February Race Updates - Alley Loop and BMT

Nearly a decade ago, I took my first solo road trip from Michigan to Utah to visit some friends. Along the way, I grabbed coffee with a friend in Wyoming, and first heard the lore of Crested Butte’s Alley Loop. “You have to go,” I remember my friend telling me between sips. While the years that spanned between then and now have been busty with great racing and a college degree, when looking at the race calendar for 2026, I knew it was finally time. I planned my winter race schedule around the Alley Loop, the Boulder Mountain Tour (I needed redemption after last year’s blizzard slog), and my local race weekend at Crosscut (Bozeman, MT). What I naively neglected to plan was the drive - Colorado can’t be that far from Montana, right? After registering, I hopped onto google maps to plot my route, only to realize I had 14 hours one way ahead of me. Undeterred, I loaded up my Forester with gear for every imaginable condition - this winter’s been dismal and I wanted to be prepared for anything - and hit the road. 

The view the road and from a pre-race ski tour in Crested Butte. 

First stop: Ogden, Utah, for a quick layover. Due to unseasonably warm conditions, I left skis in the Thule box and opted for a sunset hike with my friend/host, before hitting the road early the next morning to make it to Crested Butte in time to guest coach at the kids biathlon practice. Upon arriving, and a bit dazed from the windshield time, I popped into the Nordic center to ask for directions to the biathlon range, and was promptly pointed to an empty field. Thinking the range must be just out of sight of the window, I walked out to the indicated field to find… just a field. Luckily, I was intercepted by Joellen, CB Nordic’s program manager, as she was dragging shooting mats out for practice. Turns out that Crested Butte exclusively uses laser rifles and, due to the absence of physical projectiles, can set up the range literally anywhere! While the Nordic center was bustling all afternoon, by far the busiest was during the kids session. Different groups skied through to find a quiet section of trail, individuals clipped into skis for a sunset cruise, and all the while our group of u10s and u14s skied around and around, zipping into the “range” periodically to line up and take some shots. While I love skiing and shooting myself, nothing makes me happier than coaching kids through games, mini-races, and best of all relays which inevitably are full of shouting and jumping and cheering.

As part of the Alley Loop Expo, CB Nordic also hosted a biathlon try-it event alongside the Fischer demo. Similar to kids practice, we set up in an open field, this time in a groomed oval adjacent to the expo building and right in the middle of down town Crested Butte. Throughout the afternoon, Alley Loop racers stopped by to try their hand at shooting, and while participants’ ages spanned many decades, the smiles were consistently beaming.

While I easily predicted the enthusiasm from kids and new biathletes, even with forewarning I was blown away by the energy of the actual Alley Loop event. By the time I drove in to town to warm up an hour before the start, town was already vibrating. But instead of the energy culminating with a starting gun or a finishing sprint, the 42k premier event was just an opener to the real event: the 1k, 3K, 5k, and 10k costume races. With an earlier start in the 42k, I came around for my final lap in time with the 10k, and proceeded to ski through a pack of squirrels, a collection of Maroon Belles (a nod to the local mountain range and scenic highway), multiple super heroes, tutus, and animated characters.

But even this was just a warmup! A couple surfed through the 5k, each with a surfboard and full body wetsuit replacing their poles. Another group impersonated Cam Smith - the CB local skimo athlete gearing up to make his Olympic debut - by donning curly red wigs, skimo gear, and carrying Olympic rings. One woman towed her toddler daughter 3.1 miles on a homemade pomma-lift. Possibly most impressive was a team pulling a mahogany desk, chair, and C-Suite exec (likely a child of one of the towing crew) all equipped with skis and rigged to tow up, and DOWN, the hills of the 5k course.

Disco ball for the Alley Loop! 

The start took athletes down the middle of Crested Butte’s snowed-in main street , Elk Avenue, before immediately dipping into the alleys that make the Alley Loop so iconic. Despite being a pinch point for traffic, the 1.5 person wide alleys created the perfect spectator experience, and I spent the afternoon watching costume after costume parade by, culminating in the grand finale downhill, a series of 90 degree corners coming off the Nordic trails, taking a quick zip along Elk Avenue, before finally diving into the alleys again for a victory lap around town to the finish.

To summarize the race using their own slogan: “If you like normal, you might want to look for another race. If you are up for anything… this is right up your alley!”

Post Alley Loop with US Biathlon teammate Scott (in the green) and new friends (with better costumes!)

The day after the race, I took the opportunity to tour some of the non-race trails. Despite the west’s snow drought, Crested Butte had seemingly endless opportunities for Nordic recreation with three separate trails systems immaculately groomed, plus truly endless options for alpine touring and fish scale ski romping all across the valley.

Next up was the Boulder Mountain Tour. Much like Crested Butte, Sun Valley made the most of the modest snow totals. During a pre-race course preview, I ran into the Harriman trail groomer who was as friendly as he was knowledgeable. Despite having never met, I instantly felt at home with his warm welcome, and immediately impressed by the hours put into prepping and maintaining the trails for the race.

Also part of the road trip (Malta, ID)

For every bit as unique the Alley Loop was, the Boulder Mountain Tour was equally professional. Despite being a point-to-point event, the logistics were seamless. Bib pickup, and the associated raffle and expo, was efficient and fun. During the race, an army of volunteers shuttled a duffle bag for each athlete from the start to the finish. This process was so smooth that a volunteer had placed my bag into my hands even before I thought about going to find it!

And the course! Wow! For years I’ve heard that the BMT is a fast and furious race, with bomber groomers and ripping downhills. After last year, with over a foot of snow falling the night before the race, I didn’t believe the BMT’s “it’s all downhill” slogan. This year, between the trails crew and the wax techs at the Elephant’s perch, the BMT truly delivered. Over 35k, I took less than 20 V1 poles, and I’d guess spent over 10k in a tuck skate or full tuck! Truly a joy to race, even after having crashing and losing the lead pack. Between the rocket ship skis and gorgeous mountain views, I couldn’t help but smile. The true highlight of the BMT though was post race; the finish area was a swarm of friends, old teammates, and strangers turned friend through shared Nordic experiences, all gathered around pushing personal speed limits, great post-race soup, and endless sunshine.

Post-BMT with Jack (left, a competitor in my collegiate conference) and Helen (middle, a teammate on US Junior biathlon trips as far back as 2015)
Unfortunately, Bozeman based Crosscut Mountain Sports Center, my home trails and the host of my next set of races, has fared the worst of the west, with a recent rain storm squashing their ability to host races. Pivoting, I opted to travel to Brillion, WI to coach the Crosscut Masters Comp team at Nationals. The weekend schedule is jam packed with a sprint, mass start, super sprint, daily Olympic watch parties, and daily awards and social events. Being my first visit to Brillion, I was blown away by the magnitude of their snowmaking operation. With a scarce few inches of snow on the surrounding hills, the man made loop stands out as a picture of perfection: flawless corduroy under a cloudless sky.

While in many ways it seems like winter has both not started and is nearly at an end, the past 3 weeks have reminded me how resilient the Nordic world is. We may have biked and ran more than we’ve skied this season, but that’s only served to reinvigorate the community when it comes together for these amazing events.