With the last snowfall weeks away and warm temperatures creating spring snow conditions, Whistler’s Duncan Munro entered the annual Grouse Mountain Snowshoe Classic last Saturday without snowshoes.
"I tested the snow and it was pretty hard, so I asked the organizers if I could do it in my shoes," he said. "I post-holed (broke through into deeper snow) about five times the entire race, and my feet were pretty wet by the end.
"The course was this awesome up and down route that didn’t let you go more than five steps in the same direction, so it was hard to get a flow going. But it was worth it. The course went around the back of Grouse, and there’s an incredible view back there that you don’t get to see that often."
Munro’s final time was 56 minutes, 46 seconds, almost two minutes ahead of his closest competitor. In total, 31 people took part in the 10K race, while the 5K race attracted 40 snowshoe runners.
Munro says he has only been snowshoeing once this year, owing to the conditions in Whistler Valley. Coming into the season he’d hoped to help lead snowshoe running clinics with Whistler Trail Running Experience, but those clinics were cancelled. Still, with no snow in the valley he’s been able to fit in a lot of running, which he said was the difference on Saturday.
Whistler will be hosting the Yeti Snowshoe Race national finals on April 2. Most other events in the series have been cancelled. For more information visit www.theyeti.ca.
