Chama Chile Ski Classic - Race Report

I was fortunate enough to be up in Chama this weekend for their annual Chama Ski Classic. It was the first time I'd made it to the event but probably not the last. There was all kinds of madness going on with races, clinics, costume contests, backcountry tours, a beer sampling table....impossible to not have a good time at an event like this.

Jim, Todd, and I made it up on Saturday evening so we missed the freestyle ski racing from earlier in the day. My man Marc Esposito skied to a second place finish in the 7.5K race, edged out by Mark Seaton of Colorado. Tove Shere of Santa Fe skied to a second place finish in the women's race.  Podium results were as follows:

15K Overall: 1) Caleb Thompson, 49:18; 2) Clay Mosley, 49:55; 3) Ken Kisiel, 52:56.  W1) Sanna Sevanto, 54:21; W2) Jessica Kisiel, 1:00:12; W3) Brianne Marshall, 1:03:24
7.5K Overall: 1) Mark Seaton, 34:12; 2) Marc Esposito, 36:42; 3) Dave Wykoff, 39:35;  W1) Dina Pesenson, 41:15; W2) Tove Shere, 42:52

Waiting for liftoff

I don't recall if this one was before the race or the after-party

Snow fairies leading the way

We were helping with the timing of Sunday's races, the Classic 10K and 5K events, the 5K snowshoe, and the combined events.  All of these were running concurrently. It was a blast. There were snow fairies, I saw an astronaut, there were at least two guys racing in dress suits, one racer had his kid strapped to his back in a kid carrier, Southwest Nordic out of Los Alamos had a large contingent, there were young and old and everyone was having a great time.  One guy had a killer fake mustache that stayed affixed to his face during the entire race and after-party.  A true thing of beauty.  Podium results were as follows:

10K Overall: 1) Clay Mosley, 44:11; 2) Steve Ilg, 47:30; 3,W1) Sanna Sevanto, 49:01; W2) Jessica Kisiel, 53:34, W3) Dina Pesenson, 1:04:45
5K Overall: 1) David Wykoff, 34:35; 2) David Burdette, 36:27; 3,W1) Janie Miller, 37:12; W2) Dana Price, 38:13; W3) Donna Berg, 38:20
5K Snowshoe Overall:  1) Jurgen Montgomery, 33:12; 2) Daryl Dagel, 37:49; 3) Robert Parks, 39:14;  W1) Annie Sewell, 39:44; W2) Tove Shere, 45:43; W3) Samantha Fernandez, 47:01
King of the Mountain (10K Combined Champ) - Daryl Dagel, 1hr 29:19
Queen of the Mountain - Graciela Perez, 2hr 42:52
Prince of the Mountain (5K Combined Champ) - Kirik Reinhart, 1hr 23:13
Princess of the Mountain - Tove Shere, 1hr 30:20

King of the Mtn - combined winner Daryl Dagle

10K champ Clay Mosley

The folks on the front end were moving.  Many of the Southwest Nordic crew were there for business and they were killing it out on the race loop.  I got out on my skis at day's end and the best I could muster was a 41min loop (5K).  For reference, the top ten 10K finishers all came in under 50min, so I would have had my backside handed to me by this field.

On the course looking east

Groomers heading north towards the pass

Race director Mary Ann DeBoer and her crew of volunteers did an absolutely first-rate job. Awards were announced and given out at the High Country Restaurant and Saloon in town. The place was great - packed with racers and snow-mobilers and people in costumes, a blue-grass band playing, terrific beers with New Mexico and Durango microbrews all on tap. The owner of High Country even skied in the race and took home his age-group title for the second straight year, (Che Johnston, 41m34s). That is badass. Medals and chile ristras were given out to the winners.

Spoils of the victors

Next year I'm racing this thing and bringing home some hardware although I'll need to think of a decent costume that will incorporate a fake mustache. I'll also need to get faster.

Freestyle Ski Results can be found here (.pdf)
Classic Ski and Snowshoe Results can be found here
Photo Album can be found here






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Related Links:
  - Chama Race Report - Southwest Nordic
  - Pagosa Springs Winterfest
  - Feb 13th NM Cup - Low O2 Challenge