Despite a snowfall of more than 200 centimetres in the six days before the race, 100 people mustered up enough energy and courage to take on the Yeti XC at Whistler Olympic Park on Saturday (Feb. 19).
It was the first time in the snowshoe race series' 10-year history that it took place in the Callaghan Valley and series race director Marc Campbell was pleased with the Yeti's debut on a cloudless afternoon.
"The weather today is unbelievable," he said. "We picked probably the day of the year. I think all the soft snow definitely made it more challenging but it's just been an awesome day."
According to Campbell, the course at Whistler Olympic Park was unlike any that's ever hosted the Yeti.
"It's more of an undulating course than what we're used to," he said, noting that other Yeti races, such as the one in January at Mount Washington, feature more climbing.
"But with all the snow we had, it was pretty challenging."
The star of the race was undoubtedly University of British Columbia (UBC) student Shaun Stephens-Whale, who crushed the 12-kilometre enduro race. Stephens-Whale, who competes on the UBC cross-country running team, beat the second-place competitor by nearly nine minutes, posting a time of 1:07:54.
"It's a great course and I was a bit worried after the first turn because I wasn't totally sure where it was going," he said. "But I loved it. It was more flat than the other Yeti races but still a lot of fun."
He added that he had no qualms with the conditions of the course.
"It was a bit cold out here today, but the course was packed really well. Absolutely no complaints from me."
"He's the kid to beat," Campbell said of Stephens-Whale's impressive performance.
Second place in the enduro went to Colin Kerr, while the top female was Katie Wadden of St. John's, Nfld.
The six-kilometre sport race saw Richmond's Daniel Ribi finish first with a time of 38:29, just over four minutes ahead of second-place Michael Conway. MJ Guinden of North Vancouver was the top-ranked female with a time of 49:35.
麻豆社国产residents Shawn Trudel and Jonathan Pomerleau, who had a net time of 2:09:42, won the duathlon, which was made up of a five-kilometre snowshoe and a 10-kilometre cross-country portion.
While he was pleased with the event in its debut at Whistler Olympic Park, Campbell said he hopes to see the event grow in a similar fashion to the Yeti's more established races.
"I think we reached what our goal was, but we'd like to see the 250-300 racers we see at our Mount Washington and Cypress races," he said, adding that it's not confirmed that the series will be back at Whistler Olympic Park but they would like to return.
The next race for the series will be on March 12, when the Yetis invade Cypress Mountain. For more information on the series, visit www.theyeti.ca.
