Power of Four

On our way up the front side of Snowmass Mountain in single digit temps.

A bit belated here, but in late-February I was fortunate enough to sneak into the Power of Four skimo race and successfully finish the course along with new partner and friend, Chris Tonozzi. It was one of the bigger days I’ve ever had on skis, and was super cool to finally be a part of.

Since the race’s inaugural run in 2011, the Audi Power of Four has become known in skimo circles as one of the more difficult winter endurance events in North America. Traversing up and over the four ski areas in Aspen, the course racks up over 11,000 feet of elevation gain and ~29 miles from start to finish. Like most skimo races, it’s very conditions dependent as well, which can further add to the challenge…

A map of the course. This year, due to avalanche danger, the course was routed to the very top of Elk Camp as opposed to cutting across to the Government Trail from midway up Burnt Mountain. This added roughly 1,200 feet to the already massive elevation gain on the day. The reroute is drawn in purple. Click to enlarge.

Truth be told the full story of how I made it into this race is pretty unorthodox. With not much doing in the way of backcountry skiing this season, uphilling inbounds was sort of the only fitness option for us mountain folk through December and January. After having to say goodbye to our four-legged friend Jax in early-February I ratcheted up the skinning even more as an outlet of sorts, to the point where I realized trying the Power of Four seemed feasible. I had friends who were already signed up in Parker and Gabbi, but as the race requires pairs of two and had long been sold out, I was out of luck.

So I decided to throw out a feeler post on the PO4 Strava page, offering up a partnership with anyone already registered who might be in last-minute need of a partner. Well, it ended up working out as a Glenwood resident named Chris was considering bailing after his partner injured himself in a ski crash the week before the race. After a long conversation on the phone, Chris and I were good to go and re-registered as a new team. Our team name: “Blind Date”.

At the morning gear check with Parker and Gabbi, who I tagged along with for the weekend, and my blind date Chris lower right.

All checked in we headed outside into the brisk morning air, clicked into our skis, and were off to the races at 6am.

At the start line. It sure was a cold start to a long day.

On the elongated climb up Snowmass with first light just starting to creep into the sky.

It was so cold many of us were struggling with frozen hands, feet, and water bottles. Chris and I matched a decent pace up the 3,000 foot climb to the top of Burnt Mountain, where the sun finally joined the party as we transitioned and skied down Long Shot.

The fingers are still frozen, but the skiing through here was actually really good. “Powder of Four”, we’ll take it.

From the transition point down low it’s a long, gradual climbing traverse across the Government Trail to the crest of the ridge line between Snowmass and Buttermilk. After a small skin snafoo cost us a few minutes, Chris and I were back on track and following the well-defined skinner on up to the next transition point.

Working our way up to Buttermilk Ridge.

Pyramid seen from the ridge, always a striking sight from any angle.

We transitioned and ripped down Buttermilk to the base of Aspen Highlands, where a long stop at the aid station was in order. Next up, the biggest climb of the day from the base to the top of Highlands Bowl, roughly 4,400 feet. By this point the sun was out in full force and we were de-layering instead of dealing with freezing digits.

At the base of Highlands Bowl it was time to throw skis on our backs for the boot to the top. Here racers and other skiers become intermixed in the conga line. We weren’t too worried about it though as a mellow pace to the top was just fine with us at this point in the race.

Highlands Bowl summit.

The bowl was filled with soft pow, which was fun to ski even on our skinny race setups and despite our completely thrashed quads. Still, it took the better part of 25 minutes just to get down it as the skiing was a lot of work.

Chris with the bowl in back.

Next up, another transition for the short climb out from the bottom of the bowl to the top of the infamous Congo Trail.

The Congo Trail is the route the race uses to connect Aspen Highlands to Ajax. It’s a steep, narrow trail cut that drops a few thousand feet down into the Castle Creek Valley, and marks another one of the race’s cruxes.

We both made it through unscathed, though my legs were completely shot after pizza’ing down the rock-studded luge track for what seemed like forever. Not getting injured through here is priority numero uno. Then, another aid, another transition, and the start of the final climb up the Midnight Mine road to the top of Ajax.

Starting off the nearly 3,000 foot climb that would land us at the top of Ajax, the fourth and final mountain.

There’s not much to say about this final segment of the race other than it seemed to go on for an eternity and I think Chris and I were both running on fumes by the time we finally made it to the top. We also happened to make it through the race’s final checkpoint with only about 10 minutes to spare. I was pretty thrilled to realize we were going to make it through for an official finish, as many groups behind us did not.

On the final ski down Ajax in the waning afternoon light.

Done and done.

Total vert for the day ended up being 12,400 feet, and we finished in a time of 10:20:08 which was good for 48th place out of 50 finishers in the men’s category. There were also 37 men’s DNFs behind us, and over 60 DNFs across all categories, so it was a bit of a strange set of results in my opinion. I do think the last-minute addition of 1,200 vert to the course caused a lot of issues for people as their days played out. At any rate, full results can be found here.

More importantly than all that stuff though, was the day Chris and I had out there. We had a blast meeting and getting to know each other, and barely pulling off a race that was new to both of us in doing so. These are the kinds of experiences that make race communities so cool. I don’t think either of us will be forgetting this one anytime soon.

Until next time, Power of Four…