Popularity: 39% [?]

- Click HERE for XTERRA Winter Worlds Photo Album
- Click HERE for pics of the champions, Sari Anderson & Brian Smith

Recap by Trey Garman, XTERRA Planet

Brian Smith, 32, of Gunnison, Colorado jolted past Josiah Middaugh, 29, of Vail, CO, less than 20 meters from the finish line to win the inaugural XTERRA Winter World Championship in dramatic fashion at Snowbasin Resort this afternoon.

After nearly two hours of grueling racing action that included mountain biking, snowshoeing, running and ski mountaineering in snow flurries at 6,000+ feet elevation, Smith pulled off a jaw-dropping come-from-behind victory by a little more than one-second in 1:58:29.92 (with Middaugh right behind in 1:58:31.21).

“I didn’t think I could do it until four gates before the finish and I saw Josiah snow plowing,” said an exuberant Smith. “I’ve been alpine racing since the third grade so that last stretch was my cup of tea.”

Spectators at the finish line remarked that it was the most unbelievable 13 seconds of racing – in any sport – they had ever seen.

“I had goose bumps, it was unreal,” said Mike Caldwell of Ogden, UT. “That’s about as pure and epic a sporting moment as I’ve ever witnessed.”

It went something like this – 200 yards of downhill skiing through eight gates – all viewable from the main plaza at Snowbasin. Middaugh comes into sight of the spectators and falls rounding the first gate. At this point all he needs to do is stay upright and the race is his. He picks himself up and slowly rounds the next two gates only to fall on his back again, this time sliding down the hill. As Middaugh gets up and going again Smith, fueled by years of alpine racing and a natural competitive fire, emerges from the tree line like a man possessed. Seconds later and with just two gates to go Smith zooms past Middaugh on the inside and speeds across the finish line arms raised high.

‘I did everything I could do,” said Middaugh. “I thought if I could make all those gates without falling then maybe I’d be ok but I was lying on my back up there half way down.”

Middaugh, who is one of the most decorated winter athletes in the U.S. - went out onto the fourth and final stage – the ski mountaineering leg featuring 2,200 feet of climbing – with a two minute lead by virtue of crushing the first three stages (he had the fastest run, second best snowshoe, and third best bike split).

Alas, it came down to equipment. Middaugh was using Nordic skis (aka skate skis) that are not suited for steep downhills while behind him Smith slipped into a randonnee ski set-up better suited for both the climbing and descending.

“If it wasn’t about equipment, Josiah would’ve blown away the whole field,” said Smith. “Even on nordic skis I didn’t catch him until the end. The guy is so strong, just a machine.”

Even more amazing is that two-time Winter Triathlon World Champ and 2005 XTERRA Off-Road Triathlon World Champ Nicolas Lebrun almost made the whole Brian-Josiah moment a mute point. Lebrun was in the lead just minutes away from his own crowning moment when he took one of the final turns too fast, lost control, one of his skis, and went tumbling 30 feet down the mountain. He still finished in third just 11 seconds behind Smith.

“It was my fault,” said Lebrun. “All I needed to do was just hang on and race safe but I caught an edge and went down.”

Mike Kloser and Michael Tobin of the world’s winningest adventure racing team came in fourth and fifth, respectively. “Even when I was suffering I was thinking this was a cool event,” said Tobin.

“The snowshoe was fabulous, running through the woods like that was really neat and then at the top of the skinning, the wind was blowing and you were in a blizzard, it felt like you were way up there.”

At the beginning of the race Smith and Kloser used their winter tri experience biking on the snow to pull into the early lead. Once on the snowshoe, Greg Krause (the 2004 U.S. Snowshoe National Champ) and Middaugh put the hurt on the field and pulled ahead. The pair did more of the same on the run and headed into the ski more than two minutes up. Kloser and Lebrun had the fastest times up-and-down the mountain to get back into the race, but ultimately it was Smith that put all the pieces together.

“It was a blast, just tons of fun,” smiled Smith. “This mountain is incredible and the course is great, perfect for summer and winter XTERRA.”

Kloser, who at 48-years-young just won the Winter Triathlon U.S. Championship and has traveled across the world winning races for the better part of two decades, echoed that sentiment.

“Snowbasin and XTERRA Winter is a fantastic fit. Great venue, and the guys figured out a great course.”

ANDERSON LEADS THE MOM-SQUAD

Talk about Mommy power - the top four women across the finish line all gave birth in the last year-and-a-half, and Sari Anderson, 29, of Glenwood Springs, CO – with an eight-month-old in tow – led the charge.

Anderson staged perhaps the most unlikely comeback of the afternoon by making up more than two minutes in the final stage to jump from third-to-first with a winning time of 2:29:47.

“I can’t think of much that I’ve done individually that’s better than this,” said Anderson.

What made the move so remarkable was who she caught – none other than 8-time U.S. National XC Ski Champion and 2006 Winter Olympian Rebecca Dussault (who has a 13-month old and 6-year-old).

“It was really a pleasure racing here today and the crowd really kept me going. Each time I came into transition they made me feel like I could do another leg, the fans were great,” said Dussault.

Just like in the men’s race, however, it was all about the skis. Anderson, who is a member of that same phenomenal Team Nike adventure racing squad with Tobin and Kloser, was on the same “rando rig” that Smith was using while Dussault pulled a much heavier telemark set up the mountain.

The race started with Dussault way out front, putting four minutes on Anderson in the bike leg and 10 minutes on Keri Nelson. Nelson, the North American Snowshoe and Winter Triathlon National Champ last year, worked her way back into the race and all the way up to the front with the fastest snowshoe and run splits. She headed out on the ski leg in second place behind Dussault but couldn’t muster enough leg strength to pull her heavy rig up the hill and eventually finished 7^th among pro women.

Dussault held off everyone but Anderson for second while Lisa Isom (who has an 18-month-old and 6-year-old) was steady throughout and worked her way into third by the end of the day. Jenny Tobin, who has the youngest of the kids (a 7-month old along with a three-year-old), used a pair of stellar runs and a solid ski to finish in fourth.

SULLIVAN, COLONNA WIN AMATEUR XTERRA WINTER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Eric Sullivan (Gunnison, CO) won the men’s amateur race (placing 7^th overall in 2:10:51) and Caroline Colonna (Taos, NM) won the women’s amateur overall (placing 5^th overall in 2:52:56). Drew Casselberry of Ogden, UT - a Snowbasin Resort staffer - was the top local finisher placing 9^th overall (2^nd amateur) in 2:21:23. Rachel Cieslewicz of Salt Lake City was the fastest local female, winning the 20-29 division (11^th overall female) in 3:39:56.

XTERRA WINTER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PRO RESULTS

Men

Pl Name Age - Hometown Final Time Purse

1 Brian Smith 32 – Gunnison, CO 1:58:29 $1,800

2 Josiah Middaugh 29 – Vail, CO 1:58:31 $1,250

3 Nicolas Lebrun 34 – Digne, France 1:58:40 $800

Women

Pl Name Age - Hometown Final Time Purse

1 Sari Anderson 29 – Glenwood Springs, CO 2:29:47 $1,800

2 Rebecca Dussault 27 – Gunnison, CO 2:31:43 $1,250

3 Lisa Isom 36 – Vail, CO 2:45:19 $800

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Click HERE for pictures of the 2008 XTERRA Winter Worlds, Brian Smith and Sari Anderson.

Popularity: 32% [?]

Popularity: 28% [?]

After several rounds of course scouting at Snowbasin Resort near Ogden, Utah – the sequence of events for the inaugural XTERRA Winter World Championship has been re-ordered so the 10k mountain bike portion will start the race, followed by the 5k snowshoe, 5k run, and 8k ski mountaineering stages.

“We switched up the order to assure the most hard-packed and firm conditions for the bike leg,” said race director Dave Nicholas.

In other updates the Weber State University Wilderness Recreation Center has been named the official outfitter for Winter Worlds - offering snowboards with boots and bindings, snowshoes, skis, climbing skins and car racks at discounted rates for race participants.

Athletes in need of gear can go online to www.weber.edu/wrc, email wrc@weber.edu or call 801-626-6373.

The Place: Snowbasin Resort
The Dates: March 7-8-9
The Website: xterrawinter.com
The Phone#: toll-free 877-751-8880
The Parties: Each night in Ogden

Registration Link

Popularity: 28% [?]

TriHive caught up with Dave Nicholas, senior VP of TEAM Unlimited (aka - XTERRA Triathlon). Dave tells us about the new Winter Worlds race that will break ground on March 8-9 at Snow Basin Ski Resort. Check out www.XterraPlanet.com for more details about the event. See below for our interview with Dave.

Explain Team Unlimited’s ownership of XTERRA.

XTERRA is wholey owned by TEAM Unlimited.

Who is TEAM Unlimited?

TEAM LImited came from two companies; Event Marketing and the Kiely Company. Event marketing was our original event production company that started in 1990. Kiely Company was Tom Kiely’s marketing company. We split Event Marketing into TV production and event production but it became to cumbersome and now everything falls under TEAM Unlimited. Much better.

How/why did TEAM Unlimited started XTERRA?

We had become a fairly major player in mountain bike racing. We were also at the head of the ocean sports field with about half a dozen top competitions. We saw the blend of mountain biking and swimming and running into this newer sport called triathlon. So it made perfect sense to combine what we did into one multi discipline event.

Why winter triathlon?

It was a natural extension of XTERRA. And XTERRA is not winter triathlon. XTERRA is 4 disciplines rather than 3 and only two of our disciplines are the same as winter tri.

How does it differ from the USAT winter series?

At this point it is not a series, it is one race. As stated we do snow running and biking (the same) but we do back country skiing rather than cross country and we have snow show included.

How did you come up with the events in the race?

Winter tri is a heavy on equipment sport. We did not think that running and biking were true winter sports. How many times have you been cycling on packed snow? We thought that snow shoe running was more valid than just running on packed snow for a winter event. We also felt that back country skiing was more valid for multi-sport than was cross country of skate skiing. So If you are bringing all this equipment to do a winter tri- it isn’t that much more difficult to bring snow shoes.

Why winter worlds at Snow Basin?

We have worked with Snowbasin on our Mountain Champs in the summer. They are very professional and skilled folks. There is a good relationship with them and the State of Utah. Frankly it was a no brainer. Why re-invent the wheel. We have a world class resort, we have world class people to work with.

Will Winter Worlds be like the summer event (points series events leading to regionals. Regionals to worlds?) If so, what other events are there?

Too early to tell. We do have interest from several other resorts in the US and from some in Europe.

Who are the athletes that will be racing? Are you aiming for the triathlon crowd, or the Nordic skiing crowd, or the snowshoeing crowd?

All of the above. We surveyed our athletes and found that almost 70% are avid skiers. We also know that many of our top pro’s compete in winter triathlon and/or snow shoe racing. I’m not sure the nordic crowd will compete, but we welcome them to try something a bit more on the edge. Hah, no pun intended, but they will need hard edges on their ski’s to be safe on some of the downhills.

Anything else we should know?

We really do not see ourselves as rebels or counter triathlon. So we are not saying winter tri or nordic or cross country aren’t terrific sports. XTERRA created its own sport by being more fun, less pressure and a bit more testy than on-the-road triathlon. Our athletes don’t mind getting dirty or the occasional crash and burn. We felt that the winter crowd - being essentially the same as our summer folks - would like something similar. So we did some research, asked questions, learned a lot and came up with this format. Time will tell if we did it right or not.

Thanks for your time, Dave!

Popularity: 18% [?]

Xterra Winter Worlds in Ogden

The inaugural XTERRA Winter World Championship, a weekend-long, winter sports festival is set for March 8-9, 2008 at Snowbasin Resort, with evening activities being held in Ogden, Utah.

The main event is a unique XTERRA multisport race combining the four disciplines of cross-country skiing, mountain biking, running and snowshoeing. Other featured events for the weekend include an XTERRA Snowshoe competition, XTERRA Dash-for-Cash snowboarding event, and activities geared towards children.

“The vision and partnership of the Utah Sports Commission, TEAM Unlimited, and Snowbasin guarantees a successful event for our community and one that will round out our foundation’s year of activities,” said Kym Buttscharedt, president of GOAL’s board of directors.

The GOAL Foundation is a non-profit group of community leaders, business owners, former Olympic planners and volunteers all dedicated to attracting and promoting sporting events locally, nationally and internationally. The vision is to enhance the greater Ogden area’s quality of life through connecting and funding programs, events, and activities relating to recreation, sports, art and education.

Popularity: 5% [?]