Why I Keep Doing the Canadian Ski Marathon?

by Barbara Otsuka

Yes, packing all your gear is a ton of work. The drive is long and hard, especially through Montreal at rush hour. The ski conditions are never perfect everywhere. In fact, in some places the ski conditions were really, but really, challenging this year.

Let me present a quick snippet that describes a bit of the atmosphere at the Canadian Ski Marathon. I made a rest stop in the woods off the trail on Sunday afternoon, having put over 40 miles behind me since Saturday morning. While there, I could see and hear waves and waves of skiers along the trail going by in the distance, just happily burbling along. I knew they were all as tired and wobbly as I was. (While skiing, I had been telling myself, “You’re almost there. Just don’t fall on the ice at this point and get injured.”) There were families with kids, the team of upper elementary aged racers with whom I had started some 6 hours earlier with their parents and coaches, the Coureurs de Bois gold skiers with enormous packs (actually, by this time they were the boomer types and women coming through), lots of individuals like me just skiing along, with other skiers around us encouraging us along. When I got to the finish and banquet, the stories were being told, and then around 7:30 PM several women Coureurs de Bois gold came in with headlamps on. They had made it and everyone cheered! The banner by the awards stage read something like, “Canadian Ski Marathon – Everyone’s a Winner.”

I always come home from the event inspired. I started with that team of elementary-aged kids and their parents. Within the first half hour I skied up on two of the older boys who were skiing along and chatting. As I came up to them, I said, “I’ll bet you guys are faster than me, or do you want me to pass?” They sped right up and kept going for about 20 minutes. Then they slowed down and again, chatting away, so I caught up to them again. We skied along at about the same pace for awhile, but all of a sudden they sped up and took off. I looked behind me and saw 4 girls from their team. I don’t know how long they stayed ahead of the girls, but I mentioned this to their coach later and he noted that the boys were a chatty pair and that those girls were much more competitive. The parents with that group of kids were great, encouraging them and making it a fun experience. The whole group seemed to stay together all day, with lots of snacks, gear changes, and chatting.

I think this event is unique in the sense that most participants start out knowing that, whatever our skill and strength level, it will be really tough. However, there is very little place for a competitive spirit among 99% of the participants. Conversely, we each can feel supported in our self-challenge by the presence and encouragement of the other participants. And, so, I can’t imagine my life without the CSM on the first weekend in February.