Jared Inouye and Andy Dorais ski off the GTNate Brown got the ball rolling and the boys from Salt Lake pushed it off the edge. Following Nate's 7:15 car to car effort last week, Jared Inouye, Jason and Andy Dorais showed up on Tuesday and crushed the record in 5:17. Kinda crazy how fast they went. But, having skied with all these cowboys, I can safely say that they are a competitive bunch of aerobic psychopaths. Perfect conditions and serious motivation came together to produce a stunning performance.
Jason, Andy and Jared after the record
Possibly even more impressive was Brian Story's effort this past Saturday. Driving in from his home in Missoula, Brian set out in full skimo race garb and pounded out a 5:20, just 3 minutes shy of the record. Damn. No group dynamic to spur him along. I was in the Ford when he came cruising by looking quite within himself.
Brian Story ripping the Ford enroute to his 5:20 car to car on the GT
Although this has not been the best spring conditions-wise (May was mostly a wash), the recent locked-in high pressure has spawned some fine performances up high. These athletes are fire breathers, for sure, but we have not seen an effort by any of skimo's top dogs. I would like to see Bryan Wickenhauser, Brian Smith, Luke Nelson, Ben Parsons, Brandon French, Chris Kroger all have a shot at it. These guys are not just great skiing athletes but are also climbers, an essential ingredient on something like the GT.
That's the thing about skiing the Grand Teton. It's not really a great ski outing. Too much fiddling around with gear and transitions. What it really is is a great mountaineering objective involving a lot of travel on skis. This is a key difference and also a key attraction for me and others.
The season is wrapping up now. Lot's of warm weather and lack of a hard freeze are changing things rapidly. However, I think the late season momentum generated by a few athletes is going to carry over into next season and we are going to see a continuation of style development in this niche of big mountain skiing. Can't wait for summer to end. - Brian