{"id":10466,"date":"2019-02-01T17:45:56","date_gmt":"2019-02-01T17:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=10466"},"modified":"2019-02-01T17:45:56","modified_gmt":"2019-02-01T17:45:56","slug":"boulder-mountain-tour-to-take-place-on-saturday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/01\/boulder-mountain-tour-to-take-place-on-saturday\/","title":{"rendered":"Boulder Mountain Tour To Take Place On Saturday"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Aimee Durand<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Betsy Youngman and Caitlin Gregg pose for a candid moment on the trail during the 2017 Boulder Mountain Tour. Courtesy photo by Nils Ribi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T<\/span>he 46th annual Zions Bank Boulder Mountain Tour (BMT) will be held Saturday, Feb. 2, with 200 volunteers on hand to welcome 1,000 racers. <\/span><\/p>\n

The race day that consists of a 34k and 15k is dedicated to longtime Ketchum resident and three-time Olympian, Jon Engen, who died in April of 2018 from pancreatic cancer.<\/span><\/p>\n

This popular portion of the Sun Valley Nordic Festival draws racers from all over the map and will include visitors from Bozeman, Mont., this year, where Engen, a dedicated ambassador and respected competitor in the cross-country sport, attended college.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a wonderful tradition and it\u2019s great that people support it year after year,\u201d said race director Jody Zarkos. \u201cIt makes it what it is.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Boulder Mountain Tour starts at 9 a.m. at Galena Lodge, 23 miles north of Ketchum on the Senate Meadows loop. The course crosses Highway 75 south of Galena Lodge and continues down the Harriman Trail, finishing at the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA) Headquarters. There are moderate but challenging climbs in the course and the terrain mellows at the halfway point.<\/span><\/p>\n

Spectators can catch the elite-class finish shortly after 11 a. m. across from the SNRA headquarters. The 15k Half Boulder begins at Baker Creek at 11:30 a.m.<\/span><\/p>\n

Racers in the men\u2019s pack include Olympian Andrew Newell and 2018 champion Mat Gelso, as well as 2018 bronze medalist Bryan Cook. The women\u2019s competitors include Liz Stephens, a U.S. Ski Team member for more than a decade; Annie Pokorny, a former Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) Gold Team racer; and Sloan Storey, SVSEF alumni, coach and former captain at the University of Utah, as well as Emily Williams, SVSEF coach and alumni, and 2017 silver medalist Erika Flowers. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Jon Engen, #42, competes in the 2013 Boulder Mountain Tour. Courtesy photo by Nils Ribi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt is a very competitive, elite field this year,\u201d Zarkos said.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are demos and expos, too. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNew this year is our Regs and Dregs on Jan. 31, a citizen race class\u2014where wearing a costume is always an option\u2014and our kickoff party with live music at the Limelight Hotel in Ketchum,\u201d Zarkos said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The schedule is as follows: Wednesday, Jan. 30, all race entries are eligible for a free pre-race clinic with SVSEF Gold Team racers at Sun Valley Resort; Thursday, Jan. 31, Nordic Town USA Sprints feature a \u201cRegs and Dregs\u201d for citizen racers at Simplot Field, followed by a kickoff party at The Limelight with live music from 5:30-8 p.m.; Friday, Feb. 1, is race bag pick-up at The Limelight from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.<\/span><\/p>\n

Saturday, Feb. 2, the BMT starts at 10 a.m. and later that evening the BMT awards and party at The Limelight from 5:30-7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 3, is \u201cDemo Day\u201d with a barbeque at Sun Valley Nordic Center.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Saturday, Feb. 9, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., \u201cSki the Rails\u201d is a free cross-country ski event from Ketchum to Hailey on the Wood River Trail.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBoulder is the capstone of the Sun Valley Nordic Festival,\u201d Zarkos said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Approximately 200 volunteers are the backbone of the BMT event and Zarkos credits them along with the board for the success of the BMT.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have such great volunteers and volunteer committees,\u201d Zarkos said. \u201cI support what they do. They make it work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On Saturday, Feb. 2, during the BMT, Galena Lodge and Bigwood Bread are providing soup, bread and hot drinks for all racers. Girls on the Run volunteers will be serving these items and there will be a warming tent available in the event of unfavorable weather.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who volunteers is invited to an appreciation party on Feb. 13 at The Limelight which includes a free raffle for a Blaine County ski pass for next year,\u201d Zarkos said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The BMT is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes the BMT ski race and supports the sport of cross-country skiing. It is entirely volunteer-based and is supported by more than 350 local Wood River Valley individuals and businesses.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like the Boulder offers something for everyone,\u201d Zarkos said. \u201cWhether you are an elite racer, a parent joining in with a child, or just going with your friends, there is something for everyone in this race.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For information contact, bouldermountaintour@gmail.com.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Aimee Durand The 46th annual Zions Bank Boulder Mountain Tour (BMT) will be held Saturday, Feb. 2, with 200 volunteers on hand to welcome 1,000 racers. The race day that consists of a 34k and 15k is dedicated to longtime Ketchum resident and three-time Olympian, Jon Engen, who died in April of 2018 from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,18,36,39],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10466","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-event","8":"category-news","9":"category-slider","10":"category-sport"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}