JACKSON, Wyo. — The 29th (mostly) Annual Skinny Skis Moose Chase Nordic Ski Race will be held at Trail Creek Nordic Training Facility in Wilson on Saturday, Feb. 17.
The Moose Chase has had a few iterations over the last few decades. What initially began as a point-to-point Nordic race beginning in Teton Village and ending at Teton Pines had a leg in the now-defunct Triple Crown Series that included the Moose Chase Nordic Ski Race, the Town Downhill and the Karen Oatey Pole Pedal Paddle.
These days, the Moose Chase calls Trail Creek home and is a standalone race.
Jackson Hole Ski & Snowboard Club Executive Director Ali Sehnert has been witness to most of those phases as she moved to Jackson to be the club’s JHSC Nordic Program Director almost 20 years ago.
“I have actually never competed in the race because I am always putting in on!” Sehnert said. “I came to town in 2004 to run the Nordic program and the Moose Chase was a big piece of what I did in that role years ago.”
The race has evolved over the years, with a few location changes before finding a home at Trail Creek.
“Point-to-point was great and super fun but it took a lot of resources for us to pull it off, thinking about all the driveway crossings that happen between the Village and the Pines, with a volunteer at every one of those crossings, especially with how our community has continued to grow,” Sehnert said. “We moved it to Trail Creek for the authenticity of the sport but also for the ease—we run the Nordic Center there and the infrastructure is already built and pulling off a race is something we do quite regularly,” she explained.
Admittedly, Sehnert says Trail Creek is a great place to ski but it is challenging terrain for much of the community.
“We have a community that is pretty incredible athletically and we had folks that you wouldn’t expect to be out there on the Nordic course crush the 30k, and then likewise you would have folks show up at the downhill that you would not have expected to do the downhill,” the executive director said.
The Moose Chase had some momentum within the Triple Crown Series but Sehnert said that it never really took off, and so the race took a hiatus for a few years before returning last winter. The Triple Crown Series ended in 2019.
“We simplified it a little bit,” Sehnert said. “We shortened it because 30km is a lot at Trail Creek, you’re really tired. A 20k is a much more manageable distance for a lot of people and that shows in the registration numbers, a lot of folks showed up.”
Sehnert also said that 20k is ideal for the club’s younger Junior athletes and a distance they need to start training for as they enter college.
The race as it’s shaped now is a sweet spot for athletes of all ages, with multiple divisions: a 10km Half Moose Chase, a 5km Quarter Moose Chase, a 3km Mini Moose Chase division and the 1/2km Miniest Moose Chase.
The race is not a qualifier of any kind but it’s a strong day of freestyle out on the course. Both skate and classic are welcome to compete but there are no dedicated classic tracks for the Moose Chase.
“It’s not a strictly competitive event in a lot of ways,” Sehnert said. “There will be people out that are racing and racing as hard as they can and that’s fantastic, and there will also be people out there doing kind of a bit of a tour and really enjoying the race for the fact that they can do it at any point at any length and at any age.”
Senhert expects a celebration vibe from any event in Jackson, as the community is known for its deep costume closets, but it is a race day with some strict organization. At the top of that list: there is no parking at Trail Creek on race day. Everyone is expected to park at Stilson and take the shuttle.
The director said she expects the race to push 170 registered competitors by race day and is encouraging everyone to get their entries completed by Friday. She said she’s already seen registrations from Boise and West Yellowstone.
JH Ski Club is also still looking to fill out some volunteer shifts to pull off the day. Sign-up is available at https://jhskiclub.org/moosechase along with the race registration.
