Notes
After pounding out 17 laps in three hours on the Lone Pine run off Norquay’s North American chair, Adam Siltanen is the 2015 Mountain Smoker champion.
The Sault Ste. Marie native was victorious after a tight battle with Allan Hogg, who was in contention, but fell with three laps to go.
“I was really lucky. Allan was really shredding and wanted it so bad. We were battling, he fell at the start and caught up. He was killing it. Then he cramped up and had his big crash at the end with only three laps to go,” Siltanen said.
This was his fourth time competing in the Mountain Smoker and, under tough conditions, he survived the battle of attrition.
“It’s like side slip skiing. You don’t ski fast, you just make every turn cover as much ground as you can,” Siltanen said. “The conditions are the worst they’ve been since I’ve been here. It was icy with ruts.”
Siltanen moved to Banff eight years ago to work as a ski patroller at Lake Louise. He now works at Monod’s, and spent a lot of time skiing the run preparing for the race.
This year, winners had a shot at winning a CMH Heli-skiing day. Only nine people entered this year’s competition, and Bob Rankin’s record of 24 laps – a mark he set in 1981 – stands for another day.
