In total contrast to our most recent ski orienteering event, this was a glorious sunny day at Seeley Lake, with temperatures rising into the mid 30's in the afternoon. This was the first use of the brand-new Seeley Lake ski orienteering map, produced this winter by Jan Lauenstein, and the event was a resounding success. The Seeley Lake nordic trail network is complex and intricate, with many twists and turns, climbs and drops, which makes for many route choice options and cut-through possibilities.

 

It was really fun to see many familiar and new faces among our 45 participants. On the short course (3.2km), it was a family affair, with Vinny Petrilli and Meredith Ruland posting the fastest time ahead of Marco and Joe Petrilli. On the Shortish course (4.8km), France Mer was the fastest in a time of 93:37, while  a nail-biter played out for second place, with Fey Reynolds and Carly Swisher edging out the Gaudry family by just 47 seconds after over two hours of skiing! 

 

On the very competitive Medium course (6.1km), ski racing legends-turned-first-time-ski-orienteers Orion, Odin, and Ender Berryman finished ahead of GrizO co-president Alli Brown, with Jared Hearing in a close 3rd place.

 

Finally, on the Long course (8.0km), Henry Reich nearly dethroned SkiO king Jan Lauenstein, but was undone by having to go back and punch the last control after getting all the way to the finish. Even with the extra detour, Henry was still miles ahead of Boris Granovskiy, who finished 3rd, just ahead of Hannah Specht. 

 

As always, this event would not be possible without our volunteers. Chris Caldwell, Loy Koch, and Jeremy Ditto helped with setup and registration. Jan Lauenstein helped with control hanging and pickup, and Jared Hearing picked up controls as well. Finally, a big thank you to the Seeley Lake Nordic Club for maintaining and grooming the gorgeous winter playground that is the Seeley Lake trail network. 

 

Full results are below. 

Splits are at https://www.attackpoint.org/eventdetail.jsp/event_55475. Please note that due to a timing error, the split times to #1 are too long by 1:25 for anyone starting before noon.

You can see other competitors' routes and post your own at https://www.livelox.com/Viewer/GrizO-SkiO-Seeley-Lake-/Long?classId=561158

Lots of photos from the event by Boris Granovskiy are at https://photos.app.goo.gl/7ndmnXyBGMKKyfKN8. Feel free to share and add your own!

 

This should be a wrap on our successful Ski Orienteering season, with a full four SkiO events in the books! Up next is the Blue Mountain FREE, Members-Only event on Saturday, March 11.

 

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