Wasatch Powder Keg

Racers and Volunteers,

Thanks for making the 2012 Powder Keg our best and largest race yet.  As with other years we received a lot of positive feedback from both racers and volunteers.  We appreciate the feedback. 

Congratulations to all of our winners of the 2012 race.

 We had our largest race with 162 registered racers.  We would like to thank all of our sponsors and our host Brighton for making this event possible.  We would not be able to put on the race without their support.

We have posted the 2012 Results and some initial photos.  Sallie Shatz also got a photo of our tandem tele racers as one of the photos of the day for Sports Illustrated.  You can see the photo on the Sports Illustrated Snapshot page.  We will be posting more photos and videos as we receive them.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the 2013 race.

Chad & Emily

Due to poor snow conditions in the Wasatch this winter, we have had to reroute some of the Powder Keg course.  The biggest change is the omission of of Stupid Chute.  We evaluated the snow in the top of the chute and decided it just wasn’t safe enough.  for any snow geeks out there, here were the facets we found that comprised 1/6 of the snow pack.

We have made the following changes to the course from 2011.

• First climb goes up Rockin R instead of Golden Needle
• Boot up to Clayton from Great Western instead of skiing around through the backcountry gate.
• Stay on ridge until it is clearly marked to descend - DO NOT DESCEND TOWARDS LACKAWAXAN
• Ski Brown Spot instead of Cheese Grater into Hidden Canyon
• Ascent up Hidden Canyon joins Elk Ridge, then stays on the groomer instead of joining the track from the first climb
• From Preston Peak you must stay on the ridge until clearly marked – DO NOT DESCEND TO SKIERS LEFT
• From top of Mt Milly, descend, then climb to Mt Wolverine instead of skiing Stupid Chute.
• Carefully follow all flagging down Wolverine Bowl and into the trees to Lake Mary
• Skin across Lake Mary and climb and traverse to Milly Bowl
• Descend  Milly Bowl and join the uphill traffic from the Milly climb. 
• Stay left at the Majestic Junction and ski to the finish line

We will go over the entire course during the pre-race meeting on March 9th.

Overall Course Details

Red items are race and heavy metal divisions only

• Start at the Church and run across the parking lot to Brighton Lodge
• Ascend Scout, Rockin-R, Elk Ridge, and Elk Park to Great Western (Check Point 1)
• Boot to top of Clayton Peak
• Ski the ridge to the just above the pass between Clayton Peak and 10,420′
• Descend to Check Point (CP) 2
• Ascend to pass between Clayton Peak and 10,420′
• Skin/Traverse to top of Brown Spot
• Descent Brown Spot (CAREFULLY) to CP 3
• Climb out of Hidden Canyon to CP 4 (Great Western)
• Descend Western Trail to Snake Creek Pass (CP 5)
• Climb up to Preston Peak (CP 6)
• Descend the ridge (DO NOT LEAVE THE RIDGE) and when marked, descent left to CP 7
• Ascend to the top of Crest lift and continue up to Pioneer Ridge (CP 8 )
• Descend Wren Hollow, Lost Maid, and Milly Access to CP 9
• Ascend Majestic Access, Canyon, Little Milly, and Backbone to top of Milly Express (CP 10)
• Boot to top of Mt Millicent (CP 11)
• Descend to pass
• Skin to top of Mt Wolverine (CP 12)
• Descend Wolverine Bowl and carefully follow flagging to Lake Mary (CP 13)
• Skin across Lake Mary, up and into Milly Bowl (CP 14)
• Rec Division will traverse left from top of Milly Express lift and ski into Milly Bowl
• Descend Milly Bowl to Canyon and stay left to ski to the Finish Line at the Milly Base.

The course details on the race info page have been updated to reflect these course changes.

The 10^th Anniversary Wasatch Powder Keg is quickly approaching.  We are excited to be in our 10^th year.  The race has seen a lot in the past 10 years and continues to grow.  We can’t put on this great event without the dedication of a lot of volunteers.

We sent out the first call for volunteers a couple weeks ago and currently have about two thirds of the volunteers that we need for race day.  We still need a number of people volunteering on race day and we need people to help with setting the course during the days of 07, 08, and 09 Mar.

We’re looking for enthusiastic volunteers to help continue the outstanding success of this race. Whether you’re a veteran volunteer from years past or new this year, we want you on the team. We specifically have volunteer positions for skiers that we need to fill.

This is a great opportunity to participate in a home-grown event that features the best backcountry racers around. Everyone who volunteers gets a Powder Keg t-shirt, is invited to the post-race BBQ and awards, and is entered into a chance to win great raffle prizes at the finish line following the race.

As a volunteer, your commitment will include:

•  Attend the one-hour pre-race meeting, tentatively scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, 07 Mar, at 6322 South 3000 East, Suite 100.

•  Volunteer during the race from ~5:30 AM to as late as 12 p.m. on Saturday, 10 Mar.

Some specifics about the race:

•     The race will take place on Saturday morning starting at 7:00 AM at the Milly Base of Brighton Ski Resort.

• We will have the Sprint Event around 11:00 AM on race day and all volunteers are welcome to participate in the Sprint Event at no cost.  Sprint Event Details 

•     Course maps and more information are available at  on the website.

• Signup for notifications on the blog page to get up to date emails about the race or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
• We have some new sponsors this year.  Check out the sponsor page and be sure to thank all of the sponsors.

 The Wasatch Powder Keg is a great event because of volunteers like you who help organize and conduct the race. Thanks for helping out.

To sign up, please email me at emitzel_(at)_yahoo_(dot)_com.

Thanks Jim Knight for another fantastic Powder Keg poster.

In order to standardize with other USSMA SkiMo races, we are modifying the Powder Keg Divisions.

We will have the following divisions this year with awards going to the top 3 finishers of each division.

• Men’s AT Race: race gear
• Women’s AT Race: race gear
• Men’s Heavy Metal Race: normal back country gear
• Women’s Heavy Metal Race: normal back country gear
• Men’s Rec: any gear on the rec course
• Women’s Rec: any gear on the rec course

We will also have some additional awards including

• PowderWhore award: person to finish the race division course on the heaviest gear
• Men’s and Women’s Masters: award to the top male and female finisher over 50 in either AT Race or Heavy Metal Race divisions.
• Best Costume: if you are just out there to have fun, dress up and show your skimo spirit.

Splitboarders: In previous years we only had a recreation splitboard division.  This year you are able to register for either Rec or Heavy Metal.  If you race the Heavy Metal division, you will need to adhere to the rules of no booting sections (the small climb to the top of Stupid Chute, across Twin Lakes, and up the dam at the end of Twin Lakes).

The Sprint Event is on!!!  We will have the sprint event around 11:00 AM on race day (March 10).

The official ISMF rules for the sprint race (see summary below) and a pretty good blog posting on it.

Location: Millicent base up to the first flat landing – GREAT SPECTATOR LOCATION

The Course:

• The course is a loop: with the finish line very close to the start line.
• the typical “Sprint” course profile will contain COMPULSORILY the following parts:

1st part on skis: Approximately 50/60 m elevation.

• After the start, approximately 200 m of moderate slope
•  The slope then becomes steeper, but has to be easily skiable (not too steep)
•  This part should be rather wide to enable athletes to overtake easily.
•  The track has to avoid strong diagonal slopes, or be fit out if it is necessary
•  The circuit should be
  • A figure of ’8′, so athletes can choose the most advantageous route.
  •  In parallel (3 paths at least)

In this case, the athlete must keep his initial path during the whole part on skis.

It is prohibited changing one path for another by cutting the marked turns, except when overtaking.

2nd part on foot: Approximately 20/30 m of positive difference of height

• This part must have at least 4 parallel tracks
• The ascent is made with skis attached to the rucksack
• According to the available ground, the part on foot can be followed, for the men (Senior and Espoir), by another short part on ski in ascent.(+ 10 m)

The descent

• The slope must be wide, with an even packed surface
• The descent must be fitted out with turns, marked with blue and red flags, (as used for giant slalom).
• The athlete must pass through each one of the gates

4th part: The finish area

• The circuit must finish on a flat area or with a slight ascent, so that competitors must use skating technique up to the finish line
• The last 40 meters of the course will be set up with a minimum of three wide lanes of 3 m approximately.
• During this part of the race, each athlete should stay in lane. Athletes may go out of lane to overtake,

Race Format

• Start racers in heats of 6 racers
• Depending on the number of racers, run a semi-finals and finals
• Top 2 finishers in each heat move onto the next round.
• If there are not enough heats to fill a 6 racer final, then ‘lucky losers’ will get selected based on the next fastest times.
• There will only be 2 categories: Men and Women