The Elk Mountains Grand Traverse

By Dean Woodbeck

There’s a mandatory equipment list.

And there are rules like this:

“Racers will compete on skis, of any type, and must finish with the same gear they started with . . . please remember, no evacuation will be provided for racers with broken or insufficient equipment.”

What kind of race is this?

2008 winners Jay Henry and Mike Kloser (Photo courtesy elkmountaintraverse.org)

It is the Elk Mountains Grand Traverse, a point-to-point race in the rugged Rockies, taking skiers 40 miles from Crested Butte to Aspen. Here’s another quote from the rules:

“Racers will travel in teams of two and must be together at all times. Each team must carry survival gear and be prepared at all times for an unexpected situation, which would require a 24-hour bivouac.”

As the organizers are quick to point out, this is not a Nordic ski race. This is a back-country trek over a largely unmarked course that requires every racer to carry an avalanche beacon. And just in case someone didn’t get the memo, the rule summary includes this:

“Except through the private property at the beginning of the course in Crested Butte, this course will not be marked in any substantial way. Racers must be prepared to find their own route to the aid stations and mandatory checkpoints. This is a backcountry race and participants will have only limited support once they are on the course. Motorized vehicle are not allowed from Brush Creek to Star Pass, so evacuation is by sled only. Racers must be prepared to self-rescue and be self-supported in the event of an emergency.”

2008 winners of the women's category, Rebecca Dussault and Jiri Kirkland (Photo courtesy elkmountaintraverse.org)

The most recent Elk Mountain Grand Traverse kicked off at midnight on March 28, testing the endurance and smarts of 250 racers. The skiers depart the Crested Butte Community School at midnight. The first finishers arrived in Aspen the next morning, about nine hours later, with the final team crossing the line more than 18 hours after they started.

Mike Klosur, a four-time member of the winning team, including this year, made these comments on the event’s web site.

“There have been years where we've had such warm temperatures that the creeks had melted out and we had knee deep crossings with sub-zero temperatures at the higher elevations. There have been years where we had mild conditions with great soft snow, excellent for back country skiing. Then there are conditions like last year's (2007). We had low snow pack in the lower elevations, good snow up high and absolutely miserable sub-zero white-out conditions along the high ridges. The top teams found progress and navigation near impossible, losing their way above tree line and donning all the emergency gear they had in their packs. Many of the teams had to hunker down (in some cases abandon the race) and wait out the worst of the night time weather conditions until dawn struck.”

2008 co-ed category winners Paige Brady and Andrew Kastning. (Photo courtesy elkmountaintraverse.org)

The Elk Mountains Grand Traverse follows mail routes that connected the Colorado mining towns of Crested Butte and Aspen in the 1880s. At midnight, approximately 250 racers (125 teams of two racers each) depart from the Crested Butte Community School and wind their way to the Crested Butte Mountain Resort ski area.  Cheering crowds, torches and a fireworks display greet the racers as they pass through the base area.

After the parade review, the teams climb up and over Crested Butte and begin their journey over two mountain passes. Several hours and 40 miles of rugged terrain later, they arrive in Aspen.

Why do they do it? Participant Chris Keyes wrote this in Outside magazine a few years ago:

“Why submit yourself to such torture? For us, that question was answered when we emerged over Star Pass and were greeted by a mountain vista stretching 50 miles into the dawn.”

For more information, see elkmountaintraverse.org.

Contributing to this report: elkmountains.org