We got the huge April storm ... now put your legs to the real test
This
is it, the ski season is rolling to a close and you’re suddenly, frantically
wondering how you’re going to wrap it up with a bang. Just as important, how
the hell are you going to whip your chairlift-shaped arse into summer cardio
shape?
First
of all, try working your way UP the slopes in order to earn your turns
down.
Try
doing it after chugging up to the base of the mountain on your bike. It’s one
of the hardest – and most awesome – things you’ll ever do.
The
first time I signed up for the Imperial Challenge, I came into it pretty much
straight off the couch. To be clear, I was not a full-fledged couch potato. I
was a new Breckenridge local, having just moved into town from Denver. By the
time April rolled around, I had done my share of snowboarding, but besides a
couple of easy snowshoe hikes, Nordic jaunts on the bike path and
adrenaline-charging drops off of cornices, I hadn’t done much to get my heart
rate up. I was lamenting the rapidly approaching end of the season and
panicking that I’d soon be slogging up single track in pursuit of my
perennially bionic, Breck-based mountain biking friends.
That’s
when I heard about the Imperial Challenge, the one-of-a-kind,
Breckenridge-specific race that, if completed – or even attempted – would
pretty much seal my status as a bona fide local.
Here’s how it works:
You drop your winter gear – boots, skis, skins, snowshoes or
boards – at the base of Peak 8 on the morning of the race (April 23). The Heavy Metal Rec Open categories (me) start at 9:15 a.m. while the hardcore competitors start
at 10 a.m. The race begins in town outside of the
Breck Rec Center. You can either run or bike the 6.2 miles up to the base of
Peak 8. The route is mostly dirt, so a mountain or cross bike work best, but if
you feel confident that the road will be dry (watch the forecast!), a road bike
works, too. If you want to channel the Imperial Challengers from the days of
yore, you can enter the Retro Category and pedal with all of your gear in tow.
Yep. People do this.
When you reach the base area, you ditch your bike (free security
provided) and begin the trek up the slopes. Your destination? The tippy
top of Peak 8 – about 3,000 vertical feet up, up, up. The options are hiking
with AT, telemark skis or split boards or snowshoeing with a board on your
back. The first time I did the Challenge, I did the latter (probably the slowest
and heaviest, but I was out to finish … not to win). From the top of Peak 8,
the last leg of the Challenge is a glorious downhill ski or ride to the finish
line, back to the Peak 8 base – guaranteed to be the most satisfying turns of
your life no matter the snow conditions.
The
slog to the top took me about three hours. The badass men who win normally
finish the whole thing in less than an hour and 20 minutes and the badass women
in less than 1:40:00.
Sick … I know. 
That
first Imperial Challenge damn near killed me. I’m sorry that I don’t have the
actual photo from the race (I buried it along with my naked baby pictures), but
it shows me bent in a 90-degree angle over the single ski pole that a good
Samaritan handed off about halfway up. The connection and sense of camaraderie
with fellow racers is one of the best parts of the experience. Besides the
hardcore that blow passed you, there are plenty of weekend warriors, fit
teenagers, other recovering couch potatoes and even a few rugged 70-year-olds
to bond with on the way up. Oh yeah. And there's a blowout party
afterward.
I
can’t wait to close out the season with another heart stopper. The 2016 Imperial Challenge happens April 23 in Breckenridge. Do yourself a favor
and sign up.
*Photo by climbbetty.com
