Rebecca Dussault and her Mom won the womens race in the Elk Mountain Grand Traverse last weekend, while John Brown and Brian Smith won for the men.
This extreme backcountry Nordic race starts at the Crested Butte, Colorado Community School at midnight, climbs over and around Crested Butte Mountain Resort over Death Pass, to Friends Hut, and over Star Pass. From Star Pass, the race continues through the Taylor Basin and over Taylor pass, which is extraordinarily exposed to the wind and cold. After braving the wind, the race continues over three more incredible climbs and down to Barnard Hut, up and over Richmond Hill, into the Aspen Ski Area Boundary and down to the town of Aspen. Indeed it is an epic 7-20 hour backcountry ski race that tests the strength of all teams allowed to enter. Teams of two are only permitted to enter this race due to its extreme nature, and at no time throughout the race, are pairs allowed to be out of sight from one another.
For a full report of this year's race:
http://www.denverpost.com/extremes/ci_3669368
For more information on the Grand Traverse, see this article:
http://www.fasterskier.com/training354.html
Here are photos from this year's race, taken by Sharbel Dussault.
