Page 10 - 2004 AMA Summer

The only way is up [and down again]
Three ciwies and a Royal Engineer at the World Ski Mountaineering Championships
by Nigel Mockridge RE
I nterested in representing GB at the forthcoming World Ski Mountaineering
Championships?’ went the small article in Summit No. 32, the club magazine of the British Mountaineering Council. More out of curiosity than genuine hope, I responded with a “yes’ and 2 months later found myself meeting up with the 3 other British Team members (Jon Morgan, Roland Sinker, and Nick Wallis) at the Spanish town of Salardu in the Val d'Aran region of the F*yrenees, for the 2nd UIAA World Ski Mountaineering Championships which were taking place between 2-7 March 2004.
Ski Mountaineering Racing - Never heard of it! For the unini­ tiated, ski mountaineering racing involves fell-running on skis using ultra-lightweight (and therefore expensive) gear, over arduous terrain that you would not normally tackle without the help of a mountain guide, with much more equipment, but in half the time! We are talking skis weighing less than 1300 g each, boots less than 1200 g, and everything else (shovel, probe, helmet, clothing etc) stripped down to the bare minimum. As for normal ski mountaineering, mohair or synthetic ‘skins’ are stuck to the base of the skis for the ascents, which are then stripped off for the descents.
Vertical Race: The event consisted of 4 separate Championships; the Vertical
Singles, Team, and Individual Races plus a Relay Race on the last day. Taking a spectators role on the first day due to a restriction on the number of team competitors, I watched as 118 men and women tackled the severe beasting that is the straight 950 m of ascent to the Cap de Baqueira (2466 m) in the Vertical Race. Having descended then ascended the course in slow time later in the day, I can testify that the winner's time of 40 minutes was an outstanding performance, particularly as it was minus 19“C! Jon, Nick and Roland finished in 49, 62 and 65 minutes respectively, and with a clearer idea of how painful the rest of the week was going to be!
Team Effort: Day 2 was the Team Race for teams of 2, with Great Britain fielding 2 teams. The race consisted of 5 ascents totalling 2128 m and taking in the Tuc de Beret (2590 m) and Tuc de Baciver (2644 m) as well as a few dodgy couloirs and portages over knife-edge ridges. After an amusing false start, the leaders were soon a speck in the distance and we got down to the business of getting ahead of as many nations as we could. Finishing 37th and 38th respec­ tively out of 43 teams, these were decent performances given the strength of the field, albeit over an hour behind the winning time of 2 hours.
Individual Race: With Day 3 reserved for junior races, Day 4