Ski to Sea Race facts for kids
The Ski to Sea Race, often called just the Ski to Sea, is a super exciting team competition in Whatcom County, Washington. It's held every year on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. The race is about 93 miles (150 km) long and has seven different parts, called "legs." It starts high up on the ski slopes of Mount Baker Ski Area and finishes down by the water at Marine Park in Fairhaven, right on Bellingham Bay.
The seven legs of the race are:
- Cross-country skiing
- downhill skiing or snowboarding
- running
- Road biking
- canoeing
- cyclo-cross biking
- Finally, kayaking
Whatcom Events manages the Ski to Sea Race. A big team of people and almost 900 volunteers help make sure everything runs smoothly!
Contents
History of the Ski to Sea Race
The idea for the Ski to Sea Race came from much older races called the Mount Baker Marathons. These happened between 1911 and 1913. Those early races were even tougher! People raced from the city of Bellingham all the way to the very top of Mount Baker and back.
Racers could choose different paths to the mountain. The event stopped after a runner had an accident. The Ski to Sea Race was created to be a safer, but still challenging, version. It goes from the ski slopes of Mount Baker down to Bellingham Bay.
How the Race Got Its Name
The race was first suggested in 1966 by Bob Stephens, Fred Elsethagen, and Franz Gabl. They wrote a letter to the head of the Bellingham Chamber of Commerce. The name "Ski to Sea" came from a local saying: "Sea to Ski in Sixty Minutes." This saying showed how close Mount Baker's ski slopes are to Bellingham, which is on a bay of the Strait of Georgia.
The First Race and How It Grew
The very first official Ski to Sea Race happened in 1973. It was part of a bigger event called "Blossom Time." That first race had 177 people on 50 teams.
For the first four years, each part of the race was done separately. Teams would add up their times at the end to find out who won. This meant people had to wait a long time for the results! Since 1977, the race has been a continuous event. This means one teammate finishes their leg and "tags" the next teammate to start theirs right away.
By 1977, the Ski to Sea Race was so popular that the whole Blossom Time festival was renamed "Blossom Time Ski to Sea." A few years later, "Blossom Time" was dropped, and it became known simply as the Ski to Sea. Even the parade was renamed the Ski to Sea Parade!
Today, the Ski to Sea is a huge weekend-long event. More than 300 teams and over 2,000 racers take part. Tens of thousands of fans line the streets to watch and join in other events in Bellingham, Ferndale, and Fairhaven.
The Race Legs
When the Ski to Sea started in 1973, it was about 35 miles (56 km) long and had three legs: downhill skiing, bicycling, and canoeing or kayaking on the Nooksack River. Over the next 20 years, the race grew to seven legs, covering about 94 miles (151 km).
It became a continuous event where teammates pass a special item, like a wristband or timing chip, to each other. This shows when one leg ends and the next begins. While the order of the legs has stayed the same, most of them have changed a bit over the years. Some legs have changed how they are completed, and most have adjusted their lengths. For example, the bicycling leg has changed its distance nine times!
In 2015, there wasn't enough snow. So, the ski legs were replaced with new running and mountain biking legs. But the usual format returned the next year.
Cross-Country Skiing
Cross-country skiing was added to the race in 1979. This leg starts the whole race! It involves two figure-eight loops at the upper Mount Baker Ski area. It started as one mile long but is now about four and a half miles.
Downhill Skiing or Snowboarding
Downhill skiing is one of the original parts of the race. Skiers hike uphill about 800 feet. Then they ski back down to near where they started.
Running
The third part of the race is an eight-mile (13 kilometres (8.1 mi)) foot race. It was added in 1975. Runners go down the Mount Baker Highway from the ski area to the Shuksan Department of Transportation station. They drop over 2,000 feet in elevation, running on hard asphalt. This leg has changed the least over the years.
Bicycling
Bicycling is the longest leg of the race. It was one of the original parts of the 1973 event. The bike leg goes through towns like Glacier and Maple Falls. It leaves the Mount Baker Highway and goes onto Silver Lake Road. The bicycle leg finishes by the Nooksack River in Everson. This is where the canoe leg begins.
The bicycling leg has changed its distance many times. It started at 22 miles (35 km) and grew to a maximum of 42 miles (68 km). Since 1987, it has usually been 36 miles (58 km) long.
Canoeing
Canoeing was also one of the original events from 1973. This is the second-longest leg, covering about 18 miles (29 km). This leg is the only one that requires two racers in the canoe. It starts in Everson and ends at Hovander Park in Ferndale.
The canoe leg can be very challenging. For safety reasons, the canoe leg was canceled in 2008 because the Nooksack River was too high and dangerous. This is the only leg that has ever been canceled due to conditions, besides the full race cancellations in 2020 and 2021.
Cyclocross Biking
The Cyclocross bike leg was added in 1990. It goes from the Nooksack River banks in Hovander Park to Squalicum Harbor on Bellingham Bay. The course was updated in 2011 to be about 14 miles (23 km) long.
Kayaking Bellingham Bay
The Bellingham Bay leg was added in 1980. It became only a kayaking event in 1992. This final leg was added to really connect with the "Ski to Sea" name and make the finish exciting! At first, people used different types of boats like Hobie cats or sailboats. But since 1992, only kayaks are allowed. This is because the wind on Bellingham Bay can be unpredictable for sailboats.
Today, kayakers paddle across Bellingham Bay from Squalicum Harbor to Marine Park in Fairhaven. When they reach the shore, they run a short distance to ring a bell at the finish line!
The Timing Chip
In the first few races, teams passed an actual baton. Later, they used necklace medallions or sweatbands that racers would pass to their teammates.
In recent years, the race uses electronic transponder timing. Teams carry a special electronic timing chip attached to a lanyard or wristband. The chip is scanned at the start of the race. It's passed from one teammate to the next at each changeover point. When the chip is scanned, it records the end time for the previous leg and the start time for the next. The kayaker must scan the chip at the very end of the race after ringing the finish line bell.
Race Divisions
Even though everyone races in the same Ski to Sea Race, teams sign up in different groups called divisions. These divisions include:
- Corporate
- Veterans
- High School
- Whatcom County
- Car Free
- Masters
- Family
These divisions are split into "Competitive" and "Recreational" classes. There are also sub-divisions like "Open" (mostly male teams), "Mixed" (more females), and "Female" (all women). Many teams choose the Recreational divisions, but most winning teams come from the Competitive divisions.
2020 and 2021 Cancellations
The Ski to Sea Race was canceled in 2020 and 2021. This was due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These were the only times the race had been canceled since it began in 1973.
