Registration for the 2011 Owl Creek Chase is now OPEN!
Register online here. Once you register for the race(s) make sure you take a look at some lodging specials for Owl Creek Chase participants. Hotels/Lodges list.
We can’t wait to see you in Aspen!
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1985 – Bjorn Sateroy (NOR), Jill Anderson (USA)/Patty Doyle(USA)
1986 – Raoul Wille(USA), Anne Farris(USA)
1987 – Franz Froelicher(USA), Lynda Walters(USA)
1988 – Ben Dodge(USA), Terri Wischoeser(USA)
1989 – Pierre Harvey(CAN), Ruth Baxter(USA)
1990 – Ben Dodge(USA), Ruth Baxter(USA)
1991 – Pierre Wille(USA), Cathy Frank(USA)
1992 – Steve Poulin(USA), Sue Long(USA)
1993 – Thomas Landon-Smith(AUS), Ruth Baxter(USA)
1994 – Travis Moore(USA), Cheryl Chipman(USA)
1995 – Nathan Schultz(USA), Julianne Southwell(USA)
1996 – Travis Moore(USA), Julianne Southwell(USA)
1997 – Toralf Heimdal(NOR), Natalie Ward(USA)
1998 – Dawes Wilson(USA), Natalie Ward(USA)
1999 – Charles Bieler(USA), Ruth Wade(USA)
2000 – Charles Bieler(USA), Kate Furze(USA)
2001 – Stephen White(USA), Cathy Frank(USA)
2002 – NOT HELD
2003 – NOT HELD
2004 – Nathan Schultz(USA), Chantal Knapp(USA)
2005 – Ivan Babikov(RUS), Irene Eder(AUT)
2006 – Zack Simons(USA), Kristina Strandberg(SWE)
2007 – Josh Smullin(USA), Kristina Strandberg(SWE)
2008 – Noah Hoffman(USA), Evelyn Dong(USA)
2009 – Matt Gelso(USA), Rebecca Dussault(USA)
2010 – Tad Elliott (USA), Nicole Deyong (USA)
Multiple Victories in Owl Creek Chase:
Women: 4 wins – Ruth Wade, 2 wins – Julianne Southwell, Natalie Ward, Kristina Strandberg, Cathy Frank
Men: 2 wins – Ben Dodge, Travis Moore, Charles Bieler, Nathan Schultz
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Lodging is now posted for your 2011 stay in Aspen for the Aspen Nordic Festival featuring the Owl Creek Chase!
8 different properties with more to come!
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Save the Date!
2011 Owl Creek Chase is scheduled for February 13, 2011. More details coming at www.owlcreekchase.com.
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The weather forecast looks perfect for this weekend’s Aspen Nordic Festival and the next round of the USSA SuperTour. Waxing for this year’s races should be fairly straightforward with sunny skies and highs in the low 30′s during the day and lows in the low teens at night.
Despite the Olympics in Vancouver on the same weekend, regional and national interest in the Aspen Nordic Festival remains high with entries coming in from across the country. The Aspen Nordic Festival should offer fantastic FIS point opportunities as well as a great racing experience for those traveling the SuperTour circuit.
The Aspen Nordic Festival and the Owl Creek Chase bring nordic skiers of all different backgrounds and interests together for a festive nordic atmosphere unlike any other. Make sure to check the host website www.owlcreekchase.com for all of the latest information on the upcoming schedule and logistical details.
We can’t wait to see you out on the tracks on Sunday – good luck!!
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The Owl Creek Chase has been one of Colorado’s premier cross-country ski races since 1985. The challenging course from Snowmass Village to Aspen presents the very best that Colorado skiing has to offer; tough climbs, scenic views, thrilling descents and excellent snow conditions. The Owl Creek Chase was started as a means to showcase the outstanding trails in the Aspen/Snowmass area and the Owl Creek Trail is the crown jewel of over 60km of free skiing often referred to as Aspen’s 5th mountain. The maintenance of the vast free network of trails is shared by a number of entities including the towns of Aspen and Snowmass Village as well as Pitkin County and the Aspen/Snowmass Nordic Council. The following is a brief history of the Aspen/Snowmass trails and The Owl Creek Chase from the conceptual beginnings to the pageantry of the present day Aspen Nordic Festival.
- The Aspen and Snowmass Village area trail system has its roots in the early 70’s when a couple of Norwegians named Amund Eckroll and Magna Nostahl started grooming for cross country skiing at the present day Snowmass Village. About a year after these two, another Norwegian named Lars Larsson and former Aspen Mayor Stacey Standley opened a cross-country center for just one year at the present Aspen Golf Course. These early trails gave rise to an increased demand for cross country skiing and racing and Snowmass held one of the first cross country ski races in the country, the Silverboom race.
- The present day Aspen/Snowmass Nordic Council and its trail system was the brainchild of former U.S. Ski Team racer Craig Ward who had spent many years in Europe. He had the vision of a ‘seamless’ trail system throughout the upper valley, especially from Aspen to Snowmass. Through much hard work and planning, Ward was successful in replicating the trail systems he experienced in Europe and the Owl Creek Trail was born. Incidentally, Craig Ward continues his Nordic development mission today in trying to bring a modern day jumping program to Aspen.
- Started in 1985, The Owl Creek Chase has a rich history of diverse participation. Bjorn Sateroy from Norway, a former collegiate racer from the University of Colorado was the first winner of the Owl Creek Chase and he led an international parade to Aspen that continues today. Canadian Olympian Pierre Harvey, winner in 1989, is probably the most notable of the early international champions of the Owl Creek Chase. Through it’s work with the United States Ski Association (USSA and USST), the International Ski Federation (FIS), the Rocky Mountain Nordic Education Foundation (RMN), the Rocky Mountain Interscholastic Ski Association (NCAA RMISA), the former Salomon Series and the Colorado Cup, the Owl Creek Chase has maintained its position as the premier cross country ski race in the region. The Owl Creek Trail is always tough, but the field that assembles for the Owl Creek Chase makes it the ultimate.
- In 2004 the Owl Creek Chase unveiled a new, more direct route over Maroon Creek. The new course went from the base of Tiehack ski area over the new Maroon Creek Bridge and across the Moore Open Space. Along with the new course improvement race organizers began to look to the future and in 2005 the Owl Creek Chase hosted the first ever USSA SuperTour event in Colorado. The SuperTour is the national circuit for cross country ski racers and the means for aspiring Olympians to acquire valuable FIS points and secure a spot on the national team. For the first time the road to the Olympics for cross-country ski racers traveled trough Aspen. Russian Olympian Ivan Babikov and Austria’s Irene Eder, former DU Pioneer, won the first SuperTour in ’05 with Babikov proclaiming the Owl Creek Chase the toughest course he had raced on to that point in his career.
- The Owl Creek Chase has long been a predictor of top talent. Ivan Babikov went on to challenge the best in the world at the Olympics and the World Cup. Swedish born Kristina Strandberg, who came to the U.S. as a collegiate racer for the University of New Mexico, has used two victories in the Owl Creek Chase as a springboard for overall SuperTour championships. Zack Simons, Evelyn Dong and Rebecca Dussault all foretold future success at the American Birkebeiner with wins in Aspen at the Owl Creek Chase. And most notably Owl Creek has been a coronation for up and coming talents Noah Hoffman, Tad Elliott and Matt Gelso, perhaps the three most gifted young distance skiers in the country today. Better than many complicated selection systems, the Owl Creek Chase clearly showed these three to be head and shoulders above their competition and ready to compete at the next level.
- In 2007 the Owl Creek Chase again looked to the future of cross-country ski racing and founded the Aspen Nordic Festival in partner with the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club. The Aspen Nordic Festival has since become the largest Nordic event in Colorado combining all levels of skiing in the same place at the same time. Skiers aged 6 to 70something have all come to Aspen to enjoy the Owl Creek Chase and Aspen Nordic Festival. There is something for everyone and 2009 saw for the first time parents of young racers watching their kids race and then take on the Owl Creek Chase themselves, a true family experience for all to share.
- The Elite Sprints have evolved into the ultimate showcase for cross-country ski racing at the Aspen Nordic Festival. Staged under the lights in downtown Aspen, the AVSC Elite Sprints have attracted loud, boisterous crowds while the raw speed of the skiers on display invoke thrill a minute roars of approval from the fans. Wagner Park, just adjacent to the popular walking mall in Aspen, is the setting for what some have nicknamed the Rocky Mountain Drag Races, a head to head, single elimination tournament which is half luck and skill and half power and speed. Former 100 meter world record holder Kevin Hoechtl of Vail is the reigning 2-time defending champion of the sprints and Aspen may just try to offer him a chance to regain his world record with an official 100 meter challenge in 2010.
- 2010 and beyond. As we once again look into the future of cross-country ski racing and try to grow along with the increasing popularity of the sport, the organizers of the Aspen Nordic Festival and Owl Creek Chase are trying to anticipate new developments along the way. We have moved the date back to February 13-15 in 2010, to try to give our many citizen racers a better chance to prepare for the big challenge as well as align better with the SuperTour calendar. The Owl Creek Chase also continues to work closely with such groups as the RMN and the RMISA to help ensure future participation in the Aspen Nordic Festival by the best skiers around including the up and coming juniors, collegians and national level elites. The Owl Creek Chase continues to strive to be the best possible experience for all involved.
Highlights, features and selling points for the Aspen Nordic Festival and Owl Creek Chase. Why should you come to Aspen next February?
- The Owl Creek Chase and Aspen Nordic Festival is the best Nordic event in Colorado. We have a very organized and qualified race committee that provides great grooming on an awesome course with tremendous snow.
- There’s ‘Something for Everyone’ with racing for ages 6 to 70+, classic racing and freestyle, individual start and mass start. Families, citizens, juniors, collegiates and elites all together in the same place at the same time offering a true ‘festival’ atmosphere.
- SuperTour, FIS Marathon Cup, RMN Junior Olympic qualifier, Aspen Youth Festival, Colorado Cup, RMISA NCAA western region qualifier, AVSC Elite Sprints, Skate with the Pros free clinic.
- With some of the most progressive media in Colorado, including two local TV networks (Plum TV and Grassroots Aspen), several radio stations and two papers, the Aspen Nordic Festival has benefited year in and year out from some of the most comprehensive press coverage for cross country ski racing this side of the Birkie. John Meyer of the Denver Post enthusiastically called the 2009 festival “One of the best cross-country ski events this state has ever seen.”
- Great T-Shirt, great prizes, great raffle, great weather, great people
- From 8,000 to 8,500 feet in altitude, the Owl Creek Chase is over a thousand feet lower than many races in Colorado.
- Aspen, Snowmass and the Roaring Fork Valley offer a wide range of accommodations and different altitudes to stay. Glenwood Springs, which is only 40 miles from Aspen, sits at an altitude of around 5,500 feet for those that find it difficult to sleep at higher elevations.
- The Aspen Nordic Festival and Owl Creek Chase often has access to special group lodging rates. Check with the host website owlcreekchase.com in the fall for the latest on lodging.
- The Aspen Nordic Festival and Owl Creek Chase organizers pride themselves on working with the major developmental groups in cross-country skiing. We are proud of our flexibility and ability to help meet the goals of our partners at the SuperTour, the RMN, the RMISA and others and we are always willing to listen to criticism in order to continue to offer the best possible events.
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Owl Creek Chase
Honor Roll of Champions
1985 – Bjorn Sateroy (NOR), Jill Anderson (USA)/Patty Doyle(USA)
1986 – Raoul Wille(USA), Anne Farris(USA)
1987 – Franz Froelicher(USA), Lynda Walters(USA)
1988 – Ben Dodge(USA), Terri Wischoeser(USA)
1989 – Pierre Harvey(CAN), Ruth Baxter(USA)
1990 – Ben Dodge(USA), Ruth Baxter(USA)
1991 – Pierre Wille(USA), Cathy Frank(USA)
1992 – Steve Poulin(USA), Sue Long(USA)
1993 – Thomas Landon-Smith(AUS), Ruth Baxter(USA)
1994 – Travis Moore(USA), Cheryl Chipman(USA)
1995 – Nathan Schultz(USA), Julianne Southwell(USA)
1996 – Travis Moore(USA), Julianne Southwell(USA)
1997 – Toralf Heimdal(NOR), Natalie Ward(USA)
1998 – Dawes Wilson(USA), Natalie Ward(USA)
1999 – Charles Bieler(USA), Ruth Wade(USA)
2000 – Charles Bieler(USA), Kate Furze(USA)
2001 – Stephen White(USA), Cathy Frank(USA)
2002 – NOT HELD
2003 – NOT HELD
2004 – Nathan Schultz(USA), Chantal Knapp(USA)
2005 – Ivan Babikov(RUS), Irene Eder(AUT)
2006 – Zack Simons(USA), Kristina Strandberg(SWE)
2007 – Josh Smullin(USA), Kristina Strandberg(SWE)
2008 – Noah Hoffman(USA), Evelyn Dong(USA)
2009 – Matt Gelso(USA), Rebecca Dussault(USA)
Women: 4 wins – Ruth Wade, 2 wins – Julianne Southwell, Natalie Ward, Kristina Strandberg, Cathy Frank
Men: 2 wins – Ben Dodge, Travis Moore, Charles Bieler, Nathan Schultz
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