West Yellowstone - skate race and pictures

Today was the distance skate race here in West Yellowstone. Conditions were consistent with previous days and the forecast snow from yesterday didn't materialize... until partway through the men's race when there was an utter squall for about ten minutes.

We had really good success with skis today and it was one of those races where you really knock it out of the park. The powder of the week continues to be C105, however the real surprises were in topcoats and hand structure. For topcoats, Ski*Go C44 block was the clear winner. This topcoat is never good - except for when it is. And when it is good, it is really good. For hand structure the Finite V05 won the day, beating out the Holmenkol Cross Structure tool (which was actually pretty bad).

The combination of the C44 block (which is notoriously bad in new snow) and the V05 structure (broken V structures typically are also bad in new snow) had us a bit worried for the men's race. However, the skied in part of the track was glazed and transformed enough so that there was no issue.

Tomorrow is the final race, a distance classic event. Temperatures are forecast to be super cold overnight and then warm rapidly in the morning. Things could get tricky...

In the meantime, here are some pictures.

The scene in West Yellowstone. As per usual, there is a lot of snow.

The team from Sun Valley always organizes a catering company to come and cook. The food is really excellent and a nice change from the usual supper fare of Wendy's.

Getting set up to test for the sprint race. The stadium is about 1.5km from the nearest parking and all the gear has to be shuttled in and out each day.

Now we test.

When the sun is out and the weather is nice, this job is pretty amazing.

Getting some sun at the wax trailer.

The West Yellowstone trail head. Pretty famous.

Cherry Coke. Fuel when waxing in America.

Yesterday I had a chance to ski for fun and check out the distance course.

Seriously granular snow. This is the reason that the C44 block was good today.

Checking out the skate race and trying to stay warm.

Now Shane and I burn powder. We are super cool guys.

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