Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — For Barry Siff, the best recipe for a great outdoor adventure includes world-class athletes, some brutal endurance challenges and a beautiful setting.

This weekend that setting will be Steamboat Springs, and the event he is hoping will bring it all together is the Salomon Winter Adventure Race at Steamboat Springs.

Siff said he has 25 teams lined up to take part in this endurance race that will include backcountry skiing, snowshoeing, rope rappelling, orienteering and trekking. The race will begin near the base of Howelsen Hill, but more specific details like the rest of the race course were not released until a team meeting Friday night. Siff said this little bit of mystery keeps the adventure alive in the event.

Siff did reveal that athletes will spend six to nine hours on the course today. The competitors will spend another four to six hours on the course Sunday.

"We've got a lot of big-name athletes coming for this one," Siff said. "It's going to be a lot of fun."

Among the elite competitors in the race will be Mike Kloser and Isaac Wilson. Both athletes have been on winning teams in the Eco-Challenge.

Other top names will include Danielle Ballangee, Robert Nagle and Kirsten Weule.

There will be one team from Steamboat Springs named Team Luna. That squad will include Moe Valenta, Mike Ehrlich and Steve McCone.

The race will begin at 7 a.m. today somewhere near the base of Howelsen Hill.

This is the first time the event has been held in Steamboat Springs, but Siff has produced several other winter endurance races in the Rocky Mountains in the past.

In other sports this weekend, the S.O.S. Outreach Series will come to Steamboat Springs today for a slopestyle event at Howelsen Hill.

The race will begin at 8 a.m. and will be limited to the first 150 riders. The cost is $20 to compete and proceeds benefit the Snowboard Outreach Society Programs.