2006 Wasatch Powderkeg

[tele mark]

The 2006 Wasatch Powderkeg was as exciting as ever. Pete Swenson of Boulder, CO smoked the race in 1:55:32; 7 1/2 minutes ahead of his nearest competitor! The race for the final spot on the men's podium was tight as 4 competitors finished within 2 minutes of each other. In the end Cary Smith managed to regain 3rd after taking a nasty fall coming down Gunsight. The race started a half hour late due to av control and the course was changed to including a 2nd skin up Black Bess in place of the Honeycomb bootpack, making it approx. 500' longer. Jeannie Wall of Bozeman, MT won the woman's race division with an impressive time of 2:20:07, followed closely by Monique Merrill and Anna Roberts.

2006 Powderkeg Results

"Pistol" Pete Swenson, the fastest man in the west, faster than a speeding bullet!


PC TV post race interview


Race Results


A very jubilant Pete, all his hard work and experience representing the US at the recent Cuneo World Cup has paid off!


The men's podium: Pete, Chris Kroger & Cary Smith.


Jeannie Wall from Bozeman, MT; winner of the women's division for the 4th year in a row!


Steve Romeo of Jackson, WY; 5th and just a minute off of the podium.


"Gunslinger" Grant Guise from Truckee, CA; 6th place overall AT race; 1st racer to finish on non-race skis and just 2 minutes off the podium. Amazingly this is only his 3rd race, he took 2nd at both June Mtn and Kirkwood!


Polly Samuels, Park City, UT; 3rd AT race.


Women's AT race podium


As always I enjoyed the race, this time from a spectator's perspective. Looking forward to next year already, thanks to all who made this great event possible!

[Platinum Pete]

near as I can tell, in addition to the very "race worthy" outfits and f1s, all the racers are rocking the ti dynafits - and the dude in 3rd took the front off his dynafit ski to lighten it up. Peep are taking the lightness very seriously.
Neat to see the trabs getting so much podium, aren't the 179 Bros lighter than those?
Congrats to everyone who pushed themselves. Any maggots in the race?

[zion zig zag]

Congrats to Leighan, a snowbasin patroller. Blowing away second place!

"The Women’s Race Telemark division went to Leighan Falley of Denali National Park, AK, with the time of 2:53:24. Gambrelli Layco of Park City, UT took second with 3:44:59."

[Woodsy]

no euros?

[MacDaddy]

Congrats to Leighan,

She looks kinda hot, you 'having' that?

[Trackhead]

no euros?

Wasn't a world cup event this year. The euro's were else where.

And I second that, Hottie.

[ratherbskiing3]

She taught an Avy class I took through The U. She's a cool gal. And looks great in person.

[tele mark]

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of touring with the fast and the furious...




Bruce with the "what's taking you so long?" look.


Worst part about it...not only can Pete cover 5800' RT in 1:55, he skis just as well going down.

[Trackhead]

Whole lotta Euro Lime Green going on there.

[Particle]

JONG rando question: are these guys even using skins? Or do they have some crazy scaled bases or something?

[upallnight]

Worst part about it...not only can Pete cover 5800' RT in 1:55, he skis just as well going down.

That is absolutely incredible!!!!

Curious: What % of folks are running the races on non-super-light gear (i.e., no SkiTrab skis, Dynafit Titanium gear, 1-buckle boots)?

I've thought about entering some of these, but I don't rock the ultra-lightweight gear.

[Trackhead]

JONG rando question: are these guys even using skins? Or do they have some crazy scaled bases or something?

Skins. 1,2,3,4

[tele mark]

JONG rando question: are these guys even using skins? Or do they have some crazy scaled bases or something?

The top racers will carry 2-3 sets of straight mohair race skins. Pete starts w/ a half skin, basically anticipating that the skin will fail at some point during the race. He than switches to a full length standard skin for the remainder of the race and carrys a 3rd set w/ tip & tail fixes in case the 2nd skin fails as well. The mohair glides much better and is lighter than nylon, however you lose a bit of grip.

Curious: What % of folks are running the races on non-super-light gear (i.e., no SkiTrab skis, Dynafit Titanium gear, 1-buckle boots)?

In the states, ~ 80% are on non-race gear. All the serious racers are on dedicated race skis, however you can have quite a good time on whatever gear will get you around a mountain. I did my 1st powderkeg on Voile Carbon Surfs/Hardwire CRBs & T2s, thinking it was a light weight & efficient setup . Reflecting back on it I realize compared to the World Cup guys I was like a redneck in a Ford pickup showing up for a Friday night drag race. No chance for the podium, but the beer still tasted good at the end anyways.

Your best bet for a combination of touring efficiency and fun skiing in an affordable everyday ski is either the FreeRando or the Duo Sintesi (what Grant Guise has been racing on). Both are wide enough to offer sufficient float yet narrow and light enough to tour efficiently. Width matters as much as weight if you want to travel fast - less drag from the skins in addition to less weight on your feet (every pound on your feet = 5.6 lbs. on your back).

If you splurge for the Duo Race you will be pleasantly surprised by the capability of an 835g ski. It packs all the punch of a DH race ski (stiffness and edgehold), slicing through variable snow & moguls like the proverbial hot knife through butter while having awesome edgehold on hardpack ice (by far the best I've come accross, too much for most skiers). Andrew even suggested de-tuning the skis for last year's race, which after one run I totally concurred (I'm not a strong enough skier to hold the straight line down this ski wants to take). There's absolutely no smear factor to the tails, you may think you carve but until you get on this ski you don't really know what carving is.

Good luck if you enter, I'm sure you will have a good time and achieve a personal best for climbing efficiency on whatever skis you race on.