This past weekend the Pepsi Challenge was a truly unique and interesting experience for everyone who participated. A fascinating combination of winter and spring weather conditions made for quite an adventure, as the weather went from rain, to sleet, to snow, then back to rain, and over and over again. Nevertheless, over 300 skiers braved the elements for the Pepsi and made the most of the situation.

A personal story from the Pepsi is that I arrived on Friday night and went out for a quick ski around Northern Lights on perfectly groomed snow.  The next morning, my car was coated in a layer of ice, and when I arrived at Giant’s Ridge I found out that the groomer was unable to break through the layer of ice crust, and that the race would be delayed an hour.  This was followed by a rumor that the classic race was cancelled due to dangerous conditions, which sent my mind racing about what we would do.  That rumor turned out to be false, but all classic skiers were advised to avoid the tracks when possible due to the ice.

Then the most interesting part of the day that every MiSSeries skier faced: what wax to use.  Though most had originally called for a hard wax to be used, that turned out to not be the case on Saturday morning.  After listening in on the conversations of the much older and wiser skiers, I heard suggestions everywhere from waxless skis, to VR 50 klister, and universal klister.  In the end I can report that the VR 50 klister was not a good idea, and that despite what I might have hoped to think, you can’t double pole all of the silver, gold, and summit trails.  

Despite the interesting wax conditions the Pepsi was still a highly competitive race.  In the men’s race, Grant Nelson of team Skinnyski.com pulled away to finish on top, while Angie Robinson did the same for the women’s race.  

In the overall competition, Cheryl DuBois continues to lead the women’s side, while David Christopherson continued his perfect streak by gaining 100 points in the men’s competition.  The Skier of the Year category is currently seeing some of the closest competition yet as both Michael Meehlhause and John Lavelle are tied at the top, with two skiers not far behind.  This should be a category to watch in the coming weeks.    

For the women’s age group competition, Melissa MacMillan moved up to claim the lead in the 25-29 age group while Elaine Nelson took over the 30-34 age group.  The 35-39 age group is seeing a great battle with Heather Hohenstein holding a one point lead over Jessica Wilson, while the 55-59 age group is currently tied between Marilyn Franzen and Mary Lou Lundberg.

The men’s age group competition saw only a few changes as Michael Meehlhause moved up to take the lead in the 0-24 age group and Paul Bloomberg took over the 50-54 age group.  Meanwhile, keep an eye on the 70-74 age group as Dwight Beavers and Patrick Lanin are tied at the top, with Leon Kohn not too far behind.