Sea2Summit Whistler Race Report

The Whistler Sea2Summit race was a perfect way to wrap up another adventure racing season. It was a two day race, this past weekend, staged out of Whistler Resort. The race was pretty tough for me, as again I went at it solo, but I finished strong… not amazing overall, but the first solo female to finish, so that was exiting!

Keelan (my amazing partner and support) and the wicked Red Mobile, and I left early Friday morning for Whistler. Because of all the forest fires, we drove north (through Merrit, etc and down through Pemberton) to avoid all the smoke.

It was a gorgeous drive with some scary switchbacks! Friday night we had some time to wander around the village, have a yummy dinner and then head to the race briefing. We had planned to crash with Dean (the race director) on the floor of his condo - but when we showed up around 10pm - it was a zoo and it didn't look like anywone would be getting much sleep for hours to come!! I decided that I needed sleep even more than I needed to save money - so we went looking for a cheap hotel. We got a great rate at the Coast Hotel, so stayed there, which was a VERY good decision - ahhh KING BEDS!!!

Saturday morning came early, as we had to be on the road shortly after 6am to make the drive out past Pemberton to the paddle start.

It was cool and overcast – which is a nice way to race. The paddle was 25km down a pretty quick moving river. The start was fun, with lots of boats going in all directions. I paddled hard, but again, I can’t keep up with the double kayaks… It was fun paddling in a current though, there were even some spots with little haystack waves to rip through. Some people weren’t as comfortable as I am in the water, and there were some wet and cold kayakers coming into the first Transition.

The first transition was quick, and after chugging a boost and stuffing a few more bars into my pack, it was onto the bike. Now – Dean had said that this 55km bike would take 5ish hours AND that it included 4-8 km of hike a bike. I think that Dean was mistaken or on crack. The hike a bike was more like 15 – 500km and the bike leg took me 8 hours. I honestly pushed, carried and hauled my bike more than I rode it (my Jamis bike was wicked for this – SO MUCH LIGHTER than the old clunker!!). And when I was actually riding the bike, it was slogging UP and Up and Up… But, there was some wicked downhill at the end – AND in retrospect, it was an adventure!! (Although the last two hours of climbing were breaking me down mentally big time!) There was also a downhill section that hadn’t quite been cleared yet, single track with alders that were totally grown in… it is always exiting to go ripping downhill when you can’t see anything!!

In the process of ‘hiking my bike’, I don’t even know how many times I kicked my pedals, had them slam into my shins and calves, or basically fell of small drops while trying to carry my bike up or down them.

Four days later, my legs are BLACK – it really does look like someone beat my legs with a pipe. Due to the ‘trauma’ (says the doctor), my legs and feet are wicked swollen… fun stuff.. and my lovely co-worker John says that I am hobbling around like a 90 year old with fat feet!!

BUT – back to the race. The first day ended at the base of Whistler Mountain. Because we had to ride through the village to get there, the clock officially stopped at the base of the downhill section and we had to make our way through the village at a ‘safe speed’. In order to make it ‘fun’, we had to do a little scavenger hunt along the way and pass by and identify certain landmarks. FINALLY, I got to the finish – where Keelan was waiting with warm clothes!!! I was the first solo female to cross the finish line and the ONLY one to make it through the full course – as other teams were re-routed along the highway as it got too late – read: they did NOT have to do the wicked climb from hell!

On the way back to the hotel- we stopped at a bike shop called Evolution to get my front disk break fixed. Within the first few km of biking, I noticed that my front disk was totally warped and rubbing… I truly hope no-one has to bike for 50 odd km UP mountains with their front break half on!!! The guy at the bike shop was wicked – he rebuilt my break as it was super messed up and only charged me 5$!!! Woohoo!

After a LONG hot shower, Keelan and I headed out to the Brew House, where we could use our coupons for free burgers and beer (thanks to S2S and the Brew House for that!) Keelan used his, and I decided to save mine for Sunday, as I was craving veggies… I had a huge salad and garlic cheese bread – YUM!! Then, to bed I went. I slept like a baby that night – but as always, morning came way too early (5:30 alarm)!

The next morning – 13 hours after I finished biking the day before – we got back on our bikes again (at the base of Whistler Mountain) and we headed UP the mountain and over to Creekside.

Again, I found myself pushing my bike up steep hills – not my ideal way to start the day… but, at least the sun was out and the views were gorgeous. The rest of the 30km bike leg consisted of technical, rolling cross country trails. A little too technical for my taste, but again, the bike was wicked and I made it through without any major wipeouts!! I love that I can fully lock out my bike – we had about 5km of road riding at the end of this leg, and with a flick of a switch, my full suspension bike was rigid and fast!!

The second day’s paddle took us down a windy creek and out onto a gorgeous lake.

We paddled to the end of the lake, checked in with a volunteer and paddled back to the TA – it was fun and quick – about 1:20 for me… I was having lots of fun, as I got to see all the fast guys coming back in from the paddle as I was heading out. My goal was to be on the water by the time the first place guy was coming off…

In my confused little head, I thought that the 10km trail run/orienteering section would be quick and easy (the last leg of the race). Well… the run started off great, as my legs were light and fast and I was just flying along the trails. Then, I was stopped dead in my tracks as I came to a checkpoint and Dean handed me my orienteering map with the location of the five controls I needed to find. Honestly, I was so disoriented, that I didn’t even know which direction to start heading in… I think I spent a good 30 minutes running in circles before I bumped into another girl (Shelly- she was doing the one day race). She was also lost, although less so than I was. We stayed together the rest of the time and were somewhat productive in finding our way. I am still mad when I think about this though, as my time on the trek/run was an hour more than it should have been… but oh well…



I still managed to hold onto the First Place Title for Solo Women, so that was exiting!!



After the race, I had a hot shower, Keelan and I went out for burgers and beer, I had a nap, we went out again to eat – this time for sushi, we went to the awards, then back to the hotel for a mini nap and some GIN and then out to the after party at Dean’s condo – where we whooped it up until the wee hours!!! (what a productive afternoon of eating, drinking and sleeping!)



It was a great weekend – I was proud to be racing for Red Mountain Resort and Jamis Bikes. It was wicked to finish my season with a first place result – now it is time to ice the legs and start planning my adventures for 2007!!!




check out a full photo gallery here!!