The 42nd annual Great Ski Race takes place March 3 in North Lake Tahoe.
Between 500 and 900 cross-country skiers will skate, stride and snowshoe across 30 kilometers (18.43 miles) of groomed mountain snow trails from Tahoe City to Truckee in one of the longest, most eccentric cross-country ski races in the West.
The race course traces an historic stagecoach postal route through the forest east of the Truckee River and beneath Mt. Watson north of Tahoe City. Some participants train all year to compete, often joining training groups and seminars to hone their skinny ski technique. Other participants just get up and go after squeezing on their Nordic boots for the first time in the season.
The Great Ski Race begins Sunday, March 3 at 9 a.m. at the Tahoe Cross-Country Center (Tahoe XC) in Tahoe City. Racers take off in waves according to their previous results, with the most serious competitors going first. The race will be timed using chip technology for the first time this year.
“It’s a serious race for some who are competing for awards and prizes, and just a fun outing for others. It’s a great party with live music, beer and lunch outside of Cottonwood Restaurant (in Truckee) at the end,” said Tahoe City resident Dirk Schoonmaker, who’s been race co-director the past 23 years.
Schoonmaker and fellow director Doug Read will direct 150 volunteers, most of whom belong to the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue Team, for which The Great Ski Race is the main fundraising event. Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue Team members track down and bring to safety skiers, boarders, hikers, mountaineers, bikers and snowmobilers lost in the backcountry around Lake Tahoe.
In November, in the aftermath of the Camp Fire, the team sent between five and 14 searchers every day for two weeks to Paradise to assist in the search for victims’ remains. Since its founding in 1976, the team has conducted more than 350 backcountry searches, bringing more than 600 people safely home from dangerous weather and terrain, according to Schoonmaker.
The night before the race, the 18-mile course is smoothed out by groomers and machines donated by Northstar California.
“I wouldn’t say the course is easy, but it is really beautiful,” Read said. “It’s great to get into this backcountry views of the Sierra Crest and Truckee that few people ever get to see.”
The course’s first seven miles are an endurance test as skiers climb mostly uphill to 7,400-foot Starratt Pass. Just past the high point, a volunteer food and drink station called Soup Station 1 offers sweets, snacks and electrolyte drinks (and sometimes music and dancing).
The course then swoops wildly downhill through S turns before settling into a section of gentle, forested countryside. Soup Station 2 provides more calories and sustenance for the final push – an uphill, a downhill, a snow-covered road-crossing, and a final cruise downhill at Cottonwood Restaurant & Bar.
“That’s where the outrageous crashes happen. People get pretty excited about that,” Read said. “The announcer is University of Nevada, Reno English Professor Dave Fenimore, and he has lots of fun calling out finishers’ names as they fly down the hill.”
At the finish line party, live music by the Blues Monsters begins at noon. Men Wielding Fire serves up the hot post-race lunch, and beer is on ice, donated by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company.
Register for The Great Ski Race at www.thegreatskirace.com. Cost for adults is $70 and kids under-18 are $25. The entry fee on race day is $110.
Shuttle buses donated by Northstar California will begin taking skiers (by reservation only) from Hilltop Lodge next to Cottonwood Restaurant to the starting line at 7 a.m. Afternoon buses, donated by Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, will bring skiers back to Tahoe City between 12:30-3:30 p.m. on a first come, first served basis.
Sponsors of The Great Ski Race include Sierra Nevada Brewing, CLIF Bar, Cottonwood Restaurant & Bar, Granlibakken, JARCO commercial real estate, Tahoe XC, Northstar California, Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows ski resort, Alpenglow Sports, Sunnyside, Adventure Sports Journal, Moonshine Ink, BrandGeek and Lithia 4 Kids.
