Denning takes solo TuckerMan title in ’08 Inferno; Team Eastern Mountain Sports repeats as team winners

Tom Eastman 

The Conway Daily Sun

April 23, 2008

PINKHAM NOTCH — It was a day for the snow and sun worshippers Saturday as clear blue skies, warm temperatures and plentiful snow conditions brought a full field of competitors, spectators and recreational skiers and snowboarders to Mount Washington's Tuckerman Ravine snow bowl for the fifth and final leg of the eighth annual Tuckerman Inferno Pentathlon.

According to the Mount Washington Volunteer Ski Patrol, more than 4,200 spring ski enthusiasts headed into the ravine on race day.

Held as a fund-raiser for the non-profit Friends of Tuckerman Ravine, the pentathlon attracted 211 competitors to a unique contest that culminated high up on Mount Washington.

The notoriously steep ravine is hallowed terrain for all spring ski enthusiasts, as it was there at the ravine that Austrian Toni Matt, then 19 and new to this country, vaulted into ski history by competing in the third Inferno held there. He completed the then top-to-bottom race from the summit of Mount Washington, over the headwall and down the Sherburne Trail to Pinkham Notch in a stunning time of 6 minutes, 29.2 seconds on April 16, 1939. Matt accomplished his never-equaled feat by schussing straight down over the lip of the 800-foot headwall, halving the previous record set in 1934 by the 1939 Inferno's second-place finisher, American skiing sensation Dick Durrance.

Saturday's Inferno Pentathlon was comprised of an 8.3-mile road run, 6-mile kayak race, a bicycle course that covers 18.2 miles and climbs 2,000 feet in elevation, a 3-mile mountain run that climbs 2,236 feet up into Tuckerman Ravine on a snow-covered trail; and a giant slalom race with a start line that the racer must reach by first climbing uphill, carrying his or her skis. Competitors participated individually, or in teams of two or five or as all-women five-person contingents. 

Racers started at 7 a.m. with a road race from Story Land up over Glen Ledge and west on Route 302 to Attitash's Thorne Pond. They then descended down the roiling, spring snowmelt-fed Saco River to the takeout at Humphrey's Ledge, where they next bicycled west on West Side Road, over Glen Ledge and north on Route 16 to the Appalachian Mountain Club's Pinkham Notch Visitor Camp. From there, they raced up the snow-covered Tuckerman Trail to the floor of Tuckerman Ravine, where they next climbed their way to the top of Left Gully for the final leg, the giant slalom ski run.

Athlete of the Day honors were earned by last year's second-place finisher, Hanover's Chad Denning of Eastern Mountain Sports, who won the individual "TuckerMan" competition in 4 hours, 10 minutes and 59.74 seconds — a time that was bested by only eight of the 42 teams. Placing second was David Stiles, who was 13th overall with a time of 4:32:16.13. Placing third and 14th overall was Robert Seaman in 4:32:32.17.

Five-time TuckerMan winner and fellow Eastern Mountain Sports adventure race team competitor David Lamb, 47, of Hollis and Jackson was unable to defend his title in this year's race, due to an ailment, according to Denning, his teammate and friend. 

“Believe me, if there was any way that Dave could be here, he would be, as this race means so much to him — as it does to all of us. There is so much history and lore here, dating back to the legends of the 1930s when Toni Matt made his legendary schuss. It's more than a race,” said Denning, 33, a former Colorado resident and extreme sports athlete who said conditions for this year's race were more favorable than last year's, especially on the bicycle leg. 

“There was no headwind coming up Route 16 [during the bicycle part of the pentathlon], so that was nice. And the snow was soft for the giant slalom,” said Denning, a physical education director who said that once a person gets themselves into the proper physical condition, doing five-event feats such as the Inferno are not as much a strain as one might suppose. “It's fun,” he said at the awards ceremony. held Saturday evening at the Wildcat Mountain Ski Area base lodge, diagonally north but in full view of the ravine.

Jenny Johnson of Bethlehem, an experienced all-terrain racer, was the winning "TuckerWoman," finishing 45 minutes ahead of her nearest female solo competitor in 27th place overall with a time of 4:43:29.14. Placing second in the women's solo category was Kat Fiske, who was 47th overall in 5:28:39.23. Finishing third and 64th overall was Leanne Bernier, who had a time of 6:28:08.05.

Winning the team competition was a group sponsored by Peterborough's Eastern Mountain Sports: runner Joshua Fernec, former U.S. Kayak Team member Kari Crowe (female), New Hampshire road masters cycling champion Troy Fenderson, ultra trail runner Paul Low, who is a two-time second-place finisher in June's annual Mount Washington Road Race; and skier Zeke Davisson. Team Eastern Mountain Sports also won the team competition last year. The team finished this year with a time of 3:14:58.95.

Repeating in second among the teams was the 2007 runners-up and 2006 champion team, Keep It Classy Tilton of Conway, led by runner Kevin Tilton of H.E. Bergeron Engineers. 3:21:05.42. In addition to Tilton, the team was comprised of runner Mike Lansing, kayaker Doug Armstrong, cyclist Steve Piotrow and skier Amber McHugh.

Tilton had the fastest run up the snow-covered Tuckerman Trail, completing the course in 34 minutes, 10.74 seconds compared to Team Eastern Mountain Sports' Paul Low's second-place time of 34:22.50.

Some said Tilton's blistering time could have even been faster, had he had a clear go of it — although most of the spectators and recreational skiers on the trail up to the ravine were very good in stepping aside to let the runners pass by whenever someone would yell out, “Runner,” one witness said the going got pretty congested on the steps leading up from the U.S. Forest Service's Hermit Lake “HoJo's” shelter leading up the side of the Little headwall to the floor of the ravine, thus somewhat stalling Tilton's and others' progress a minute or two.

Still, Tilton's time was impressive. In an interview at HoJo's below the headwall after the race, as skiers and snowboarders as well as even some competitors continued to stream to the spring ski mecca, Tilton said he felt good after having had a summer of respiratory ailments.

“We had a good team, but Team Eastern Mountain Sports was really tough — they were good last year when they won, and they were even better this year,’ said Tilton of the Eastern Mountain Sports Team, which had two new team members this year for the ski and running legs. “I was able to make up some time on the hike, so that was good. Being a local, it's just a privilege to get to be part of a race like this,” said Tilton. 

Third-place team honors went to X-Ray Redux in 3:32:17.63.

In the "women's-only" team competition, a team sponsored by Titoune Meunier's Mount Washington Valley-based company Wild Things came in first among the all-women division and 24th overall in 4:39:53.44. The team was comprised of Meredith Piotrow - run; Sandy Hall - kayak; Suzie Carrier - bike; Tracy Marnich - hike; and Sara Dube - ski. Placing second in the all-women's category and 59th overall was All Tuckered Out in 6:09:31.48, and placing third in that category and 60th overall was Everything But the Boy in 6:11:06.95.

In the TuckerCouple/Dynamic Duo class, Team Waters was first and 15th overall in 4:33:17.35, followed by Expensive Bread, who placed 21st overall in 4:37:48.16. Placing third and 35th overall was Death to Drearys in 5:02:51.94.

The field included 34 five-person teams, four all-women teams, 20 TuckerMen solo entrants, three TuckerWomen solo competitors and seven couples teams. 

The Friends of Tuckerman Ravine is a 501-c3 non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and protecting the Tuckerman Ravine and celebrating the heritage of this unique center of accessible yet authentically Alpine

adventure. The organization offers trail work days and has raised funds for improvement projects including a well that provided potable water for the more than 4,200 outdoor enthusiasts who visited the Ravine on April 19 and the many hundreds of thousands who visit each year. Complete Inferno results along with the programs and goals of the Friends of Tuckerman Ravine are available at the group's website, www.friendsoftuckerman.org.

There were two accidents during the course of the crowded day in the ravine, which required rescue transport from the Mount Washington Volunteer Ski Patrol and U.S. Forest Service snow rangers, but none of those involved were competitors. Danger of falling ice was the biggest worry, according to U.S. Forest Service snow rangers.