Speed Up Race Report

Yesterday we awoke to a clear, cold day. Porters mountain manager, Uli, reported -10 degrees on the 6am snow report. The new snow and clear skies was a change from previous SkiMoNZ events, which general have been held in wet and/or white out conditions.

Start of the race

The course was 3 laps, 1 of 100m vert and 2 of 85m vert. 16 competitors lined up and not to surprisingly Gena, Duncan and Noel slotted into the front of the pack on the first climb. The big surprise here was in 4 place, Cheeseman's Colombian lifty, Carlos, who's been skiing for only 3 weeks and skinning twice! Gena, Duncan and Noel top of the first lap.
By the top of the 2nd lap Gena had a comfortable lead, with Noel 2nd and Duncan 3rd. Carols had skin trouble cause of the cold temps and slipped back, with Tim Ensor quietly moving into 4th place.
The action at the top transition, 2nd lap

Gillian Ensor was the big surprise at this stage, making the most of Kath Conlan's gear issues, comfortably in the lead of the womans race.

At the last uphill transition Noel's skins gave out due to the cold and he feel back to 5th, with Tim making his move in to 2nd!

At the finish it was Gena, Tim, then Duncan. In the woman's race Gillian ran away with it, Therese Macquart was 2nd and Sonia Mellish 3rd.

A big THANKS to every one that turned up for the first race of the series, our race day help- little red Hannah and Dallis, all the Porters staff, especially Uli, Luke, Jay and Dave and of course all our sponsors-Porters Ski Area, Dynafit, Wilderness Magazine, The climber Magazine, Buff Head Wear, ChillOut Mt Pass, New Zealand Alpine Club.

Post race Jane Noel and I made the most of the day, ckeck it out at http://www.skimonz.blogspot.com/

Results

Had a great morning at Porters, with the Speed Up going off really well.

I'll post a race report tomorrow and some photos. Heres some results for now
Race Results
Position Race # Name Time Series Points
1st Male 39 Gena Sibaev 23min14sec 30
2nd Male 50 Tim Ensor 25min45sec 25
3rd Male 46 Duncan Sherratt 25min48sec 22
4th Male 37 Nigel Sutherland 26min25sec 20
5th Male 52 Noel Oien 27min00sec 19
6th Male 38 Sean Waters 28min32sec 18
7th Male 40 Andrew Dickison 28min54sec 17
8th Male 45 Carlos Ramirez 29min22sec 16
1st Female 51 Gillian Ensor 32min12sec 30
9th Male 53 Paul Stevens 32min31sec 15
10th Male 41 Julian Lowndes 34min03sec 14
11th Male 43 Andy Evans 34min32sec 13
2nd Female 42 Therese Macquart 36min49sec 25
12th Male 54 Terry Simpson 38min32sec 12
3rd Female 30 Sonia Mellish 40min34sec 22
4th Female 23 Kath Conlan 41min34sec 20

Here's the first lap

Still Happening! UPDATED 6:45pm

Just a quick note to say the Porters Dynafit Speed Up is still gonna happen!
Every thing is as planned for now!

Look forward to seeing you all tomorrow morning!

UPDATE: Just got back from Porters and things are looking good. We will run the planned course (possibly a first for SkiMoNZ!) and the time table remains the same.

Guessing chains will be required for the road.
PLEASE PARK IN THE LOWER PARKING LOT!! THIS IS JUST BELOW THE MAIN PARKING AREA AT THE BASE.

Speed Up Course

8-830am regestration. 830am pre race meeting. 9am Race start!

Details

Have gotten the details for the Dynafit Porters Speed Up confirmed-
-Date- 26th July 2008
-Venue- Porters Ski Area, Craigieburn Range, NZ
-Entry Fee- $15 per person
-Divisions- Open Male & Female
-Course- TBC, 3 laps of 100-150m vertical
-Required Equipment- Skis (or Split board), skins, boots, poles, helmet, gloves, race number. NO transceiver, shovel, probe, pack required.
-Registration/Race number bib pick up- 8am-8:30am Porters Cafe
-Race Start- 9am, near Porters base area
-Series Points- 1st-30 points, 2nd-25, 3rd-22, 4th-20 and so on....
-Prize Giving- Straight after finish of race, Porters Cafe- Top 3 Male & Female Prizes, Major Prizes are all SPOT PRIZES
-Sponsors- Porters Ski Area, Dynafit, Wilderness Magazine, The climber Magazine, Buff Head Wear, ChillOut Mt Pass, New Zealand Alpine Club

- If you have any questions regarding the Porters Speed Up please ask them via a comment, or e-mail nzinfo@skimo.org

1st July snow update- The Craigieburn range is looking great for this time of the year! we are on track for a great winter and things are shaping up well for a great event at Porters on the 26th.

SPEED UP?

Here's a few short videos to get you primed for the Porters Speed Up.
There will be no fewer than 5 transitions (3 skins off, 2 skins on) at the Porters Speed Up, so these short videos from skimo.org will surely help with you preparation.
1st-Removing your skins.......

Note: This is the last transition of Stephane's laps and he doesnt take the time to fold his skins, which you almost always will want to do!

Next, putting on your skins......

In the above videos both racers are using specialized ski mountaineering racing gear which helps a lot with these speedy transitions, but what ever gear you are on you can adapt these techniques.

For more videos go to youtube.com/skimountaineering

Porters Speed Up- What is it?

The Porters Speed Up is a ski mountaineering race scheduled on the 26th July 2008. This race will be the first of the new 2008 Ski Mountaineering New Zealand (SkiMoNZ) race series. To get things start for the 2008 race series we wanted to have a small, fun, social event. We also wanted it to help build skills so you can Speed Up for the bigger race's of the 2008 series, like the Back Country Blast, CraigieBurner Int' Open and Ruapehu Ripper that take place in late August/September.

The race will have a mid morning start, so already it its going to be feeling more relaxed. The course is going to be pretty short, 3 laps of around 100-150 vertical meter. This will make for a short, fast race, with lots of transitions.

After the race is done you will be able to enjoy some refreshments before the small prize giving and then the after noon is yours to make the most of Porters terrain and the surrounding back country terrain with your new friends.