Oosik Classic ski race celebrates 15 years

TALKEETNA – One thing about the Oosik Classic is certain — the race must always go on.

In 1999 — when most people were either partying hard, stocking their cellars or preparing to mourn the malfunction of all computers, in anticipation of some kind of apocalypse — 1994 Olympic skier Adam Verrier was thinking, Alaska needs the Oosik Classic ski race.

Well, sort of. He knew he wanted something that skiers of all fitness and skill levels could participate in without feeling intimidated or bored. He wanted fun. He wanted something like the Skagway-based Buckwheat Classic, a themed event with multiple racing distances, a comprehensive award ceremony, and a great after party.

“It was unlike anything I had done before,” Verrier said.

The Buckwheat did remind him a little of some races he once skied in Europe, he said, but Alaska was seriously lacking an event of that caliber.

“Most cross country ski races tend to be very similar to each other,” Verrier said. “You ski around on a course that’s well-groomed, everything’s in good shape, there’s not a lot of variability between races, and it’s kind of a serious affair.”

“Serious” is exactly what an Olympic skier sounds like, but now, at least, fun reigns supreme.

Saturday, as he looked around at all the skiers in costume, remembered the margarita aid station at the 24- or 49-kilometer mark, and saw all the smiles on finishers faces, Verrier knew that the Oosik Classic Ski Race and Tour was still just as he envisioned it in the beginning.

“(This is) everything that I was sort of dreaming of when I put this race together,” he said.

The race has since moved from its original starting point, Sheep Mountain Lodge, and its secondary starting point at Majestic Valley Lodge, both in Sutton, but that’s kind of the point.

“Distances are approximate and trail conditions are variable,” reads a part of the race description on the Denali Nordic Ski Club website.

But trail groomer and former race director Chris Mannix and “Trailmeister” Bill Barstow agreed that the Oosik is still the Oosik.

“Judging by the amount of sticks we skied over today, it’s still very Oosik-y for me,” Barstow said.

“(The) course had so much variety, and fun and funky skiing,” Mannix said. “It’s real skiing, not pampered skiing.”

Even though the course and competition may not be as challenging for skiers like UAF senior Jonas Löffler, from Germany, the Oosik is still his one of his favorite races, he said.

“If you’re having a good day of racing or not a good day of racing, you just have fun,” he said.

As good as Löffler may have felt, the warm weather made for wet snow last weekend, which made picking a wax difficult for racers.

For some, anyway. Löffler decided to skip dealing with sticky wax and just went without — then won the 50k, double-poling the whole race.

Löffler also placed 20th in the 20k classic race at the NCAA Skiing Championships recently in Lake Placid, New York.

Concluding the university season with the Oosik, he said, has become a tradition for UAF skiers, and one that reminds them of the importance of being considerate.

“We try to be fair and you know, not run people over,” Löffler said. “Everyone’s gotta make it to the finish line.”

Some skiers who signed up for the 50k did decide to quit after 25k and not do a second lap, but most people who showed up finished what they started. Of about 630 skiers who pre-registered, 571 people finished — more than half of whom were women in the 25k race.

Current race director Iris VanDenham said she’s not big on the costumes but Anchorage elementary school teachers Anne Yutrzenka and Joan Egeland said it comes with the territory. (Verrier said he thinks female entrants are probably responsible for bringing the dress-up aspect to the event with inspiration from the Anchorage Ski for Women, though many male entrants get into the fun and funky spirit now.)

Egeland and Yutrzenka have participated in the race for the last several years, usually sporting something shiny, pink or spirited.

The women said they did attempt to race for a couple years, then discovered they liked falling into the touring category more.

“I did try harder the first few times,” Egeland said.

“But we found that it’s much more fun when you don’t,” Yutrzenka finished.

Egeland and Yutrzenka finished 77th and 78th out of 296 female competitors in the 25k race.

Sadie Fox of Soldotna High School won the women’s 25k in 1 hour, 35 minutes and nine seconds, followed by Mount Marathon record holder Nancy Pease in 1:37:48.

UAA skier Manon Locatelli won the women’s 50k in 3:26:39.

In the men’s 25k division, Colony High School graduate and Alaska Pacific University skier Abe Meyerhofer took first place with a time of 1:25:47. Soldonta High School’s Levi Michael came in second, about two and half minutes later.

Contact Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.

Results

Oosik Classic

March 21

Men

50k

Top 25

1) Jonas Löffler, M Senior, 2:44:30;

2) Peter Kling, M Senior, 2:44:38;

3) Dylan Watts, M1-M2, 2:44:45;

4) Clement Molliet, M Senior, 2:45:03;

5) Jack Novak, M Senior, 2:53:36;

6) Kenneth Brewer, M Senior, 2:53:36;

7) Michael Fehrenbach, M Senior, 2:53:42;

8) Peter Mamrol, M Senior, 3:01:42;

9) Andre Lovett, M Senior, 3:08:23;

10) Lukas Ebner, M Senior, 3:09:44;

11) Trond Jensen, M5-M6, 3:14:22;

12) Cody Priest, M Senior, 3:21:22;

13) Erik Mundahl, M Senior, 3:26:35;

14) Adam Verrier, M3-M4, 3:28:19;

15) Etienne Richard, M Senior, 3:33:47;

16) Michael Powell, M3-M4, 3:33:59;

17) Nick Treinen, M Senior, 3:35:20;

18) Davis Dunlap, M Senior, 3:36:14;

19) Mario Roncador, M Senior, 3:36:16;

20) Peter Abraham, M1-M2, 3:44:22;

21) Jim Falconer, M3-M4, 3:46:36;

22) Steven Bergt, M5-M6, 3:48:35;

23) Scott Holland, M Senior, 3:52:14;

24) Finn Swingle, M Junior, 3:55:15;

25) Dan Libbey, M3-M4, 3:56:00;

Women

50k

1) Manon Locatelli, F Senior, 3:26:39;

2) Hanna Slotte, F Senior, 3:33:35;

3) Ann-Cathrin Uhl, F Junior, 3:34:24;

4) Martina Himma, F Senior, 3:34:25;

5) Patricia Sprecher, F Senior, 3:35:47;

6) Kathrin Schratt, F Senior, 3:37:06;

7) Shalane Frost, F Senior, 3:58:43;

8) Caitlin Marine, F Senior, 4:09:51;

9) Anna Rix, F Senior, 4:19:52;

10) Melina Park, F Senior, 4:29:20;

11) Erin Trochim, F1-F2, 4:41:10;

12) Adeline Wright, F Youth, 4:44:29;

13) Judy Kanady, F5-F6, 4:47:20;

14) Joanna Young, F1-F2, 5:16:31;

15) Cathy Weeg, F3-F4, 5:34:13;

16) Debra Caldera, F7-F8, 5:42:01;

17) Andy Notopoulos, F Senior, 5:43:03;

18) Sheryl Stevens, F3-F4, 5:49:58;

19) Sheila Wilson, F Senior, 6:13:52;

Men

25k

Top 25

1) Abe Meyerhofer, M Senior, 1:25:47;

2) Levi Michael, M Junior, 1:28:21;

3) Nathan Jones, M1-M2, 1:31:26;

4) Dan Brokaw, M5-M6, 1:31:57;

5) Zach Bassett, M Junior, 1:38:34;

6) Paul Butera, M Junior, 1:38:51;

7) Brett Egeland, M Junior, 1:38:58;

8) Jack Consenstein, M Junior, 1:38:58;

9) Luke Jager, M Junior, 1:39:04;

10) Jake Bassett, M Junior, 1:39:05;

11) Canyon Tobin, M Junior, 1:39:30;

12) Gus Schumacher, M Junior, 1:39:30;

13) Quinn Vinlove, M Junior, 1:40:48;

14) Kyle Shedd, M Senior, 1:40:58;

15) Eli Ickes, M Junior, 1:41:26;

16) Nanne Boogaerdt, M1-M2, 1:41:42;

17) Bruce Talbot, M7-M8, 1:42:27;

18) Dan Beutel, M1-M2, 1:44:14;

19) Richard Rogers, M5-M6, 1:45:30;

20) Dan Harrell, M3-M4, 1:45:44;

21) Bill Spencer, M5-M6, 1:48:10;

22) David Spencer, M Junior, 1:48:11;

23) Peter Johnson, M7-M8, 1:52:02;

24) Andy Hall, M5-M6, 1:52:15;

25) Steve Milliron, M5-M6, 1:52:29;

Women

25k

Top 25

1) Sadie Fox, F Junior, 1:35:09;

2) Nancy Pease, F5-F6, 1:37:48;

3) Amy Schumacher, F3-F4, 1:38:35;

4) Zoe Hancock, F Junior, 1:40:21;

5) Liz Butera, F5-F6, 1:42:16;

6) Aurelie Barnel, F1-F2, 1:42:29;

7) Mimi Allen, F Junior, 1:42:36;

8) Kaya Ratzlaff, F Youth, 1:45:13;

9) Heidi Booher, F Junior, 1:49:29;

10) Zoe Ratzlaff, F Junior, 1:49:44;

11) Sarah Schoen, F1-F2, 1:53:56;

12) Alyson Mcphetres, F Senior, 1:54:13;

13) Lisa Drumm, F1-F2, 1:54:47;

14) Reilly Hall, F Junior, 1:55:17;

15) Rachelle Kanady, F Senior, 1:55:57;

16) Helen Wilson, F Youth, 1:58:05;

17) Kira Leonard, F Senior, 2:00:07;

18) Claire Ferree, F Senior, 2:00:42;

19) Aliza Segal, F1-F2, 2:02:14;

20) Tracy Zietlow, F5-F6, 2:02:56;

21) Emma Sees, F Youth, 2:03:44;

22) Lauren Hess, F Senior, 2:05:18;

23) Mariah Graham, F Senior, 2:05:44;

24) Amanda Del Frate, F Senior, 2:10:24;

25) Danielle Jerry, F7-F8, 2:11:27;