The Patrol Race is THE classic backcountry ski race in Washington. I'm hesitating to call it skimo... but more on that in a minute. This year I competed with longtime partner Sam Lien and new friend Ingmar Prokop on Team Cascade Trifecta. Somehow I have done this race four times now, just can't stay away from this thing. There are some very important things to know going into it:
- It is an overland travel race that uses skis, it's not a skimo race
- It is currently the longest duration ski race in WA (Yay Endurance!)
- This race has an incredible history adding to the experience
- The experience of the Meany lodge and it's community is just as memorable as the race
Ingmar and Sam on one of the thinner sections
Weather was looking GRIM on the way up there, it was pouring rain all the way to the pass. It switched over to snow just in time for the race start and we managed to never actually get rained on. We all had raincoats and we were very ready to use them.
We had a generally good race. I was on navigation and managed to get us lost for 5 minutes on the first PCT section. Then we all blew right past the windy pass QR placard and Imgmar took one for the team, backtracking for the code and catching back up in no time. It was also a day for skin failures, we were just blowing through skins, probably 8 different failures between all of us (none for me, HA!). We caught Team Goraks at Checkpoint 1 and passed them shortly thereafter. After that we kept things rolling and held the lead all the way to the finish, finishing first in 4:48:25 with a healthy margin. It was my second time winning the race, the first time was with the "Fastest Known Team" in 2019 with a time of 4:35:46 the current CR (new course).
We had a generally good race. I was on navigation and managed to get us lost for 5 minutes on the first PCT section. Then we all blew right past the windy pass QR placard and Imgmar took one for the team, backtracking for the code and catching back up in no time. It was also a day for skin failures, we were just blowing through skins, probably 8 different failures between all of us (none for me, HA!). We caught Team Goraks at Checkpoint 1 and passed them shortly thereafter. After that we kept things rolling and held the lead all the way to the finish, finishing first in 4:48:25 with a healthy margin. It was my second time winning the race, the first time was with the "Fastest Known Team" in 2019 with a time of 4:35:46 the current CR (new course).
The Author Approaching Checkpoint 1 Photo Credit: Rick Mead
Ok, so what is the winning strategy? First off, this is not a skimo race. The ups and downs tend to be gradual with only a couple of steeper sections. The good news (for all strong skinners) is that there is a lot of tricky sidehill skinning, so the race does reward strong skinning technique. Metal edges are a must, folks have done this race on tele skis with fish-scales, but as far as I know all winning teams in recent memory have used proper skimo race gear. The lightweight of the gear combined with how fast race skins are while still being grippy makes skimo race gear the best choice. I just don't want to give anyone the idea this is a skimo race, there just isn't enough downhill skiing for that. You are covering ground, getting from A to B. Approach it that way. There are even parts of the course that some years are skied and some years are skinned depending on conditions. Throw a couple skating sections in and you have yourself a well rounded mountain outing. Lowell Skoog's advice my first year was "don't be afraid to skin downhill." Other than not getting lost or suffering a gear failure, figuring out where and when to transition is probably the biggest piece of strategy. It's a long race too so don't forget to pace your self and fuel sufficiently.
Lots of righthand traverse skinning as witnessed by this brand new pair of race skins in 2021
The history of this race is amazing. needless to say we are approaching the 100 year anniversary of the first running of the race. Lowell Skoog devotes a whole chapter to it in his WA ski history book Written in the Snows. In 1936 Roy Nerland, Howard Dalsbo and Ole Tierdal won the first Open Patrol Race with a time of 4:50:39. Granted the course they were racing was maybe a mile and 500' vert shorter than the current race, but still. That time is within spitting distance of my 2019 team's CR and they did it on wooden skis and leather boots, no carbon fiber for those guys, what a bunch of badasses! Where else can you experience this sort of racing history in the US?
The Author (Left) with Team 66% Aerosexual preparing for a crushing defeat at the hands of team Old Age and Treachery in 2021 Photo Credit: Rick Mead
Meany Lodge is the icing on an already delicious cake and is without a doubt one of America's two great ski areas (The other being Cochran's in Richmond Vermont). What makes it great is the fact that the people are awesome, the terrain is a blast, and there are no chairlifts. The ripping fast rope tow, lovingly nicknamed the "Mach" is your only option. This rope tow is so fast and steep that you cannot hold on without the assistance of an aluminum caming "gripper" which is attached to a belt. The video below is not sped up. The Mach is fast! Every year after the race I try to get in 10,000' of downhill skiing. This year, I hit that amount in almost exactly an hour, it could have been 45 minutes if I hadn't been screwing around. Did I mention the skiing is fun? The terrain is legitimately great with moguls, cliffs, gullies, and pow for days after a storm. No skied out by 10AM BS here, they farm pow for days.
Mach "gripper" attached to a belt to be worn
The meany lodge folks are amazing and are STOKED to show you how to ride the mach. They are so happy to show the place off. To have the opportunity to ski inbounds you do need to finish the race relatively quickly, or stay overnight at the lodge and enjoy it on Sunday. My last two races, staying over wasn't an option due to COVID. I did stay over on my first race in 2017 and it was a blast. I'm excited for a return to normalcy in 2023 and can't recommend this option enough.
There used to be ski lodges like this all over the US, what happened? Where did we go wrong?
Race logistics:
- This is a lottery race, sign up for their email list and put your name in the google form lottery link when the time comes. I have never been denied, but maybe my teams are just lucky
- You do need to do some "mountaineers stuff" but don't be intimidated by it
- You do need to track down a certificate of completion for an Avalanche course you have taken to upload to the mountaineers portal. If you can't find yours just email the guide you took your course from, they will probably be happy to send a replacement.
- In the written materials there is a lot of emphasis placed on emergency gear such as the 10 essentials. It's really not a big deal. You can't pack like you are racing skimo (read empty backpack) but you just bring light versions of things you would normally bring backcountry skiing like a med kit and emergency bivy, extra layers, headlamp etc.
- For the race:
- Use skimo gear with your fastest pair of skins
- Skin failures can be a real problem, BD skin glue at the tails can really help with this (but makes them challenging for fast skimo transitions as they can be very hard to take off). Bring lots of extra skins and maybe a dish towel for drying skis before putting skins on if the weather looks wet.
- Look closely at the map and think about your transitions
- The route can be hard to follow at times, don't get lost
- Don't be afraid to skate or skin downhill
- Fast wax is very important with all the low angle skiing and skating
- Speed is very conditions dependent, To set a CR you will not only need great race strategy and execution, but also fast conditions.
- I highly recommend staying at the lodge the night after the race.
- Spotting a second car is required and the place you leave your car requires a sno-park pass (crystal springs sno-park, motorized or non-motorized passes accepted). The other car is parked by the start at Summit West.
- They will bring gear from the race start to the lodge for you
- They have tons of food and beer waiting for you at the finish, such hospitality!
- You can skate or skin out from the lodge but they also provide snowcat and snomobile tows at certain times
- You will have fun.
Teammate Sam Lozier getting faceshots on skinny skis after the race in 2017