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 Presented by
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Hope your preparation for the race is going well. This is your second runner update at two months out from race day. |
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Snow Update
There has been a lot of talk about the snowpack this year. When the ski areas start advertising that there will be skiing through July 4th, that usually gets people excited. Is 2019 a big snow year? Historically, it is significantly above average which is great for the state of California. But it isn't anywhere near close to the big snow years we've had for prior Western States runs including 1995, 1983, and 1998. If you look at our snowpack history web page you can sort by different columns and see that in 2019 we were at 63.1 inches on April 1 which ranks twelfth since 1983. This is the snow water content at Squaw Valley at 8200', near the top of the first climb of the race. What that means is if you melted the snow there was about 5 feet of water stored in the snowpack on April 1, generally the peak of the snowpack.
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Snow Water Content at Gold Coast Squaw Valley at 8200'
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We also look at several aggregate views of the snowpack which are collections of snow sites that give us a broader perspective on the snowpack. The WS course is in both the North and Central Sierra snow indices shown below.
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| Snow Water Content for North and Central Sierra |
In some years when we can't get into the early aid stations, we have resorted to using one of our snow routes which take us off the ridge tops and down along French Meadows reservoir. This has only occurred five times in the history of the race. We will do everything we can to get into those early aid stations so you can run the normal course. This may not be determined until race week.
At this point, since April has been very warm and dry we expect to be able to get into those early aid stations and thus to be using the normal course. How much snow you'll be running on will be dependent on the snow melt which is occurring at a very rapid rate right now.
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Runners Reaching Top of Squaw Valley in 2017.
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Remember that no crampons or other traction devices may be attached to your shoes, and poles are not allowed during the race.
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Bibs and General Information Form
Bib numbers have been assigned. Please check the entrants list to see what yours is. Then please go to the General Information Form and provide us some interesting things about yourself so Tropical John Medinger has something to say about you when you go around the track and cross the finish line. This is a great opportunity to give a shout out to your crew, pacers, and anybody else who helped you get to the finish line.
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Research Projects
As we have for decades, there will be a couple of research studies for you to participate in at the race this year. We will be sending out an email soon soliciting your participation.
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Service Requirement and Training Runs
Finally, if you want to join us on Memorial Weekend for the training runs we're just about full so
sign up today.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me.
Train smart,
Craig Thornley, Race Director
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PO Box 99
Auburn, CA 95604
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