Athletes enjoy historic ski event

An early spring storm didn't dampen the spirits of over 150 participants in the 49th John Craig Memorial Ski Classic.

The Sisters-area event commemorates the efforts of John Templeton Craig who died on McKenzie Pass in December 1877, attempting to bring the Christmas mail from the Willamette Valley to Camp Polk near Sisters.

Organized by the Oregon Nordic Club, the event features a ski tour, three races and a commemorative mail-carry, where skiers retrace the approximate route followed by Craig from the west to the east snow gates of McKenzie Pass.

For the first time in the event's half-century history, organizers had to make the difficult decision to turn back the mail carriers due to biting winds and 20-foot snowdrifts lingering from the previous night's snowstorm.

According to Central Oregon Nordic Club president Bill Martin of Bend, pre-race attempts to cross the summit from Sisters and establish an aid station were slowed to a quarter-mile of progress in one hour.

"We usually set up the Scott Lake aid station before (the mail carriers) can get up the hill," explained Martin. "At 12 p.m. we were still trying to get to Dee Wright Observatory (from the east). With the wind chill and no support, we had to turn them back."

Saturday's winds and difficult snow conditions also forced organizers to turn ski tour and 20-kilometer race participants around at Windy Point. The tour and 20k race traditionally lead to the summit of McKenzie Pass before returning to the Sisters snow gate.

The 10-kilometer race course was able to meet its Windy Point objective.

The heavy snowpack added to the day's challenge, extending the starting point of all events approximately 1.5 kilometers below the usual starting line.

The 10k race turned into a 13k event, and the 20k racers made the trip to Windy Point twice, extending their distance to 26k.

Martin attributed a slight decrease mail-carry participation to the inclement weather and nearly a foot of fresh snow. There were more racers this year, but less mail carry participants.

"People didn't want to wade through that much new snow," Martin said.

Joining 20 event volunteers were 47 racers, 73ski tour participants and 37 mail carriers, bringing over 150 people to Sisters for the event.

Racers came to Sisters from as far away as Issaquah, Washington, and Mt. Shasta, California.

Suzanne King of Bend took first place in the 26k race with a time of 1 hour, 54 minutes, 19 seconds.

Sunriver's Jay Bowerman was just two minutes behind King, with Tim Loughlin of Mt. Shasta five minutes back in third place.

Josh Smullin of Bend won the 13k event with a time of 52 minutes, 57 seconds, followed by fellow Bend racers Isaiah Burkhart and Tom Segal in second and third.

The two-kilometer children's heat included four racers ages three to 10. Ten-year-old Ashley Lee of Portland finished first with a time of 5 minutes, 34 seconds.

Portland's Jacquelyn Lee and Tyler Holstrom ran a close second and third, with three-year-old Skylar Loughlin of Mt. Shasta finishing in just over one hour.

The John Craig Memorial ski event began in the early 1930s following the dedication of Craig's tomb by the Oregon Rural Letter Carriers Association in 1930.

The Oregon Nordic Club has organized the race since the beginning, with a few years hiatus during World War II and a couple years when the event was postponed due to lack of snow, according to 1999 race volunteer Bob Loper from Grants Pass.