January 20, 2001 - Beaver Creek, CO - Beaver Creek Resort made history in the year 2000 when it offered $10,000 in prize money to the continent's top snowshoe racers. This year they increased the purse to $15,000 which caught the eye of every top endurance sport athlete in the Rockies! And when the snow settled, Matt Carpenter and Lisa Goldsmith were declared champions.
Though Carpenter makes only one or two snowshoe appearances a year, he left little doubt that he is worthy of the title of North American Snowshoe Champion.
Carpenter established himself as a contender from the start when he joined a group of three other athletes who had escaped the rest of the field on the tough opening climb. Along with Carpenter were veteran snowshoers Jeremy Wright and Scott Gall, who were considered the pre-race favorites by most snowshoe junkies. Also in the group was Wyoming's Rob Macal, a strong snowshoer who was unknown to most of the group.
Exiting the groomed ski trails, the lead pack moved onto a packed singletrack where they were forced to run single-file -- then the singletrack ended! Slogging through a waist-deep soup of fresh powder, the leaders were quickly caught by a whole sea of chasers who were taking advantage of the swath cut through the powder by the strong lead group.
Following the chaos of a second stretch of powder at two miles, Carpenter had had enough! He motored away from the field on a long stretch of groomed ski trail, then in an incredible performance, powered SOLO through three sections of powder to hold off all chasers enroute to a well deserved $4,000 payday and the title of North American Snowshoe Champion.
Scott Gall chased hard after Carpenter for over three miles and crossed the line 13 seconds back to claim the $2,000 second place prize. Third place went to Jeremy Wright, who lost contact with the leaders when he hit the third section of single-track in 5th place.
Single-track conditions make passing virtually impossible because stepping off the narrow packed surface means waist-deep powder conditions -- even in snowshoes! Wright could only watch as the top-two sped away. Wright made a valliant attempt to rejoin the leaders, but came up a minute short.
The women's field learned the hard way about the difficulty of passing on single-track.
While the men's and women's fields were separated on the powder, with each gender being forced to make it's own path through the snow, the single-track sections were open to both sexes. As a result, the deep snow was already packed down for the middle-of-the-pack men, allowing them to pass the lead women in the powder. Once on the single-track, the women had to settle in behind this group of male competitors who were travelling at a much slower speed.
Still, the lead women managed to keep it together, setting up a dog-fight among the top-3 over the final two miles. In the end, it was Lisa Goldsmith grabbing the women's victory and the $4,000 paycheck. After nearly 60 straight snowshoe victories, Danelle Ballengee was forced to settle for second for the first time in years, and Jessica Phillies took a well deserved third.
The race will be broadcast on Fox Sports Net in February.
NORTH AMERICAN SNOWSHOE CHAMPIONSHIPS Event #2 of the Beaver Creek Snowshoe Adventure Series Men's 10K Place Name Division Time Sponsors Prize 1 Matt Carpenter Male 10K 0.59.29 Fila Skyrunners $4,000 2 Scott Gall Male 10K 0.59.42 Atlas Snowshoes $2,000 3 Jeremy Wright Male 10K 1.00.40 BC Resort/Tubbs $750 4 Ethan Hemphill Male 10K 1.01.02 Atlas Snowshoes $500 5 Charlie Wertheim Male 10K 1.01.04 $250 6 Rob Macal Male 10K 1.01.23 Atlas Snowshoe Company 7 Tom Sobal Male 10K 1.01.24 Redfeather Snowshoes 8 Dave Mackey Male 10K 1.01.28 Atlas Snowshoes 9 Darrin Eisman Male 10K 1.01.33 Alchemy Snowshoes 10 Mike Kloser Male 10K 1.01.35 BC Resort Co. 11 Dan Nielsen Male 10K 1.02.04 Northern Lights/BC Resort 12 Darren Lacy Male 10K 1.03.32 The Bag And Pack Shop 13 Adam White Male 10K 1.03.33 14 Andrew Adamowski Male 10K 1.03.58 Redfeather Snowhoes 15 Birger Ohlsson Male 10K 1.03.59 16 Pat Brown Male 10K 1.04.40 Asics 17 Eric Black Male 10K 1.04.52 Alchemy 18 Dan Wieland Male 10K 1.05.00 BC Resort Co. 19 Karl Edgerton Male 10K 1.05.20 20 Jimi Mortenson Male 10K 1.05.45 Beaver Creek Resort 21 Carl Bruggeman Male 10K 1.06.45 BC Resort Co. 22 Jesse Haynes Male 10K 1.07.48 23 Chris Valentini Male 10K 1.07.59 24 Hal Koerner Male 10K 1.08.52 25 Jeffery Jewell Male 10K 1.08.56 26 Charlie Merrill Male 10K 1.09.24 Atlas Snowshoe Company 27 Andrew Holton Male 10K 1.09.31 28 Charlie Nuttelman Male 10K 1.09.42 29 Jason Smith Male 10K 1.09.49 Atlas Snowshoe Company 30 Kurt Blumberg Male 10K 1.09.53 Team Alchemy 31 Dave Cressman Male 10K 1.11.05 Atlas Snowshoe Company 32 Kevin Deighan Male 10K 1.11.08 Beaver Creek & Atlas 33 Adam Feerst Male 10K 1.12.28 34 Dan Timm Male 10K 1.12.44 Bc Resort Co. 35 Clarence Harrison Male 10K 1.13.25 36 Peter Dann Male 10K 1.14.12 East West Resorts 37 Zach Bughom Male 10K 1.15.03 BCRC 38 Ian Decker Male 10K 1.15.13 39 Jimmy Archer Male 10K 1.15.41 40 Mark Saxby Male 10K 1.15.54 41 Jason Bortz Male 10K 1.16.03 42 Arch Wright Male 10K 1.16.40 43 Neal Henderson Male 10K 1.17.53 "Sharkies, Dragon Optical" 44 Robb Reece Male 10K 1.17.54 Alchemy Snowshoes 45 Scott Boulbol Male 10K 1.18.11 46 Travis Haines Male 10K 1.19.13 47 Eric Dec Male 10K 1.19.19 48 Steve Luckey Male 10K 1.19.51 Krispy Kreme Doughnuts 49 Paul Hahn Male 10K 1.20.24 50 Rob Claus Male 10K 1.21.13 51 Dean Sheppard Male 10K 1.21.22 52 Chris Echelmeier Male 10K 1.23.34 53 Ronan Murray Male 10K 1.23.40 Pedal Power/Marmst 54 Ben Sokolski Male 10K 1.23.44 55 David Kelble Male 10K 1.24.10 56 Bob Peters Male 10K 1.24.26 57 Brad Stamp Male 10K 1.24.50 58 David Dougherty Male 10K 1.27.30 59 Greg Eby Male 10K 1.28.54 60 Gary VanGuilder Male 10K 1.29.22 61 Lance Dalleck Male 10K 1.29.23 62 Jack Ridenour Male 10K 1.30.28 63 Daniel Ritsch Male 10K 1.31.17 64 Chris Piper Male 10K 1.34.01 65 Brad Mauvais Male 10K 1.34.05 66 Cisco Quintero Male 10K 1.34.54 67 David Mornes Male 10K 1.35.00 68 Mark Elmore Male 10K 1.35.09 69 Patrick Giefer Male 10K 1.35.11 70 Verne Carlson Male 10K 1.35.23 71 Michael Copeland Male 10K 1.37.22 72 Dan Nelson Male 10K 1.37.50 Atlas 73 Edward Haibt Male 10K 1.40.33 74 Dave Elmblad Male 10K 1.40.40 75 Scott Schlosser Male 10K 1.42.19 76 Greg Mueller Male 10K 1.42.21 Fatty Tuna NET 77 Robert Reed Male 10K 1.43.52 78 Ronald Knoshaug Male 10K 1.46.49 Men's East West 5K Quest Place Name Division Time Sponsors 1 Benedictus Kok Male 5K 0.23.38 BC Resort Co. 2 Adam Chase Male 5K 0.24.03 Atlas Snowshoes 3 Ryan Goheen Male 5K 0.24.19 Team DRSC 4 Ian White Male 5K 0.24.42 5 Brian Metzler Male 5K 0.26.04 Trail Runner Magazine 6 Marc Johnson Male 5K 0.26.30 7 Joe Kelso Male 5K 0.27.33 8 Bruce Valentine Male 5K 0.28.12 9 Bruce Carling Male 5K 0.28.41 10 Nate Goldberg Male 5K 0.28.55 BC Resort Co. 11 Steve Loewenkamp Male 5K 0.29.44 12 James Lund Male 5K 0.29.59 13 Mark Shin Male 5K 0.30.10 Team DRSC 14 Larry Rose Male 5K 0.30.29 15 Chadd Hird Male 5K 0.30.36 Team DRSC 16 Tony O'Rourke Male 5K 0.30.40 BC Resort Co. 17 Brian Hinz Male 5K 0.30.54 Team DRSC 18 Kurt Kincel Male 5K 0.31.03 BC Resort Co. 19 Andy Nauman Male 5K 0.31.22 20 Takeshi Yamauchi Male 5K 0.31.50 21 Johny Chapin Male 5K 0.32.04 22 Innes Isom Male 5K 0.33.28 Earth Scapes 23 Kevin Jordan Male 5K 0.34.16 24 John Goheen Male 5K 0.34.27 Team DRSC 25 Steve Johnson Male 5K 0.34.31 26 James Lynum Male 5K 0.34.42 27 Larry Dirks Male 5K 0.35.07 28 Dean Holmstrom Male 5K 0.35.15 29 Scott Plumb Male 5K 0.35.26 30 Laszo Gyermek Male 5K 0.35.40 Crescent Moon Snowshoes 31 Brian Chase Male 5K 0.35.43 32 Drew McCammon Male 5K 0.35.55 33 George Johnson Male 5K 0.36.03 34 Waren Perker Male 5K 0.36.05 35 Mike Bacelli Male 5K 0.37.22 36 Joe Porter Male 5K 0.37.31 Team DRSC 37 Bill Turley Male 5K 0.37.53 38 Ted Farrell Male 5K 0.38.27 39 Jay Kotecha Male 5K 0.38.43 40 Calvin Ziegler Male 5K 0.40.30 41 Rod Smythe Male 5K 0.41.10 42 John Marini Male 5K 0.42.11 43 Ramie Park Male 5K 0.43.12 44 Joe Wolf Male 5K 0.43.14 45 Nicholas Meyer Male 5K 0.43.53 Pure Lip 46 Rhome Bumpas Male 5K 0.44.58 47 Scott DeLeeuw Male 5K 0.45.12 48 Jason Kolar Male 5K 0.45.29 49 Rick Schmelzer Male 5K 0.46.54 50 John Sjostrom Male 5K 0.46.56 51 Bill King Male 5K 0.47.04 52 Richard Martinez Male 5K 0.48.08 Powerbar 53 Jim Cardow Male 5K 0.48.49 54 Tim Kelley Male 5K 0.49.16 BC Resort Co. 55 Mike Mathias Male 5K 0.49.17 56 Marlin Smickley Male 5K 0.50.05 57 Chester Elder Male 5K 0.54.53 58 Rocky Enlow Male 5K 1.02.35 59 Steve EGlash Male 5K 1.03.14 60 Andrew Gault Male 5K 1.05.17 61 Mark Pendergast Male 5K 1.05.46 62 John Fisher Male 5K 1.11.10 63 Miles Jones Male 5K 1.26.12 Male Kids K Place Name Division Time Sponsors 1 Kenyon Erickson Male KidsK 0.03.25 2 Patrick Perry Male KidsK 0.03.35 3 Jimmy O'Rourke Male KidsK 0.03.40 BC Resort Co. 4 Yusuke Yamauchi Male KidsK 0.03.42 Women's 10K Place Name Division Time Sponsors Prize 1 Lisa-Marie Goldsmith Female 10K 1.11.33 Atlas $4,000 2 Danelle Ballengee Female 10K 1.11.57 Tubbs $2,000 3 Jessica Phillies Female 10K 1.12.02 Redfeather $750 4 Kari Distefane Female 10K 1.15.51 $500 5 Martha Lunsky Female 10K 1.18.35 $250 6 Tina Burghardt Female 10K 1.19.53 Atlas Snowshoes 7 Lisa Been Female 10K 1.20.36 Atlas Snowshoes 8 Amanda Ortiz Female 10K 1.21.12 9 Gia White Female 10K 1.21.17 10 Melody Fairchild Female 10K 1.22.28 11 Laura Haefeli Female 10K 1.22.33 12 Teri Duthie Female 10K 1.22.51 13 Gretchen Keisling Female 10K 1.23.02 14 Ellen Miller Female 10K 1.23.29 BC Resort Co. 15 Lisa Jhung Female 10K 1.23.42 Atlas Snowshoe Company 16 Mike Hilmer Female 10K 1.23.56 17 Kelli Lusk Female 10K 1.25.02 Redfeather 18 Meg Horrocks Female 10K 1.25.11 19 Lisa Rainsberger Female 10K 1.26.08 20 Cristina Begy Female 10K 1.26.46 Atlas/Patagonia/Cliff 21 Catriona Dowling Female 10K 1.26.48 Alchemy 22 Helen Hill Female 10K 1.27.13 Crescent Moon Snowshoes 23 Sue Covington Female 10K 1.27.41 Rocky Mountain Sports 24 Sue Muncaster Female 10K 1.29.30 US Women's Raft Team 25 Sara Jaros Female 10K 1.30.11 Atlas Snowshoe Company 26 Cindy Rosenberg Female 10K 1.30.51 27 Laurie Mizener Edward Female 10K 1.31.20 28 Julie Farrell Female 10K 1.39.03 29 Hilary Petrowski Female 10K 1.40.13 30 Julie Washnock Female 10K 1.42.56 Atlas Snowshoes Women's East West 5K Quest Place Name Division Time Sponsors 1 Michele Torelli Female 5K 0.29.30 Atlas 2 Vicky Leroux Female 5K 0.30.58 3 Alicia Dow Female 5K 0.31.11 4 Cathy Zitti Female 5K 0.32.18 5 Debbie Ford Female 5K 0.32.50 BC Resort Co. 6 Amanda Stovall Female 5K 0.33.20 BC Resort Co. 7 Joy Schwarting Female 5K 0.33.23 Alchemy Snowshoes 8 Helen Gies Female 5K 0.34.00 9 Sally Clair Female 5K 0.34.38 10 Carolyn Gyermek Female 5K 0.34.50 11 Patrice Shea Female 5K 0.35.04 BC Resort Co. 12 Melissa Johnson Female 5K 0.35.47 13 Erika Tieszen Female 5K 0.36.07 14 Jean Naumann Female 5K 0.36.19 BC Resort Co. 15 Jennifer Miller Female 5K 0.36.30 16 Julie Blass Female 5K 0.37.06 17 Kim Montague Female 5K 0.37.24 18 Lisa Mauvais Female 5K 0.37.34 19 Katie Palmer Female 5K 0.37.44 BC Resort Co. 20 Darcy Madison Female 5K 0.37.46 21 Christina Schleicher Female 5K 0.37.59 22 Sue Pollock Female 5K 0.38.06 23 Mourghan Varni Female 5K 0.38.28 24 Helga Adasz Female 5K 0.38.30 25 Holly Johnson Female 5K 0.38.32 26 Jeanne Blatter Female 5K 0.38.38 27 Kristi Allio Female 5K 0.38.40 28 Susie Hodne Female 5K 0.39.14 29 Mary Plumb Female 5K 0.39.20 30 Sherri Harrison Female 5K 0.40.28 31 Brooke Mann Female 5K 0.41.01 32 Lynne Perry Female 5K 0.41.03 BC Resort Co. 33 Jodi Dolph Female 5K 0.41.23 34 Danielle Radovich-Pip Female 5K 0.41.29 35 Holly Nielsen Female 5K 0.41.50 36 Mayumi Yamauchi Female 5K 0.41.55 37 Anne Wenzel Female 5K 0.42.06 38 Tanya Holland Female 5K 0.42.22 39 Mary Blomquist Female 5K 0.42.28 40 Colleen Weiss Female 5K 0.42.45 41 Colleen Anderson Female 5K 0.43.18 42 Sherry Jewell Female 5K 0.43.26 43 Pam Britton Female 5K 0.43.29 44 Dorothy Distlehorst Female 5K 0.43.33 45 Tricia Swenson Female 5K 0.43.44 46 Loraine Gruber Female 5K 0.44.10 47 Sharon Madison Female 5K 0.44.14 48 Paula Axelrod Female 5K 0.44.18 49 Rebecca Weller Female 5K 0.44.43 50 Christina Swamson Female 5K 0.44.45 51 Liz Adams Female 5K 0.45.03 EastWest Resorts 52 Valerie Barry Female 5K 0.45.08 53 Sharon Connoly Female 5K 0.45.14 54 Judy Sheppard Female 5K 0.45.16 55 Martha Brassel Female 5K 0.45.26 BC Resort Co. 56 Carrie Bulrice Female 5K 0.45.27 Pure Lip 57 Patti Castro Female 5K 0.45.51 58 Lynn Metzger Female 5K 0.45.56 59 Judy Smythe Female 5K 0.46.03 60 Kelley Good Female 5K 0.46.05 61 Donna Kazura Female 5K 0.46.10 62 Virginia Racht Female 5K 0.46.37 63 Amanda Walker Female 5K 0.47.00 64 Denise Elder Female 5K 0.47.06 65 Louisa King Female 5K 0.48.00 66 Mandy Jackson Female 5K 0.48.07 67 Lois Calhoun Female 5K 0.48.48 68 Barbra Kelley Female 5K 0.49.14 BC Resort Co. 69 Julie Szmyd Female 5K 0.50.03 70 Cynthia Smith Female 5K 0.50.11 71 Tricia Troxel Female 5K 0.52.35 72 Michelle Doft Female 5K 0.52.38 73 Abby Dixon Female 5K 0.52.40 74 Amanda Grems Female 5K 0.53.18 75 Carol Gonter-Flogaus Female 5K 0.53.32 76 Joanne Cermak Female 5K 0.53.58 77 Michelle Courtney Female 5K 0.54.31 78 Cathy Wetzel Female 5K 0.55.09 79 Stephanie Sameulson Female 5K 0.55.11 80 Betsi Lubbers Female 5K 0.55.16 81 Julie Ressenick Female 5K 0.55.20 82 Jennifer Stiebel Female 5K 0.55.24 83 Christine Lisowy Female 5K 0.56.06 84 Ann Muncaster Female 5K 0.56.54 85 Peggy Ballengee Female 5K 0.56.58 86 Doris Rigoni Female 5K 0.57.54 87 Nicole Witt Female 5K 0.57.56 88 Sharon Smith Female 5K 0.58.33 89 Jill Murphy Female 5K 0.58.34 90 Mildred Cuebas Female 5K 1.00.36 91 Josiah Middaugh Female 5K 1.00.55 92 Lisa Isom Female 5K 1.03.08 93 Carrie VanBeek Female 5K 1.03.09 94 Rosalle Hill-Isom Female 5K 1.03.12 95 Fran Gault Female 5K 1.05.16 96 BonnieCardow Female 5K 1.05.18 97 Shelly Jarnot Female 5K 1.05.40 East West Resorts 98 Susan Pendergast Female 5K 1.05.45 99 DeAnn Lammert Female 5K 1.05.56 100 Carol Blevins Female 5K 1.05.57 101 Monique Cerise Female 5K 1.06.02 102 Jennifer Baertschy Female 5K 1.06.04 103 Nancy Kettelkamp Female 5K 1.09.14 104 Druilla Pugh Female 5K 1.09.15 105 Kris Fisher Female 5K 1.11.09 Female Kids K Place Name Division Time 1 Franca Gyermek Female KidsK 0.03.05 2 Cynthia Edgerton Female KidsK 0.03.26 3 Ellen Edgerton Female KidsK 0.04.00 4 Adriana Morken Female KidsK 1.17.05