Team USA skis
through the night
Glenne, Deuter in
New Zealand
Ketchum-based
marathon skiers Olin Glenne and Brett Deuter led the three-skier
"Team USA" to fourth place out of seven men’s teams in the
HP 50k of Coronet international endurance ski race July 29-30 near
Queenstown, New Zealand.
Their
teammate was Ian Maclendon of Aspen, Colo.
"Brett
and I definitely did most of the legwork for our team," said Glenne.
"We probably skied 48,000 vertical meters as a team."
For 15
hours, from 6 p.m. through the night until 10 a.m. the next morning,
Team USA finished 107 ski runs—same as the second-place British and
third-place New Zealanders.
The
Germans, winning for the third straight year, accomplished 108 runs.
Rounding out the men’s teams were Japan in fifth place, Austria with
downhiller Patrick Ortlieb in sixth and Switzerland in seventh.
Glenne
said, "Flat light going from night into day was definitely an
issue.
"Brett
took a fall and lost a ski about 8 a.m., which cost us 20 to 30 seconds
and dropped us from second or third into fifth place. But we fought back
and ended fourth. Plus, the course was incredibly rough. They had let
people ski on it during the day. And with all the excess snow, they had
to close the course about 1 a.m. and clear it for an hour."
Placing
first through third in the women’s final standings were Canada,
Austria and the U.S. team featuring Nicole Pelletier.
Glenne
said, "With all the skiers, men and women, we skied about 2,000
runs."
There was
no prize money involved. Proceeds were donated to Cure Kids, a division
of the Child Health Research Foundation. Glenne said, "They raised
about $300,000 for charity, about $150,000 American."
If they
are selected to represent the U.S. next year, Glenne and Deuter said
they would be happy to return.
"All
in all it was a great trip. We’re looking forward to trying it again
next year," said Glenne, who likened the HP 50k of Coronet to a
southern hemisphere equivalent of the 24 Hours of Aspen marathon ski
race.
Glenne’s
sponsors were Bigwood Bread, Sturtevants, Sushi on 2nd, Scott USA and
Atomic. Deuter’s sponsors were Scott USA, Smith, Rossignol and Cliff
Bar.