April 16, 2022

Lion Mountain Scramble

Brisk 18 degree conditions greeted us in the morning but it was dry the open forest, making for the best conditions of the year for running; clouds remained through the day so temps remained low.

A great team of volunteers persisted through the event despite the exposure; lead by Harvey Goldstein who held down the fort for the whole event with excellent support with registration and went above and beyond by picking up all the far controls at the event's conclusion!

Lia Hardy took the reins with the checkout and registration computer and download and printing! Thanks to Jesse Nelson for course setting and running the beginner training; Terresa Narduzzi provided excellent support as well.

We had excellent performances again from the whole Browne family with Liam winning the advanced course and his parents winning the intermediate course. Euell Browne pulled off back-to-back runs on the intermediate and beginner courses with some of the top finishes. There was intense competition for the winner of the starter course however Kathy Perrins and family won it by a hair! Christiane came in for the big win on the starter course with a smoldering time edging out Harvey Goldstein.

The day concluded with several bear sightings; please bring bear spray out on the trail especially this time of year; We had about 15 starts and everyone returned safely.
The first orienteering epunch event ever on the whitefish trail concluded successfully!

A light snow started falling as we wrapped up the event which overnight turned into more than 3 inches of accumulation ... you never know the conditions in Northwest Montana this time of year!

In addition to our volunteers, we'd like to thank our event sponsors Colter Coffee and Insty-Prints, as well as Whitefish Legacy Partners for allowing us the use of this unique venue. Finally, a huge thank you to Will Dickinson for creating the map and hosting the event, to Jesse Nelson for designing the courses, and to Crystal Brown for creating the lovely prizes!

Results are below. You can see the split times here.

A number of photos, courtesy of Will Dickinson, are here. If you have cool photos from today's event, please add them here.

Up next is the second event of GrizO's northern swing Lone Pine on April 24, followed by Big Arm (a brand-new venue for orienteering!) on May 1st. We hope to see you there!