Herring and Staberg win Breck Ascent Peak 9 ski mountaineering race

Brent Herring and Grace Staberg won the Breckenridge Ascent ski mountaineering lightweight division races at Breckenridge Ski Resort on Tuesday.

The race started from the Beaver Run parking lot on peak 9 before the runners went up the Sundown race under the Beaver Run SuperChair. Skiers switched from their climbing gear to their downhill gear through the Overlook Restaurant before skiing Bonanza, Lower American and Silverthorne to the finish in the Beaver Run parking lot.

Herring, 38, completed the course in 31 minutes and 9 seconds, six seconds ahead of Staberg’s winning women’s time of 31:15.

Staberg, a 19-year-old U.S. National Team skier-mountaineer, won the women’s lightweight division over four minutes, ahead of 43-year-old runner-up Jill Sorensen (35:16) and third place 35-year-old Kate Zander (35:31).

Herring was joined on the men’s lightweight podium by 19-year-old Paul Hans (32:53) and Michael Hagen, 58, third (34:12).

Racers in the light weight division skied on lighter ski mountaineering racing skis while participants in the heavyweight division raced on more traditional alpine touring equipment. Chris Tatro, 39, won the heavyweight race in 38:56, joined on the podium by Mark Hinz, 61, (43:10) and Ben Loyal, 25, third (43:44). ).