Another glorious weekend of Nordic skiing, competition, and friendships renewed. Saturday at Snow Mountain Ranch the 50K Skate Marathon skiers were out early and cruising with David Norris from Steamboat far out in front. The cloudy colder day made for fast and firm conditions and David made the most of it finishing the marathon in an amazing 2:17:51, 10 minutes ahead of the dual between Trey Jones and Dan Weinberger with Trey barely finishing ahead. Jessica Yeaton from Steamboat led the women at 2:46:11 followed by Selma Anderson and Karolina Kaleta. The marathon was two laps of the 25K perimeter course involving a road crossing and two dog trail crossings with four aid stations, very volunteer intensive. Thank God for our awesome volunteers both days!
The course was challenging with demanding hills both up and down and immaculately manicured by groomers Shawn and David. Greg was racing in Europe but his crew of timers kept near-perfect track of the 50k, 25k, 12.5k and 3k racers each day showing results on the big screen of the Campers Hub interspersed with racer pictures and drone footage taken by YMCA photographer Jake and other contributors.
The 25k Skate was Led by Micah Steinberg in 1:16:33 with Joe Graziadel a minute behind. Mike West was third leading a pack of three. Local racers Evan Griffis, Shawn Scholl and Sebastian Brower rounded out the top 11. First woman Macayla Scheidt finished in 1:34 with Anne Gallager-West and Ann Miller 5min back in a big pack of finishers. The 12.5k Skate was won by Peter Valentyik in 43.08:06 followed by a pack of Levi Gurarie, Lexi Weinberger, Ben Kaune and Tad Enos all 14 and under. First woman was Eliza Fay in 6th at 51:20 with Eva Boylan and Cara Szuch rounding out the top 10. The big Teddy bear top prize for the 3k went to Gunner Boden presented by Levi Guarie, last year’s winner. Top six were rounded out by William Weinberger, Rylee Stuerman, Kit Michalowski, Wyatt Mann, and Tate Bobela.
Sunday dawned sunny and warmer for the Stampede Classic race but the tracks held up amazing well – just be careful of the transition from shade to sun! Dan Weinberger led with a time of 2:54.07 with Gavrilov Egor and Andrew Weinstein spread out behind. First woman in 6th overall was Karolina Kaleta in 3:28:26 followed by Ella Dewolf. Jamie Mothersbaugh easily won the 25K in 1:29:12 followed by Joseph La Monte and Sebastian Brower, Evan Griffis, Shawn Scholl, first woman Macayla Scheidt (1: 48:59), and Jeff Russell rounding out top 10. The 12.5k podium was all 14 and under led by Levi Gurarie, Ben Kaune, and Lexi Weinberger and four women – Cara Szuch in 59:20, Terza Koudelkova, Eva Boylan and June Davol. The big Teddy Bear for the Classic went to Evan Boylan in 14.19 with William Wienberger on his heels followed by 7 WP Comp Center entrants Wyatt Mann, first woman Kit Michalowski, Torsten Rydholm, Jakob Swenson, Tate Bobela, Weston Mann, and Tayen Rydholm. These youngsters are Nordic’s future!
The Stampede tradition continued of awarding a coveted Ranch Boss buckle to those finishing BOTH 50k races in the same weekend to almost 25 skiers and Ranch Hand buckles to those finishing BOTH 25K races in the same weekend to almost 35 people. What a show of power and perseverance!
The Stampede races were also the conclusion of the Grand County Nordic race series 2025. Andrew Weinstein, Ella Dewolf and Benjamin Romanjenko were the top three finishers – each participated in ALL eight races and scored a total of over 600 points! Congratulations! The organizing Race Committee of Greg Finnoff, Cheryl Allen, Diana Lynn Rau, and Odd Bersvendsen deserve huge thanks for another great season partially sponsored by WP Chamber of Commerce.
With a stretch of warm sunny weather coming the Nordic season will wrap up soon, most Nordic Centers will close the first weekend in April and Grand Nordic will also end our morning Nordic grooming reports with KFFR. If we get some cold nights, morning crust skiing will be the way to go. Otherwise, put some storge wax in your ski bases, check out what repairs are needed, or just go get some new equipment at the many Nordic sales happening in Grand County. What Nordic gear you don’t want to keep, add to the Grand Nordic donation boxes at Fraser and Granby Libraries but keep a pair of “rock” skies to start next season. It’s time to start dust off your bikes and raft gear as the snow melts and the roads and trails dry out. Remember if you’re making a track on the trails, please turn back and wait a few more days. Those ruts are hard to repair later. Me, I think I’ll find me a river somewhere…
