I did, I did see a Yeti!
Well, actually, it’s just a guy in a Yeti suit, but you never know… they could be out there. They like to hang out on the snow so if you want to find them you have to get off the couch and get outside. And what better place to start your search than at The Yeti Snowshoe Series?
What is the Yeti series? It involves lots of people having fun, racing through the snow wearing snowshoes and perhaps some crazy costume, trying to move as fast as they can without planting one snowshoe on top of the other and doing a faceplant in the snow (my personal speciality) and tripping up the person hot on their tail.
The snowshoe series consists of the Sport (~5km) course and the longer Enduro (~10km) course. It’s awesome to watch and even better to participate in. At least that’s what I’ve heard as I’ve never done it myself – yet. Hmmm… sounds like a good way to work off all that Christmas baking don’t you think?
As they enter their tenth anniversary year, The Yeti Snowshoe Series has decided to ramp things up to the next level. So if you’re looking for a real challenge this winter, make sure you check out The Yeti XC – Canada’s first winter duathalon series. It incorporates cross-country skiing and snowshoeing – my two favourite winter sports. What could be more fun than that?
The Yeti XC consists of one lap of the snowshoe course (~5km), followed by a fun, rolling (~10km) ski leg on your cross-country classic or skate skis, followed by a second lap of the snowshoe course (~5km), all with what could be some interesting transitions in between. Plus you have the choice of competing solo, or with your buddy as a team of two.
By the way… did you check out their new sponsor where it says “Presented by…”? Yep, that would be us – Mountain Equipment Co-op. We’re pretty stoked to be teaming up with this great event and having a lot of fun this winter. We’ll be sponsoring the Yeti XC Ultimate Grand Prize at the end of the season and it’s pretty awesome, so strap on your gear and start training!
The age categories range from Junior (19 and under) all the way up to the Harvey Nelson category. If you are wondering what’s up with that (as I was), well it seems that Harvey is a bit of a legend in these here parts… competing in his 70s. So there’s no excuses – get the whole family out there, race for fun or race for finish, drag your friends along, plan a group costume theme, and bring along a big cheering squad.
Mount Washington is host to the first race of the series on January 29, followed by events at Whistler, Cypress, and Grouse, and all race details can be found online.
See you on the mountain! And if you find a real Yeti… let us know.
