Talk about extreme skiing...

Crested Butte Mountain Resort hosted the inaugural GORE-TEX North American Ski Mountaineering Championships over the weekend.

Skiers from Italy, Spain, Slovakia, Canada and the United States competed, and Manfred Reichegger of Italy and Janelle Smiley of Crested Butte took top honors.

There was a short sprint course and an individual course that climbed roughly 5,000 vertical feet and took racers to the peak of Crested Butte Mountain (elevation 12,162 feet).

A route of this difficulty has never been seen in a North American competition before, according to organizers. It was a low class-five technical boot pack ascent via fixed rope up Guides Ridge. Racers used mountaineering gear to harness themselves into 1,000 feet of line rigged by Crested Butte's ski patrol.

“Today’s event put mountaineering back into the sport of ski mountaineering,” race director Bryan Wickenhauser said in a news release.

Reichegger had a combined time of 2:03:23, with Lorenzo Holzknecht, also of Italy, and Reiner Thoni, of Canada, taking second and third, respectively, in the men's competition.

Among the women, Smiley had an overall time of 2:45:39. Sari Anderson, of Carbondale, came in second place and Stevie Kremer, of Crested Butte, finished third.

RACE DIVISION - MEN
1          Manfred Reichegger            Italy                          2:03:23
2          Lorenzo Holzknecht             Italy                          2:07:16
3          Reiner Thoni                         Canada                   2:12:47
4          Luke Nelson                         United States          2:20:11
5          Jason Dorais                        United States          2:24:58
6          Marshall Thomson              United States          2:26:43
7          Jared Inouye                         United States          2:29:37
8          Andrew McNab                     Canada                    2:32:14
9          Travis Scheefer                    United States          2:35:12
10        Andy Dorais                         United States           2:35:30
 
RACE DIVISION – WOMEN
1          Janelle Smiley                     United States             2:45:39
2          Sari Anderson                      United States             2:50:31
3          Stevie Kremer                      United States             3:09:14
4          Gemma Arro Ribot              Spain                          3:19:05
5          Melanie Bernier                   Canada                       3:19:30
6          Jari Kirkland                         United States             3:24:35
7          Julie Matteau                       Canada                        3:43:34
8          Lindsay Plant                       United States             3:56:34
9          Lyndsay Meyer                     United States             3:57:27
10        Jen Gersbach                      United States             4:01:16
 
See the Sprint Race results.

See the Traditional Race results.

The race was one of 10 in the Colorado Ski Mountaineering Cup (COSMIC) series