You are being served a version of this page without styles because your browser is an older version. Everything is still available and functional, but the presentation is plainer than intended.

Scenic shot of start/finish table (2004 Burton Creek Ski-O, Photo: Thorsten Graeve)

Burton Creek Ski-O - Results

Date: Sunday, January 4, 2004
Location: Tahoe City, CA.
Contact:
Event Type: C; Ski-O
Skip to the Results

Writeup by Thorsten Graeve

The snow just kept on coming. On New Year's day the winds were howling, the snow was blowing, most roads (and ski resorts) were closed, and the only time I left the house was to make my way to the woodpile to keep the stove going. Tahoe Cross Country, the site of this year's first Ski-O, got two feet of fresh powder. However, the storm tapered off on Friday, and Saturday morning broke bright and clear. Time to set out controls.

This time I had learned my lesson from last year and got started earlier. However, piles of fresh snow meant long driving times, buried ski trails that hadn't been groomed yet, and the only way to put in the shortcut trails was to pack them, one step at a time, with snowshoes. The resulting "trenches" were about a foot wide and nearly twice as deep, but provided a firm and unmistakable route option for skiers. A new standard for bushwhack trails? With Tony's help we managed to finish before dark. Nothing left to do but head home and print a few more maps.

Action shot of Yelena Krasnov finishing (2004 Burton Creek Ski-O, Photo: Thorsten Graeve)

The skies stayed clear, and once the sun got up the next morning the single-digit overnight temperatures quickly jumped up into the twenties. The snow stayed cold, though, and proved difficult to ski for veterans and novices alike. An all-out grooming effort by our hosts at Tahoe XC got the trails into top shape for the event.

Despite the cold and the difficult travelling conditions, 35 brave souls turned up to enjoy the winter wonderland. Doug Greenwood & kids raced around the white course in a record 31 minutes to take first place. The rest of the field on white was dominated by the Masalkov and Ragenas families. Milda and Antanas took second place, while Eglute, Balys, Gabija and Karina completed the entire 3.1 km course to take third - the last two being only 5 and 4 years old!

Nancy Lindeman (2004 Burton Creek Ski-O, Photo: Thorsten Graeve)

Chris Hann won the yellow course with a time of 50:39. On orange, Johanna Merriss narrowly defeated Beth Dixon by only seven seconds, despite dropping her E-punch stick half-way through the course. Luckily it was found and turned it during the afternoon. Among the men, Doug Bass headed up the field on Orange with a time of 56:28.

Overall winner on the green course was Yelena Krasnov, easily beating out a field of five other contenders with a time of 1:45:17. And on blue, local resident and Biathlon coach Chuck Lyda defeated BAOC's Dan Stoll-Hadayia by a margin of 9 minutes with a time of 1:40:52.

Dan-Stoll Hadayia showing off while he's warming up (2004 Burton Creek Ski-O, Photo: Thorsten Graeve)

Many thanks to Olivia Graeve (registration), Tony Pinkham (vetting, control placement and E-punch download), Nancy Lindeman and Dan Stoll-Hadayia (beginner's clinics and control pickup), Bill Straka (start/finish), Alex and Yelena Krasnov (control pickup), and to Kevin and Vali from Tahoe XC for a great job in keeping up the trails and supporting this event. And don't forget that there are two more Ski-O dates coming up: February 8 at Royal Gorge and February 29 at Bear Valley. See you there!

Burton Creek Ski-O
Sunday, January 4, 2004

Results


  Pl  Name                                Time

White Course, Males     (2.900 km, 7 controls)

   1  Doug Greenwood                      31:06
   2  Antanas & Milda Ragenas           1:08:53
   3  Karina, Gabija, Eglute & Balys    1:33:17


Yellow Course, Females  (3.625 km, 8 controls)

   1  Jackie Mason                      1:14:55


Yellow Course, Males    (3.625 km, 8 controls)

   1  Chris Hann                          50:39
   2  Glenn Mason                       1:05:19
   3  Bevan Waite                       1:22:49


Orange Course, Females  (5.450 km, 8 controls)

   1  Johanna Merriss                   1:21:41
   2  Beth Dixon                        1:21:48
   3  Nancy Lindeman                    2:03:12


Orange Course, Males    (5.450 km, 8 controls)

   1  Doug Bass                           56:28
   2  Jack Acton                        1:04:43
   3  William Straka                    1:11:44
   4  Janell & Mel Glouser              1:26:01
   5  Grant Glouser                     1:26:04


Green Course, Females   (11.050 km, 10 controls)

   1  Yelena Krasnov                    1:45:17
   2  Carol Schick                      2:11:08


Green Course, Males     (11.050 km, 10 controls)

   1  Jim Waite                         2:04:27
   2  Bob Cooley                        2:50:51
   3  Jack Bowers                       2:52:35

      Jay Hann                             DNF


Blue Course, Males      (13.575 km, 12 controls)

   1  Chuck Lyda                        1:40:52
   2  Dan Stoll-Hadayia                 1:49:57
   3  Alex Krasnov                      2:08:29
   4  Bob Baylor                        2:19:06
   5  Tony Pinkham                      2:42:53
   6  Andrejus Masalkovas               3:02:09
   7  Gunne Rostrup                     3:18:08

_______________

DNF = Did not finish