On Feb 11-12 2012 I skied the Canadian Ski Marathon. It is 160 kilometers of trail opened once a year for the marathon. Every year has it's challenges and this one was no exception. Temperatures were low and a steady wind didn't help. The extra demand on the body to stay warm can sap your energy if you miss the fine balance point between staying warm and being too cold, on some of the long climbs over-heating can come quickly, leading to becoming wet with perspiration which can leave you badly chilled if your clothes can't wick away the moisture fast enough.

One welcome relief was the beautiful sunshine. I found a few odd moments when the wind would be blowing directly from the north across a field just freezing the left side of my upper body while the right side was warm from the sun. I think if you asked a lot of the skiers, the experienced ones anyway, you would find they prefer the cooler weather. It makes for easy waxing, I used the same wax for the two days. Warm weather brings slick tracks and a waxing nightmare.

People are usually the most curious about the sleeping out in the cold. I have an excellent sleeping bag and even though the temperature easily dipped well below -20 C I was so toasty that I was becoming damp, which worried me a bit. One popular trick is to fill your water bottle with very hot water and toss it in the sleeping bag. The humidity passed after a while and I was just cozy. What weighs on the mind while lying there snug as a bug in a rug, is the depressing thought that you have to get out of that cocoon in the morning at 4 AM, quickly get on some warm clothes, pack as much of your stuff as possible, time the outdoor toilets so the seat is warm, make breakfast, thaw out your ski boots and despite the cold be careful not to over dress for the start line because in about 10 minutes the body is quite warm from the skiing.

Wearing a back pack has one advantage, it helps keep you warm. I had spent my time training with my pack close to the final weight, around 18 lbs, just missing the food and a few small things which would have brought it up to the expected 20 lbs. Every single thing that goes into that pack is weighed to the ounce, and that includes the pack itself. I brought an mp3 player, and selected the one that was the lighter of my two choices, by .5 oz. It is very easy to keep adding one more "small" thing that you think you might need, until your pack is up at 25 lbs. Twenty five pounds is not so bad on the flat sections, but every ounce on your back takes it's toll on a long climbing section. A heavy pack also tends to take control on descents. My descending skills leave a lot to be desired and when I am trying to turn a corner and a heavy pack is trying to continue in a straight line, well, it's hard on the nerves as well as the back. Two weeks before the race I bumped into a couple of fellows training for the marathon as well. I always ask how much their packs weigh, and I was blown away when one fellow told me his pack weighed 15 lbs. We skied together for about an hour and he gave me tips on where to cut weight. The very next morning I made a radical change in my philosophy, ordered the lightest pack I could find on the internet, took a hard look ay my luxuries and tossed a bunch of them. At the starting line my pack weighed 16 lbs. It was soooooooo nice. The regulations require that the pack weighs 5 Kg. You have to keep in mind that after you have used all the consumables from your pack on Saturday night, it still must meet regulation weight on Sunday. Could I get it lighter than 16 lbs? I'm not sure, but I always make a debriefing list after the event and there are a few small things that might help next year. I would train with the heavier pack though, I believe that helped my conditioning. I logged 573 km training on skis with 20 to 30 minutes on the stationary bike after each ski. I found my fitness level was perfect. I need lots of work on my ski skills though.

Below are a few pictures I took. A big thanks to a few people I met while training, Wayne, Don and Réal, who all generously passed along tips for surviving the ordeal. Biggest thanks goes to my "coach" Jean-Louis, who has completed the whole thing about 30 times. He gives me tips on training and during the actual event his pacing is machine-like. Last year he paced me the whole event, this year I was lucky enough to meet him at the second or third checkpoint and he paced me from there. He even waits while I pick myself up at the bottom of those hills that keep you awake at night thinking about them.

Anyone interested in contacting me about the Canadian Ski Marathon can email me,  bob at bobhoward.ca. You know where to put the @.

I live in Gatineau and do my training in the Gatineau Park. If you are training for the CSM as well and are interested in skiing with me send me an email. Long distance stuff is probably finished for me for this winter, 2011-2012. Maybe next year. I train during the day. One of the advantages of not working! If you are thinking of doing the Gold Coureur des Bois, have questions and don't know anyone with Gold CDB experience send me an email, I may be able to help. Before I tried my first Gold I contacted an experienced skier and asked him lots of questions. He was most helpful.

The ski marathon is an extreme physical challenge, several people with long distance event experience have told me the Canadian Ski Marathon is the toughest, because of the weather, the distance, time constraints and the fact that it is two consecutive days.

The Canadian Ski Marathon website Canadian Ski Marathon

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