March 16, 2004 – The beautiful Resort at Squaw Creek in Olympic Valley California was the site of the U.S. Snowshoe Association's fourth annual Nike ACG U.S. National Snowshoe Championships. Squaw Valley's famous crystal clear calm blue early March skies greeted the largest field this young championship has enjoyed thus far. The afternoon temperatures would soar to the mid 60's, but the 8:30 a.m. start featured temperatures in the low 20s as the assembled athletes warmed up over the firmly packed 5km Junior and 10km Senior courses on the Resort's cross country ski trails.

At the gun the field attacked their first major challenge, a series of switchbacks climbs which would see them top out 800 vertical feet above the starting line by the end of the first mile. The mountain runners quickly moved to the front of a long line of racers. The second mile featured a long single track traverse across a ridgeline that would end in a thrilling descent back down to the 6200 foot starting elevation. Paul Low of Massachusetts and Anita Ortiz of Colorado, both members of the U.S. Mountain Running Team, quickly displayed their prowess at climbing and descending. But, they weren't alone. On the women's side, it was a battle between two former National Snowshoe Champions. As the course moved out onto the flatter Squaw Meadow trails, Nikki Kimball of New York, the inaugural 2001 Women's National Snowshoe Champion, moved into the lead.

The recently named U.S. Female Ultra Runner of the Year gradually spread her advantage over Ortiz to 1:16 at the finish line. The men's race was even closer. Paul Low led the entire field until approximately the 4.5-mile mark where Greg Krause of Colorado overtook him for the lead. Krause could only gain 18 seconds on Low, but it was enough for him to savor his first National Snowshoe Championship! The rest of the field streamed into the finish line in a steady display of power, speed and endurance.

That wasn't all the excitement. The Juniors were doing their part to warm up the crowd of spectators that had gathered for this North Tahoe Snow Festival event. Alaska swept the Junior 5K Championship Titles with Nathaniel Grabman claiming the boy's title and Mary Brown holding off Breanna Gunnarson of Colorado for the Junior Girls title. Considering the 2005 U.S. National Snowshoe Championships are to be held in Anchorage Alaska, this proved a great result for the folks who had traveled to California from the Great North.

As everyone basked in the rapidly warming sunshine, everyone seemed pleased with this year's event, the culmination of nine Regional Qualifying events that had started way back in late December 2003. Peter Fain of Truckee CA, who finished in 10th place overall, served as the local event coordinator and did an outstanding job of preparing Squaw Valley to host this event. Our friends from Alaska have their work cut out for them if they expect to top this year's Championship. Below is a listing of the new 2004-2005 U.S. National Snowshoe Team. Complete results can be found at www.snowshoeracing.com.

2004-2005 U.S. National Junior Snowshoe Team

Nathaniel Grabman,  Alaska Nicholas Wujciak, New York Terence Meehan, New York Mary Brown, Alaska Breanna Gunnarson, Colorado

2004-2005 U.S. National Snowshoe Team

Greg Krause, Colorado Paul Low, Massachusetts Bernie Boettcher, Colorado Charlie Wertheim, Colorado Max King, Oregon Nikki Kimball, New York Anita Ortiz, Colorado Helen Cospolich, Colorado Sarah Raitter, Oregon Kelli Lusk, Massachusetts