The following article was written by newcomer to snowshoeing, Sarah Barber, who posted a top-five finish at this year’s championships. A lifetime resident of Boise, Idaho, Barber has been a Life Flight Paramedic for seventeen years, and currently works in dual capacity as a clinician and a Quality Manager. When she’s not flying in helicopters or collecting data for continuous quality improvement, she can be found trail running with her dog and camping with her husband in the mountains of her home state and throughout the northwest.
Sequestered in the mountains just south of McCall, Idaho, Jug Mountain Ranch played host to the 22nd annual United States Snowshoe Association’s (USSSA) National Championship race on Saturday, February 4, 2023. A hotspot for outdoor activities in the summer – ranging from golf to mountain biking – this quiet gem was a sleeper hit for snowshoe racers from across the country.
Without the distraction of lift-served skiing, everyone in the area relies on human power, and this race was a spectacular example. Said clubhouse manager, Andy Brault, “The three of us who work here in the winter have never seen anything like this before…We thought it was really cool to have so many people travel here from all over the country!” Indeed, the participants came from as far away as New York, evidenced by impressive numbers from Paul Smith College.
Following a week of unusually frigid temperatures, race day dawned in the mid-20s, which most participants felt was ideal. Combined with the calm of heavily forested hills and a perfectly groomed course, times were guaranteed to be fast. The Junior National and Open 5K races kicked off the sufferfest, followed by the marquee event: the 10K National Championship race. Right on schedule, rows of athletes were called to the start line for last-minute instructions from Race Director Holly Finch.
I know Holly as the owner of The Pulse Running and Fitness Shop – Idaho’s go-to for all things jog or sprint, trail or pavement. But, here she stood on snow, bringing her passion for endurance sports to a new medium. In that moment, I realized I could relate: I might be a snowshoe newb, but I wasn’t the only one.
I had invested in my first pair of snowshoes in November with a goal of embracing winter instead of dreading the snow and ice and cold. Mentored by Idaho locals Chuck and Amber Tookey, two top performers at prior USA Snowshoe National Championships, I learned that if you can walk, you can snowshoe. Committed to growing a relatively niche sport, they convinced me and several other recruits to enter our first snowshoe race which just happened to be the National Championships.
Amber Tookey, 2nd place in women’s open race. Photo Credit: Barbara Kreisle
The journey taught me that there’s really no excuse for not getting outdoors and being active in the winter. In contrast to downhill or Nordic skiing, the sport of snowshoeing does not require technical skills, high-level equipment, or significant financial investment. Snowshoeing is accessible to anyone and everyone—a message further endorsed by event sponsors Dion, Northern Lights, and Crescent Moon, who offered race-day rentals on site.
As the seconds ticked down to “GO!” it was clear that I was surrounded by seasoned snowshoe racers intermingled with new talent. Hoping for advice, I eavesdropped on conversations. The recurrent theme of the day? “Don’t go out too hard!” And so of course I did exactly that: I went out way too hard.
Finch can be credited with a course design that boasted more vert than any courses in recent past and still offered something for everyone—steep uphill pitches, gentle rollers, a flat-and-fast out-and-back, and a speedy downhill finish. Despite being a mostly counter-clockwise loop that started and finished in the same spot, the course was nearly all uphill. For real. At least it felt that way.
The eventual winner of the women’s open race, was defending champion USSSA Director Jackie Hering of Cottage Grove, Wisconsin, who later commented, “Jug Mountain is a perfectly beautiful and challenging course—nobody’s disappointed in this course!”
Women’s runner-up, Boise, Idaho’s Amber Tookey, agreed confessing that her battle for second place took everything she had in order to edge Samantha Roecker of Charlton, New York who finished less than a minute back. Idahoans dominated the women’s race, claiming four of the top six spots.
Perennial favorite Joseph Gray, Colorado Springs, CO, owned the course, going wire to wire for victory in the men’s race earning him his third national snowshoe title (2018, 2020 and now 2023). (Side note: unlike any other participant, he was clad in shorts and short sleeves, just as he was when I first saw him in person at a trail race in Hawaii. He was every bit as unbeatable on dirt as he is on snow.) Hailing from Duluth, Minnesota, Eric Hartmark was a close 2nd place (Hartmark won the race in 2022). Erik Barkhaus of Seattle, Washington, rounded out the men’s podium.
Joseph Gray strides to victory. Photo Credit: Barbara Kreisle.
I’m no stranger to endurance sports, having dabbled in everything from mountain bike racing to triathlon to trail running, so I know that racing can be as hard or as easy as you make it. For me, this race was HARD. SO hard. Running on a surface that gives way beneath every footstrike is reminiscent of those nightmares where you’re fleeing a monster but moving in slow motion, unable to accelerate to safety. However, when the sunshine catches the snow just right and makes it sparkle, the lung-searing sensation takes a backseat to the natural splendor of the outdoors.
Somehow I managed to be the first woman over 40 years old to cross the finish line, which technically makes me a masters national champion in snowshoe racing (!) but in an unexpected plot twist, I unwittingly snuck into the top five women in the open race. As such, I can count myself as a member of the team who will eventually represent the US at the World Snowshoe Championships.
Race results aside, though, the best part of my newfound winter sport has been the people I’ve met and the friendships I’ve formed. We all share the same kind of weird appreciation for getting uncomfortable and pushing our physical limits in concert with what the given season has to offer. We don’t limit ourselves to treadmills or Zwift when winter comes on strong. We are not burdened with contemplating kick wax and glide wax. We don’t need passes for the chair lifts. We just go outside and play.
Click here for complete results from the event.
For more information about snowshoe racing including results from past national championships, check out the ATRA Snowshoe page.
