Sports - Ski to Sea

POSTED: Wednesday, May. 20, 2009

Expect calmer Nooksack River, challenging mountain bike course for Ski to Sea

The canoe leg looks like it will be a go for this Ski to Sea on May 24, and the new course for the mountain bike leg will be a harder ride, said race director Pete Coy.

Other parts of the 90-mile, seven-leg relay from Mt. Baker Ski Area to Marine Park in Fairhaven also are shaping up well. The snowpack this year wasn’t as great as last year’s, Coy said, but the cross-country as well as the downhill skiing and snowboarding legs of the race will go on as normal.

Five days out from Sunday’s Ski to Sea, Coy and Thom Prichard, river conditions coordinator, had this to say about course conditions and other aspects of the race.

MOUNTAIN BIKE LEG

This year’s route is 14 miles, which is five miles longer than the old one. It begins at Hovander Homestead Park in Ferndale and ends at Zuanich Point Park in Bellingham — the same start and stop, but the path between the two points is completely different.

And while there isn’t much of an elevation change, there is tougher terrain. Organizers promised there would be enough features created by mountain-biking groups to make the restructured course more of a grunt.

“They’re going to love it,” Coy said of more experienced mountain bikers. “We think that some of the recreational riders will struggle with it a little bit. It will be a challenging course.”

Pre-runs of the course are allowed only from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 23. Look for a route breakdown in The Bellingham Herald’s special Ski to Sea section, which publishes Friday, May 22.

CANOE, KAYAK LEGS

The canoe leg was canceled last year because warm weather in the week leading up to the race melted late snow, causing the Nooksack River to run dangerously high and fast.

Concerned about the abilities of novice canoeists, and about high water levels flooding banks and sandbars where spilled canoeists might normally scramble to safety, organizers decided to cancel the leg for safety reasons. It was believed to be the first such cancellation since the race began in 1973.

So far this week, Nooksack River levels are normal.

“It’s not as high as it was last year,” Coy said. “Last year, we had a lot of late snow and a warm week prior to the race.”

Last time this year, the Nooksack was at about 14 feet, Coy said. On Tuesday morning, the river level was about 9½ feet.

With weather forecasts calling for reasonably cool temperatures during the week, Coy didn’t expect rising river levels to be a problem.

Racers now taking practice runs on the Nooksack likely will experience similar conditions on race day, Prichard said.

Even areas that have traditionally caused problems for racers, the Mix Master and whirlpools, have been calmer versions of themselves.

“The river was in really good shape,” Prichard said, after canoeing the Nooksack on Monday evening. “I think it will be a fun year.”

But the river changes, Prichard said, so racers need to show up to the safety meeting prior to the leg to hear about existing conditions.

Race organizers are keeping an eye on marine forecasts as well, because the kayak leg is notoriously fickle. Last year, winds whipped up whitecaps and created chop on Bellingham Bay on race day, forcing organizers to cut the kayak leg to three miles from its originally scheduled distance of about five miles.

Could that happen again this year?

“That one we cannot predict,” Coy said.

JUST IN CASE

Even though Coy said this Ski to Sea should be a “fairly normal race,” organizers will have an additional 500 timing chips, which are passed from racer to racer, in case a leg is canceled. Timing was a problem last year when the canoe leg was canceled.

“They’ll just sit in the timing truck and they won’t be used at all,” Coy said. “They were a just-in-case type of precaution.”

TEAM TOTALS

There will be fewer racers this year, with 416 teams registered. A total of 445 teams competed last year.

“We expected there to be some dip just because of the economic conditions and the fear of swine flu,” Coy said. “We’re actually quite pleased to have this many teams registered.”

SKI TO SEA SPECIAL SECTION

The Herald’s 36-page special publication includes:

- a guide to each leg of the Ski to Sea Race.

- competitor profiles.

- history of the race.

- Ski to Sea A to Z.

- list of related events.

- interview with the race director.

WEATHER OUTLOOK

Friday: Mostly sunny. High near 69.

Saturday: Partly sunny. High near 67.

Sunday: Mostly sunny. High near 67 in Bellingham. At Mt. Baker Ski Area, temperatures likely will be in the upper 30s or low 40s when the race begins. High around 55.