After being cancelled last year due to the lack of snow the Crud to Mud Classic returned to Whistler Mountain on Sunday with a stacked field – 37 teams of two and 63 solo competitors – skiing or riding from the top of Raven to midstation, then pedaling down A-Line through the bike park. Most participants finished, despite a number of mechanicals and flats.
Given the length of the on-snow portion of the race, a 643 metre (2,100 foot) vertical drop from the top of the giant slalom course to the bike transition area, organizers at Whistler-Blackcomb decided to separate the solo ski and snowboard categories to level the playing field.
They also disregarded any past results or categories at the start line, running solos and teams in the order they registered. With the GS course getting more rutted and slushy from racer to racer, start position was an important factor in a competition where athletes were sometimes separated by just a few seconds after 1,800 metres of vertical descending.
Rob Cook proved to be the fastest solo skier of the day, winning the men’s category with a time of eight minutes, 39.77 seconds – close to 25 seconds faster than Kevin Abean, who was second on the day. Only two team categories, where transitions are a matter of a skier tagging a mountain biker, posted faster runs.
"I didn’t think I was that good in the skiing," he said. "I just wanted to be smooth and maintain a steady speed. Then I had an okay transition, I fumbled a little, and then tried to kill it on my bike.
"I couldn’t believe my time when they announced it – I suck at ski racing. I’d definitely like to see the splits and see what happened."
Cook says the GS course was long and tiring, and harder than he expected.
"I definitely felt it right away on the first push on my bike, but you use different muscles for skiing and biking and I’ve been doing a lot of cross-country riding so after taking a few breaths I was able to put the hammer down."
Cook admits that he’s a fair weather competitor, despite the fact that he consistently wins and places in local downhill and freeride races. He was on the fence whether to race the Crud to Mud this year, but at last entered as part of a friend’s stag party.
He plans to take part in the Phat Wednesday downhill series over the course of the summer, but hasn’t made up his mind whether to take part in Crankworx.
"I’m a fair weather racer – if the conditions are just right I’ll consider it," he said.
There were 26 solo men in the running in Cook’s category, but it was a junior racer who would net the second-fastest solo time of the day.
Alex Prochazka, 15, the provincial downhill mountain bike champion and a competitive skier, won the junior category with a time of 9:00.88.
"I was very surprised," said Alex, discovering he had the second-best time overall.
"The skiing wasn’t so good at the top, but I started to get better and better towards the bottom and had a really good transition."
Prochazka only did up two buckles on his ski boots, and by the time he got to his bike on the deck he already had his ski boots off and was pulling his bike shoes on.
Prochazka’s bike leg was fast compared to other racers, but in terms of what he has done in the past he called it a "normal" run.
"I’ve done it faster, but I know that trail really well, so well by now," he said.
Prochazka will be racing the B.C. Cup this season, and plans to compete in the downhill and freeride events at Crankworx.
He’s also on the Whistler Secondary team for this weekend’s B.C. High School Mountain Bike Championships, where he will be racing his Rocky Mountain Slayer in the big bike category.
Prochazka was one of two Whistler students to race in the high school championships last year, finishing third in the big bike category – despite the fact that he never rides or trains cross-country.
He wasn’t planning to enter this year, but changed his mind – Whistler students don’t get many chances to compete for their school at home. He still hasn’t been training cross-country, but spends a lot of time on his bikes. When he’s not in the park he rides streetstyle, doing BMX tricks on a hard tail mountain bike.
Ryan Sullivan and Nicholas Geddes finished second and third to Prochazka, while Tyler Allison, who was favoured to land a junior podium, had a time-consuming crash on A-Line.
In the team ski categories, the pairing of pro skiercross racer Davey Barr and pro mountain biker JS Therien easily won the open category with a time of 8:06.76. The next team in that category, Carl Baril and Alex Vu, finished in 8:29.31.
The fastest women’s team, Cara Newbury and Jenn Carr, crossed the line in 10:40.00.
The new snowboard solo categories were popular. Wendy Robinson edged out Kimberly Saprunoff in the female category by close to 11 seconds, winning in 10:21.09.
Mitch Crone won the junior race in 11:06.15.
The male category went to Mathieu Hebert in 9:29, followed by Matt Patterson in second and Darren Chalmers in third.
Chalmbers overcame having one of the last start times of the day, and on-snow conditions that were particularly rough, to finish ahead of 17 other competitors.
Organizers thanked the Whistler Mountain Ski Club for setting the GS course, the groomers, the Whistler Mountain Bike Park trail crew and patrol, and the GLC for hosting the awards.
Results:
Open Female Team
1. Cara Newbury, Jenn Carr – 10:40.00
2. Erin Hughes, Deidre Daltoin – 13:55.37
Open Junior Team
1. Steven Elliot, Harrison Gould – 9:37
2. Jay Boysen, Devinj Frost – 9:37
3. D. Mackollar, J. Erinouz – 10:02
Open Male Team
1. JS Therien, Davey Barr – 8:06.76
2. Carl Baril, Alex Vu – 8:29.31
3. Dominic Balic, M. Miller – 8:47.79
Open Mixed Team
1. Lindsay McIvor, P. Whitam – 8:49.40
2. Maria Darquier, Shawn Beaudoin – 9:06.56
3. Iris Hicks, Max Watters – 10:11.15
Snowboard Solo Female
1. Wendy Robinson – 10:21.09
2. Kimberly Saprunoff – 10:32.05
3. Abby Clintoin – 11:45.72
Snowboard Solo Junior
1. Mitch Crone – 11:06.15
Snowboard Solo Male
1. Mathieu Hebert – 9:29.92
2. Matt Patterson – 9:45.43
3. Darren Chalmers – 9:47.90
Ski Solo Female
1. Kasie Stroshin – 9:44.71
2. Jody Weightman – 11:46.73
3. Penny Gotto – 12:03.57
Ski Solo Junior
1. Alex Prochazka – 9:00.88
2. Ryan Sullivan – 9:17.18
3. Nicholas Geddes – 9:53.52
Ski Solo Male
1. Rob Cook – 8:39.77
2. Kevin Abean – 9:05.75
3. Mark Schroeder – 9:06.38
