The Perfect Storm: Mt. Seymour World Snowshoe Invitational & The 2010 Olympics

Torchbearer Allan Benjamin carries the Olympic Flame while running in snowshoes in Old Crow, Yukon, on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics torch relay. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Jonathan Hayward)

The winter Olympics are back in North America for 2010.  Vancouver is hosting the games and it looks to be a great venue. What is really special is that on the day before the closing ceremonies on February 27th, the Yeti Snowshoe Series is hosting "The World Snowshoe Invitational" (details here & here ) at Mt Seymour in the Mt Seymour Provincial Park.   This race will also serve as the Canadian Snowshoe Nationals. It looks like this will be the biggest snowshoe running event ever in N. America thus far!?

I think what snowshoe running (as a sport) has forming here is "The Perfect Storm".  Snowshoeing is the fastest growing winter sport in America (here & here) and if there is a sport that should be in the Olympics that is not, it is snowshoe running.  Put this fact that snowshoe running is an undeniably fast growing winter sport along with a huge venue coinciding with the Olympics, then throw in the very enthusiastic snowshoe running promoters the Yetis and what we have is "The Perfect Storm".

How can you not get motivated for such an event after watching this video with Yeti MC Dave Norona and Series Director Dave Howells

Without these Yetis the Sport of Snowshoe Running would probably be asleep during the Olympics.  The Yetis hold the largest snowshoe Running series in Canada (here) and what looks to be the funnest anywhere in the world.  I mean com-on, they have a guy in a big furry Yeti costume running around!

This year their series is cut short to only 2 events because of the Olympics.  Of course everyone else that is involved in the sport of Snowshoe Racing is taking part to make sure that all the International media that will be on hand for the 2010 Olympics will be exposed to just how fun and demanding snowshoe running is and validating it as a legitimate sport.  The International Amateur Snowshoe Racing Federation (IASSRF) has come alive from the USSSA to represent the sport on the International level and hopefully after this years Olympic games they will have a lot more support from the international snowshoe running community and their website will reflect the new interest on the international front.

These Yeti guys sure know how to have a good time.  After seeing the you tube videos and checking out their website I became more optimistic for the sport and the possibility of some real exposure that the Olympic presence will give it.  I love the enthusiasm these Yetis have for snowshoe running and once I saw that they do night runs (from here) I knew they were some very passionate snowshoers.

Here is a Video On the Yeti Series.  I sure hope to see more of this kind (the fired up kind) of event promotion here in the states and hopefully right here in Lake Tahoe in the years to come.

It is to bad that all the East Coast snowshoers are , well , on the East coast.  After all Corinth NY. is the Snowshoe Capital of the world. (here) and there are a lot of very enthusiastic snowshoers out East. The US Nationals will be held at Highland Forest Park in Fabius march 5-7. This is just SE of Syracuse NY.  Hopefully the exposure from the Yeti Invitational will carry over to the Nationals and help to make it a huge success and give the National Snowshoe Running scene a boost.

So class, to recap:
2010 Olympics + Beautiful Mt. Seymour + The Yetis + a fast growing sport = "The Perfect Storm"

I am not sure if I will be able to make it to Vancouver to witness this "Perfect Storm"  but i will no doubt be thinking of that Yeti running around jump starting everyone's smiles.  Good job Team Yeti and everyone else involved to help expose the very legitimate sport of snowshoe running and racing to the world.

Happy snowshoeing,
Dan

also;
Be sure to check out the below articles from Vancouver local and Snowshoe Magazine writer Debbie McKeown and Ryan Alford of Snowshoe magazine.  And I am sure that more updates can be found at Snowshoe Magazine as they occur.

Preparing to Welcome the World: Countdown to the 2010 Winter Olympics

by:  Debbie McKeown
Anticipating the World Snowshoe Invitational on Mt. Seymour, Feb. 27

by:  Debbie McKeown
The Rise of the Snowshoe Racing Regime - From the First Edition of Snowshoe Magazine

by Ryan Alford

The World Snowshoe Invitational to Coincide with the 2010 Winter Olympics
by Ryan Alford , Snowshoe Magazine

 More Links:

Snowshoeing Near Prosser Hill Truckee

The other day I tried out a great spot to run near Truckee; the   "Prosser Sagehen Summit Area".  There were snowmobile trails everywhere and plenty of options to make fresh tracks.  This is near the area that the famous Donner Party "camped" out for the winter. I think they did all their camping on the East side of Hwy89.  I will report back after exploring that area.

From Highway 80 in Truckee you travel 3.7 miles North on Highway 89 till you see this sign (map here).  Right after you see this sign you take a left into the parking area.  You will see a bathroom and a map/information board here.

 

I am still getting use to my new Garmin GPS watch and I was pressing to many buttons and did not get all the data from this excursion.

Here is a picture of our trail that did get recorded.

The point that it stopped recording is near the photo below of me "trying out the Redfeather shoes"
From this point we headed due East over the peak.  This is where we had the views of Prosser Meadows (in the photos below) and made our own trail back to another well traveled trail that took us back to the parking lot.

Here is the Google Earth image. I added (in blue) what I think our route back was

Heading out on the well beaten path trying to catch my friend Holly

Me trying out some Redfeather shoes

The 2009 National Snowshoe Champion Peter Fain showing how it is done

 

Slink and Sonny laughing at their dad who fell in the snow

 

Slink and his dad wallowing in the snow

Slink and his mom Heidi enjoying the views of Prosser Meadows to the East

 

Me and Slink breaking trail through some clearcut area that had logging roads dissecting it all the way down. You can see the clearcut area in this photo here.

Sonny and Slink following their mom

This is a great area to explore and has many options for running.  It is pretty hard to get lost if you just remeber which direction the highway is you should always be able to get back to it. I will try to add more GPS data after I go back next time.

Happy trails
TD