2015 Grand Traverse: Scott Simmons on his team’s win, training and Smelling the Roses

Aspen, Colo. welcomed Grand Traverse racers a little earlier than expected this year, as Scott Simmons and Paul Hamilton cruised through the finish in a record-breaking six hours, 44 minutes and 35 seconds. Thanks to the fast course and a tough training regimen, the duo were more than able to accomplish their pre-race goal: win. “We wanted to make a statement,” said Simmons in a post-race interview. “We’re from Durango, which isn’t necessarily known for being a ski town like Crested Butte, or some of the other northern Colorado towns.” And as the pair adjusts back into daily life, Simmons filled Backcountry in with a recap of the race.

Backcountry: This was Paul Hamilton’s first Traverse and your fourth. What was your team dynamic like through out the race?

Scott Simmons: Well, I was kind of the leader, just because I knew the course more than Paul did. He’d never been on it and this was my fourth time. It seems like I’ve done it every other year for awhile. It’s a pretty big undertaking, so it might take me two years to want to do it again. So I tried to—especially on the downhills—stay in front and make sure we didn’t get off course or take a wrong turn. And whenever there was some question as to where to go, I had a general idea. When I could, I would try to advise Paul of whatever moves needed to be made coming up, like take your skins off for a few minutes here, or get ready to do some skating, or get ready to hike this next hill, stuff like that.

BCM: Going into the Traverse, you were expected to be top finishers. What were your goals knowing that going into the race?

SS: Due to the extensiveness of our training, we would have been disappointed with anything but a win. And we wanted to make a statement. We’re from Durango, which isn’t necessarily known for being a ski town like Crested Butte, or some of the other northern Colorado towns. So we just wanted to show that Durango has some pretty special ski mountaineering training, and I guess ski mountaineering racers, too.

BCM: What was your team’s training regimen like to prepare for the race?

SS: We wanted to do some long skis that simulated the Traverse, so we did three really long skis about the same length as the Traverse and a couple of them were actually longer. We did a lot of low-angle skinning and one point-to-point that was about 35 miles. Then another one: we skied in 16 miles, climbed a peak and skied 16 miles back out.

BCM: The Grand Traverse conditions were reported to be fast. How would you describe the conditions you encountered?

SS: Yea it was definitely fast—when there was snow. Early on, there were places where there wasn’t snow, so I think it was a little slow because we ended up running a lot. We came across a lot of bare spots, and if it wasn’t too long, we’d just walk across it with our skis on. But there were a lot of longer bare spots where we were taking our skis on and off. I’m estimating that we had our skis on and off 30 times. Once we did get up to a little higher elevation, then the snow was almost icy. If you weren’t slipping, you could really kick and glide and go pretty fast on your skins.

BCM: That must have been a nice change of pace.

SS: Yea, once we finally got to consistent snow, it felt good. It was fun in a kind of barbaric way early on being with the two other teams. There was six of us just back and forth, someone would be in the lead, then we would be in the lead, then someone else would be in the lead. Someone would have a little hard time picking a route through the dirt, so it was just back and forth for about an hour and a half. Then when we finally got on some decent snow, Paul and I were able to use our kick-and-glide and our long legs to kind of glide away a little bit.

BCM: Even with a course record, it’s still a long race. Do you have any tricks for staying focused through out the race?

SS: We were really driven to win, so that kept us focused. I guess if you weren’t in the very front of the race, I would say to try to enjoy it a little bit—take in some of the scenery, look at the stars. Just focus on the beauty of it, because we’re not really able to do that when we’re looking over our shoulder all the time and basically pushing it as hard as we can for an entire race. I think you should smell the roses. And maybe take some food that you really look forward to eating and reward yourself at certain points.

BCM: You mentioned you’ve done the Grand Traverse every other year. Do you think you’ll be back at it next year after your win?

SS: It’s hard to say, but it might take some convincing to do again next year. I’d like to do it with my son at some point. I believe you have to be 18 to do it, and he’s five years away from that. So I’d like to do it with him at some point, if he’s willing.