Comes to Ogden

Photos by Monique Beeley

The thrill of trail running on pure adrenaline through the mountains. The chill of fresh open water waves streaming over a swimmer's back. The awesome view mountain bikers get from a singletrack trail at the base of an Olympic downhill venue. These are the elements of a race called XTERRA.

The XTERRA America Tour consists of more than 50 races in the United States. A typical XTERRA is comprised of three elements, a 1.5K open water swim, followed by a 30K mountain bike ride and finishing with an 11K trail run.  Amateur competitors compete at up to three events to earn points toward an XTERRA Regional Championship title and an invitation to compete for a national title at the XTERRA USA Championship in Lake Tahoe. Top finishers in regional and national championships are invited to compete at the XTERRA World Championship in Maui, Hawaii. 

After several years of holding the XTERRA Mountain Championship race at Keystone, Colorado, Team Unlimited, the organizer of the XTERRA series, moved the event to Ogden, Pineview Reservoir and Snowbasin Resort.  Snowbasin has seen world-class competition before as home to the downhill and super G races of the 2002 Winter Olympic events, but this time the competitors will be in the water, on mountain bikes, and in trail running shoes. 

Outdoor Utah visited with organizers, athletes and officials to evaluate their views on the venues, the Mountain Championship race and what the future may hold for XTERRA and the Ogden area.

The panel consisted of Matthew Godfrey, Mayor of Ogden; Denzel Rowland, General Manager of Snowbasin Resort; Tom Kiely, CEO and Founder of Team Unlimited; Camille Cain, Weber County Commissioner; Mike Caldwell, Greater Ogden Athletic Legacy (GOAL Foundation) and XTERRA professional competitors Jamie Whitmore from California and Conrad Stoltz from South Africa.

Q: How do Ogden and Snowbasin measure up for this event? 

Kiely: We have never gone to a place for the first time and have been so warmly welcomed as we have been here in the State of Utah and the Ogden community.  It’s really unsurpassed in our ten-year history.  Our goal is to be here for a long, long time.
Stoltz: It’s my first time in Utah and it’s been a great experience. I’m blown away by the trails and scenery.  I’m thinking that this would be a good place in the summer for my training, with the altitude and everything. 
Whitmore: The community is wonderful and the people are great! I definitely want to come back! 

Q: And, is the feeling mutual?

Godfrey: We’re thrilled to have XTERRA choose our community.  Our entire focus has been to make Ogden and the area a high adventure Mecca with a multi-pronged approach; first on developing our natural sports venues; rock climbing, kayaking, bouldering, trails and the like. Secondly, attracting recreation businesses and companies to relocate here, and we’ve been very successful recently in doing that. And third, landing key events. XTERRA is a huge component of that. 
Cain: XTERRA is great for the county and great for the State of Utah.  And the exposure from television and print for our state’s beauty and natural resources is immeasurable.  Conrad mentioned training here.  We’ve often felt that our area would make an ideal training center for both winter and summer elite athletes.  We’re working on that. 
Rowland: Snowbasin and Pineview work out well for the event.  The transition or exchange from one event to the next is smooth and easy.  We most certainly will welcome XTERRA back year after year. 

Q: Mike, the GOAL Foundation, along with the Utah Sports Commission worked long and hard to get XTERRA to Ogden.  What are the long-term goals of GOAL? And Tom, the same question for XTERRA? 

Caldwell: Well, you’re seeing the results of one of our goals right here.  We’ll continue to promote an active lifestyle by working with Team Unlimited, the XTERRA games and other events.  Our outdoor facilities are tremendously underutilized so we’ll continue to try to turn that around. 
Kiely:  Our motto is “Live More”.  We’ll continue to focus on what that means to us, promoting and developing an active outdoor lifestyle.  And not just for professional, elite athletes.  We have events and programs for amateurs and junior athletes.  Kids in the US don’t get into these activities as soon as kids in Europe.  We’re trying to change that. 
Caldwell:  We are most impressed with XTERRA’s focus on youth.  GOAL shares that focus. 

Q: Denzel, the 2002 Olympic Winter Games put Snowbasin on the worldwide map.  What’s up for the resort for summer activities? 

Rowland: We will continue to build Snowbasin as a four-seasons resort; mountain biking, hiking, concerts, sightseeing, business meetings and the like.  Lodging will come around when our owner pushes the button and says, “go”.  Lodging is definitely in the plan.  In the meantime, events like XTERRA build the reputation of Snowbasin as a quality summer venue. 

Q: Utah has an unfounded reputation of not being “fun”.  Any comments? 

Kiely:  We’ve got participants from 25-30 states here.  When we made our selection of Ogden for the Mountain Championships we heard the grumbles, “Why leave Colorado?”  This week, that’s changed to, ”What took you so long to get to Utah?”  Anybody that hasn’t had fun hasn’t been to Ogden’s 25th Street!

The panel consisted of Matthew Godfrey, Mayor of Ogden; Denzel Rowland, General Manager of Snowbasin Resort; Tom Kiely, CEO and Founder of Team Unlimited; Camille Cain, Weber County Commissioner; Mike Caldwell, Greater Ogden Athletic Legacy (GOAL Foundation) and XTERRA professional competitors Jamie Whitmore from California and Conrad Stoltz from South Africa.