thanks for re-confirming my choice not to do that race

[bennymac]

This is a proper sufferfest - well done!

I’m going to need some clarification on the rating scale some of you are using because this is full Type 3 fun on my preferred scale (rather than type 2 some of you are mentioning). Type 3 is when you’re not having fun while doing it and swear you’ll never do anything like it again - until it’s over and you start thinking it was indeed fun (type 3 fun = retrospective fun)